The paint on my 97 XK8's wheels have started to peel and wanted to refinish them. Wondering if I could get some suggestions on what to do with them? Should I repaint or powder coat them? Goods and Bads about them? Most importantly, anyone know any shop that dose this kind of job good in the SF bay aera?

 

Have you considered chrome plating? There are places in CA that do chrome exchange - they send you freshly plated wheels and you send your wheels back to them. There's a seller on eBay now that charges $585 for the 17" Revolver wheels. I don't how this compares to getting them repainted, but it doesn't seem that it's much more expensive.

 

Ugh... I hate the chrome wheels. It really seems to make the car look ghetto.

I don't know much about powder coating wheels, but I found this thread on another forum. Most of the replies warn against powder coating because the high temperatures involved can weaken the wheel. They also warn against chroming the wheels because the process can make the wheel brittle.

 

Ghettofabulous!.....I'm a chrome *****, but I have to say, there is a fine line between just right and ghettolicious...I'd look into powdercoating myself. JMHO

 

My 2 cents. Paint would look very nice, but will not stand up as well as powder coating or plating.
Powder coating requires approximately 400 deg. F. to cure. I wouldn't think this would hurt alloy wheels, but I'm not an expert. Might be worth researching.
Chrome plating can cause something called hydrogen embrittlement in steel, but I'm not sure about alloys. The process used can be very important.
I know this probably didn't help you a bit, but maybe a least gives you a couple of questions to ask to help you make a decision. Good Luck.

 

I recommend, if they're revolvers, just to get them blasted and repainted hypersilver...keep it original, but make them really stand out. If you're doing them all at once, you can select your 'shade' of silver, don't necessarily go with the dull gray, ask for the hypersilver, you'll like it.

Oh, and around here, its $125 a wheel for a blast and refinish. that's good in my book, plus they'll fix any nasty little dings or dents in the inner rim that may cause it to be out of round.

 

^ This.

But, around here, it's about $45 a wheel to fix any dents or rash and repaint. Perhaps more if they need to be blasted. It's an easy DIY job though... You could take it to any place with media blasting, get them stripped and you can putty/sand/file and paint it yourself if you want.

 

Totally agree with you. chrome is just not my taste.

 

I use a lot of powder-coating on my antique cars, love it because it is fuel-proof, acid-proof, chip resistant, etc.
HOWEVER, when I got started in aviation, I was told to never allow the temperature of a heat-treated aluminum part to go over 212 F, due to the risk of changing the heat treatment properties. (The actual limit is ABOVE 212 F, but I think the idea is that if you can cool it with water, and it doesn't boil, your temp is still low enough not to affect the part you are working on, so you know you are OK)
I have no clue if Jaguar wheels are heat-treated or not, so I cannot say for sure. I have the revolver wheels and plan to get them redone when I buy new tires all around in the next month or so, and I will probably just do the repaint thing. (And probably with the hypersilver color.) I also don't care much for chrome, especially on a Jaguar. Just my 2 cents......

 

For wheels powder coating all the way

 

I'll throw my two cents worth about powder coating. About ten years ago we fabricated light post for the government requiring powder coating. Two different designs, four where straight, 12 with a six foot arms. the ones with the six foot arms would not fit in the oven at powder coating company. So the government let us finish the 12 with automotive urethane two coat system. today the four powder coated light post are peeling and the painted ones look as good as the day we put them out.
We've had this company powder coat many items over the years and they are a industrial finisher for John Deere and other major corporations. The powder coating just not not seem to hold up compared to painting.

 

DIY.... i did all four wheels over a weekend 2 years ago including repair of curb rash. Total cost was under $50.
alfred