hi everyone,
im new here,and have a lot of thinking about customizing my h3.. first i was just wondering how the process of painting h3 stock rims and what kind of paint that best for all seasons, i live in chicago il. so a lot of salt in the winter.make the story short what are the options for best result and protective paint and last long for winter salt...

 

Your best bet would be to have them powder coated. Spray urethanes and enamels just are not durrible enough for long life under high temps gravel, and or salty conditions.

 

craigslist it about 70 a rim is what i'm getting up here in ny, very cool colors imo

 

The factory clear coat is just starting to show some minor wear on our polished rims. With a lot of highway driving, 70K miles seems to be the useful life if you want perfectly finished painted wheels.

Anyone ever see Silver Powdercoat? Does it look as good as a spray finish?

 

Factory clear, or clear applied through a spray gun such as a urethane at a paint shop will last as suggested above. If you are going to paint the rims yourself, and plan on using spray cans (spray bombing) I wouldn't image the finish will last more than two seasons in hard weather climates. Can urethanes are just to diluted to hold a strong bond. Hi temp paints with ceramic or teflon will usually hold up better when shot from a can, but colors are limited.

As for silver powder coating, never seen it. But I'm sure someone makes it somewhere. Guess it depends on the metalic flake involved, metal would rust without a clear finish, plastic may melt in the heating process. If you find a distributor that sells flaked powder, let us know. I'm curious to find out myself now that you ask.

 

you can get powder coat in chrome, chrome colors too. hard to tell the difference.