NH0 Powder coat - RAL equivalent

[GIBLETS]

Hi all,

I've recently been looking into getting my wheels refurbished and I'm keen to keep the stock NH0 colour and also gain the enhanced durability of a powder coat finish as the car is my year round daily.

Speaking to some local "specialists" I've been given two options by two different company's

Company 1

They have proposed to powder coat the wheels a generic white, spray the wheels NH0 then clear powder coat over this.

Company 2

Powder coat the wheels in a equivalent RAL code to NH0 - nice and simple.


Company 2 laughed at Company 1's proposal and said that the clear coat will not take to the NH0 so that rules them out as Company 2 have been trading a lot longer and have an impeccable reputation.



Does anyone know what the closest RAL code is to stock NH0?

They've offered to spray up some sample plates to find a match but would like to make this process as easy as possible for them.

Cheers!

 

[jpstyper]

I heard ral 9010 was closest when I was looking for the powdercoat equivalent

 

[hondamad2204]

Just get them painted properly i ummed and arrd about this years ago, and the finish on paint is much much better. Went through TGM and they have been fine for over a year. Powder coat will still chip, only difference i found is that the paint can get the odd stone chip and its the same size as the stone, doesn't go into anything more, but if you chip powder coat, it flakes off when washing etc.

A good quality laquer is going to be just as good as powder coating

 

[MilanoChris]

Too many cracked wheels as a result of powder coating.

 

[Fez]

+1 for paint > powdercoat

 

[Honda-atr]

Paint is better then powdercoat, the heat used to cure the powdercoat damages the structure of the aluminum.
As far as the colour. If I remember correctly the correct powdercoat mixture was a combination of 2 parts of 9010 and 1 part of 9001

 

[GIBLETS]

Thanks guys, this gives me something to work off.

With regards to powder coating I did a lot of research into the myth of it destroying wheels some time back.

It seems that some powder coaters bake wheels as a method to remove old paint/powder coat exposing the wheels to temperatures in excess of 450c. Not only does the expose the wheels to thermal shock it also somewhat changes the properties of the aluminium and causes it to become brittle and in extreme cases causes hairline cracks as the material rapidly expands and contracts.

Reaction temperatures for the powder coat used to be approximately 180-200c which is deemed safe, however more modern products have a reaction temperature of approximately 120c, neither of which temperatures are believed to cause issues providing the wheels are not quench cooled after being removed from the oven.

In most cases that I've found online people have sent their wheels to powder coating specialists as opposed to wheel specialists, the difference being that the powder coaters generally only work with carbon steel products/structures and have no appreciation of the characteristics of aluminium and its sensitivity to heat cycling.

I have 2 companies local to me who have been in business for over 25 years and do work for main dealers, car enthusiasts and joe public, each has a minimum of 10x cars per day outside their business having wheels refurbished and I've not heard of one horror story regarding cracked wheels yet and we're talking circa 10k wheels per year refurbished by each company.

I'll be quizzing them about the process prior to sending the wheels in, though I'm sure they're well aware of how to avoid such issues.

I also have an inkling to put a set of Rota Torques on the car but again Rota seem to have issues of their own with wheel failures, but they do look nice and I could go with an offset that fills the arches out, decisions decisions......

 

[joiner]

I too am in the same predicament, have read many a statement on here saying that painting is best, my car is currently in bits in the garage and is going for a full respray nest year. Spoke to my painter and as he's a bit OCD said that it would cost a lot more than powder coating but would match but was shying away from doing it.

Phoned my local wheel specialist called Coarech in Carnoustie who like above does a lot of wheels and got a very friendly chap. He asked what the wheels were off of and when I said Honda NH0 he promptly replied with ral 9010, said he had done a lot with that colour.

Soooo, my options could be, get them to strip, powder prime only then get my painter to colour then laquer for a perfect match or would I just get them powdercoated as after all that is what they are done originally are they not?, was quoted £220 tyres off and on which would be an added cost if I got the painted.

Does anyone on here have any pics of there white Teg's with 9010 powdercoat end wheels so I can see the colour difference if any?

 

[Liam]

I've had various sets of wheels powder coated and painted over the years and I agree with what has been said above, go for paint over powder coat. With powder coating, you always end up with a thick layer on the face of the wheel that contacts the brake disc/ hub and as soon as you get some heat into the front brakes, the wheel nuts are no longer tight.

Plus I prefer the way paint chips and can be touched in - powder coating seems to want to peel off in large pieces rather than chip like normal paint.

 

[GIBLETS]

Hi Liam,

Powder coating the mating face is a no go anyhow, I'm surprised anyone would do that, again this cements the fact that a lot of people are powder coating wheels with no real consideration for what they're doing!

As for longevity of powder coating, I'd say it's much more resilient to pitting from brake dust especially at high temperatures during hard braking.

With regards to the wheels chipping and powder coat flaking off I can only imagine this would occur if the wheels were curbed or dropped during removal, both of which I don't make a habit of so are of no real concern...

 

[sabberjoch]

There's much misinformation on powdercoating going around on the internet, I powdercoat my own parts since i bought a wagner powdercoating setup.
I'll some up the misconceptions i see here:

1. The finish of paint is better.
This all depends on the powder used, i can get the same gloss level as paint, without orangepeel. So the finish that can be achieved is as perfect as paint.

2. Powdercoat chips of.
When hit with a stone, powder that has been properly applied and baked only chips on the point of impact. It doesn't spread. however, it is true that you cant touch it up with powder. it will have to be freshly coated or touched up with a closely matching paint. Properly applied powder doesn't come of in large pieces, try it on you workbench or something, as it's probably coated instead of painted, for durability.

3. Wheels fail because of coating.
False, this misconception comes from people going to a local powdercoating company where they mainly work on industrial machinery. These companies mostly use higher temperature to bake or outgas the products. Coaters who specialize in wheels and carparts NEVER exceed a temperature of 200 degrees celcius with wheels, this will not influence the aluminiums structure in any way.

4. Powdercoating creates a thick layer, also where the wheel nuts sit and where it contacts the hub.
A good powdercoater creates a layer of about 3 microns thick, about the same thickness as paint. also, every professional coater will mask of contact areas, for example where the wheel touches the hub, where the lug nuts sit. and for example on control arms where the bushings go.

I hope this clears up a lot.

Powdercoating
+ Durability
- You need a specialist
- Hard to touch up

Paint
+ cheaper
+ Easy touchups
+ can be done by any painter
- less durable (brake dust)

If you have any questions about powdercoating, feel free to ask or send me a pm.
I don't powdercoat parts in the UK by the way, since i live in the Netherlands, but i'm sure there are some good specialists over there!

 

[GIBLETS]

Thanks Sabberjoch, nice to have the viewpoint of someone who works with the products in question.

I'll be ringing around and asking the max temp the wheels will be exposed to prior to choosing a company to do the work, just gotta make my mind up on the tyre front now 🙂

 

[GIBLETS]

Finally got round to dropping the wheels off today and ended up going with SEM in Sunderland.

They seem to have a good reputation and not in a rush to get them back out of the door on the same day which speaks volumes.

The guy got the colour chips out and advised me that he's always matched the Champ White Hondas NH0 with RAL9016 - Traffic White in the past due to the RAL9010 having too much cream in it.

Tried his colour chip against the body panels and would say it's half as close again to what 9010 is in terms of a match to NH-0.

Just hope it all turns out well now, in the meantime I'm stuck with an awful set of Wolfrace wheels as courtesy wheels supplied by them, the car looks shocking!

 

[joiner]

Any pics of finished job, would be interested to see the colour match as myself and a lot of other members go through this dilemma 😀.

 

[GIBLETS]

Any pics of finished job, would be interested to see the colour match as myself and a lot of other members go through this dilemma 😀.

Hi mate, sorry only just put the wheels back on the car.

I'd say if anything the RAL9016 is a touch lighter than the CW in the flesh, I'd imagine that from the chips the RAL9010 would have a touch more cream in making them a touch darker than the CW, hard to say really but some pics of the RAL 9016 below:

 

[martinj46]

Phoned my local wheel specialist called Coatech in Carnoustie who like above does a lot of wheels and got a very friendly chap.

I'm a bit late to the party, but I can 100% vouch for their work. I used them for a set of BMW wheels a couple of years ago and the finish and service was spot on, especially given they are half the price of "the wheel specialist" in Aberdeen.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[joiner]

Your wheels look really good from the pics, it would seem that either way unless painted that they will never 100% match. I must say though Giblets, seeing your car just reminds me of how my one will look someday, forgot how it looked as has been in bits for 2 years now!!

I'll pop down to Coatech and see what they say, i'v got a new front badge with the mount so that will give me a good indication on match and I'll also have a look at samples of there work when there.

 

[GIBLETS]

Your wheels look really good from the pics, it would seem that either way unless painted that they will never 100% match. I must say though Giblets, seeing your car just reminds me of how my one will look someday, forgot how it looked as has been in bits for 2 years now!!

I'll pop down to Coatech and see what they say, i'v got a new front badge with the mount so that will give me a good indication on match and I'll also have a look at samples of there work when there.

You'll get their in the end mate, I expect the paint on my car to lighten up a touch after machine polishing which I intend to get done at some point in the summer. Either way like you say it's either going to be a touch lighter or darker with powder coat.

My centre caps look to have aftermarket paint on as it's not the best job so will probably buy a can of 9016 and paint them/fit new decals to finish the job off nicely, but that's just me being picky....

 

[MilanoChris]

They look too white to me, may be my monitor at work though.

 

[GIBLETS]

They look too white to me, may be my monitor at work though.

A touch lighter in the flesh but only a touch, going by the colour chips RAL9010 would be more cream and would appear a touch darker. Not sure how this would work from one manufacturer to another but I'd expect them to be pretty close being a standardised colour code.

Think I'd rather go lighter with the probability that maybe the edge will go off them with age and they'll dull off a bit, catch 22 either way I think...