Powder Coated Wheel Help/Issue

Hey Everyone,

I recently had a set of wheels powder coated for my Mustang. They were finished in a satin gunmetal finish. I took the car to a touch less car wash the other week and when the car came out my wheels had streaks all over them. I spoke to the powder coated and a few people I know who do detailing and they said they have seen this before. It may be from the wheels being hot and then the heavy de-greasers being used on the car since it is touch less. If it sits too long on a hot wheel it will etch it. I tried getting it off with 99% IPA with no success. I also took it to one of their shops where we tried a finishing compound and a slightly more aggressive compound with a drill and no success. It made it shinier possibly. The last thing they tried was using another de-greaser which I think has only stained the wheel more and made the finish look more uniform (darker). I have included some photos of when it came out of the gas station as well as after we tried everything and it`s current state today. I have done some research and I am not really sure if this is fixable. My assumption is that the de-greaser used at the wash along with the de-greaser after has just stained the finish more and evened it out (to the current darker color)

Just wondering if anyone has a solution that might work or if the rims need to be re-powder coated in order to bring them back to life. Hoping for any help you might be able to provide.

FYI, the photos are going to make them look brighter than they actually are. For whatever reason when you look at the car from a distance you can see how dark it is. I have included a side profile photo for reference.

Thanks in advance.

After car wash
https://www.autopia.org/forums/attac...id=37274&stc=1

After car wash
https://www.autopia.org/forums/attac...id=37275&stc=1

After De-greaser
https://www.autopia.org/forums/attac...id=37276&stc=1

Current State
https://www.autopia.org/forums/attac...id=37277&stc=1

Side of car
https://www.autopia.org/forums/attac...id=37278&stc=1

I’ve seen it before although it was with a clear coat finish on the wheels. Hot wheels and their detergent is very likely the cause. I had the similar issue on a Bonneville a number of years back. Sadly it was one of the few times I ever took it to a car wash. I was not able to completely correct the issue and certainly not to my satisfaction. I had to have the wheels refinished, the car wash went half on it with me.

Unfortunately, they are stained/etched from the harsh chemicals used. If polish/compound didn`t remove anything, they will have to be refinished.

Fenrir19 -- Welcome to the Forum !

I am sorry that your new wheels are damaged.. :(

You took great pictures, thanks.. The last degreaser process seemed to clean up the faces but they did not do the edges of the spokes which still have what looks like the original product that stained them..

If you are willing to "live" with that, perhaps that is an option?

I am personally thinking if I went and paid for new powder coated wheels and ended up with this , perhaps just day/s after installing them, I would want to try to get them back to new again, and know that the car wash will never be an option again..

Everything I have read tonight regarding powder coating, affirms what these 2 good men above have said - the wheels can only be made new by stripping the finish off, and powder coating them again..

Hope it all works out for you..
Dan F

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I would get the powder coated again but it`s just downtime for the car (only vehicle) and the cost associated to have it done again. I may try to use de-greaser to clean up the edges and see if I can get the finish to match and over the winter I may have them done again. It really sucks that it happened but what can you do. Appreciate the help and thank you for the warm welcome.

Fenrir19- Welcome to Autopia!

Sorry to see what happened, and here I was just saying on another thread how tough most powdercoating is!

I guess that "don`t spray potent products on hot surfaces" is one of those inviolate rules, no matter how tough the surface`s coating oughta be.