Does anyone know for sure if my (original) wheels, 15 hole, on my 82 300D were painted or powdercoated from the factory? The paint shop I have them at now insists they were painted at the factory and the 'clearcoat' is deteriorated and that's why they look so funky. From the looks of them that sounded right. The guy who is putting the tires on next week (he has a state of the art Hunter GSP9700 and says he is a "Tirerack 'approved' installer") is sure they were powdercoated at the factory (in 82 - ?). I am inclined to side with the paint shop's opinion. Does any one know for sure? ALSO - What were the original color of the lugbolts? They were too far gone to tell, I think they might have been the same color as the wheels; paint man thinks not! Any ideas, even guesses would help. Thanks and 'good day' to all. mattc

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82 300D Turbo 124,000 mi.

I am 99% sure your wheels were painted.

Can you even do aluminum in powder coat? Does it have to be ferrous metal, thus "magnetic" to the powder?...

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Ed
1981 300CD (Benzina)
1968 250 S (Gina) 266,000 miles!
1983 Alfa Romeo GTV6 (Guido)
1976 Jaguar XJS-saved a V-12 from the chevy curse, what a great engine!
1988 Cadillac Eldorado (better car than you might think!)
1988 Yamaha Venture (better than a Wing!)
1977 Suzuki GS750B
1976 Yamaha XS 650 (sold)
1991 Suzuki GSX1100G (Shafty Gixser)
1981 Yamaha VX920RH (Euro "Virago")
Solex Moped
1975 Dodge P/U camper


"Time spent in the company of a cat, a beer, and this forum, is not time wasted!"

Wheels look great powder coated!! They must be stripped to bare metal first though!

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MERCEDES Benz Master Guild Technician (6 TIMES)
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Retired Moderator

I've had no experience personally powder-coating anything but I have been told that used aluminum wheels may first have a problem "taking" the powder coating and, second, the aluminum may not handle the stress of the powder-coating process and could weaken or crack.
This is just what I've heard, take it for what it's worth.

My understanding is that powder coating is an electrostatic process that will work on most any highly conductive metal. I think the problem is that the wheels need to be completely stripped and if you don't know what you are doing you can ruin alloy wheels when you strip or bead blast the paint off. When you are repainting it's not quite so critical to get every last bit of paint off and is generally less hazardous to the wheel. That said a good paint job should look every bit as good as a powder coat as long as the prep is done well. Personally, I'd be indifferent to the two as long as it's done properly. By the way, I think TXBill is right, the originals of that era were painted.

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LRG
1987 300D Turbo 175K
2006 Toyota Prius, efficent but no soul
1985 300 TDT(130K miles of trouble free motoring)now sold

I bought my SD at a Ford dealership exactly 3 years ago, and they repainted my wheels silver. They still look perfect (except for the brake dust.) No dust shields for this boy; I'd rather have cooler brake rotors and calipers, but that would be a whole different thread

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Bob Roe
Lehigh Valley PA USA
1973 Olds 88, 1972 MB 280SE, 1978 Datsun 280Z, 1971 Ford T-Bird, 1972 Olds 88, 1983 Nissan Sentra, 1985 Sentra, 1973 230.6, 1990 Acura Integra, 1991 Volvo 940GLE wagon, 1983 300SD, 1984 300SD, 1995 Subaru Legacy L wagon, 2002 Mountaineer, 1991 300TE wagon, 2008 Murano, 2007 R320CDI 4Matic 52K, some Hyundai, 2008 BMW 535xi wagon, all gone... currently
2007 Honda Odyssey Touring, 2014 E350 4matic

Usually you take a piece of very fine sandpaper and just rub the area where you want to determine whether it has clear coat on it. If it does you will see a white dust on the sandpaper. If not you will see the color of the paint there.
This is not exactly a non destructive test, so be sure to use it only where you either don't care, or are about to repaint anyway.