The Science and Art of Powder Coating

Perhaps without even realising, everyone has items around them which have been powder coated; patio furniture, bicycles, even fire extinguishers.

- ERIC ARNOLD

Have you ever wondered how the process of powder coating works? We go behind the scenes and follow a set of stock VW wheels through the entire procedure at Snail Motorsports in North Las Vegas, Nevada. Owners Juan and Adrienne Pereda have created not only one of the most recommended powder coating businesses in the area, but they are the only one-stop-shop who can handle every aspect of wheel coating from start to finish. You will see as we make our way through, the Snail team has all the bases covered!

The wheels on my 1977 Westfalia are original Volkswagen 14 inch steel. Dated December 1976 (when the Bus rolled off the assembly line), these have seen over 260,000 miles, and they show their age of over 42 years. Having spray painted them white about ten years ago, the normal wear and tear of the road has certainly had its effect and it can be glaring in places.

I visited Snail Motorsports to arrange an appointment. It was then that I had to decide which color would transform my wheels. Trying to get back to the stock 1977 Volkswagen wheel colour, L91 Chrome, we chose Bengal Silver.

Under normal circumstances, you’d have to remove the wheels from your vehicle, leaving it on axle stands at home. You would then have to take your wheels to a tyre shop to have the tyres removed, and finally, take your bare wheels to the powder coater. Not at Snail Motorsports! I drove my Westy to the shop and pulled inside, where Juan directed me into their lift. They raised the bus and removed the wheels, they also retrieved the spare from inside. Carlos rolled them over to the tyre machine and removed all five from the rims.