Forum member GolfTi had their diamond cut Austin’s powder coated in a two colour effect and IMHO they looked really good - link to thread below;
http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=286595.msg2622408#msg2622408I think most wheel refurb places would want to strip the entire wheel back to the bare alloy, rather than just work on the face of the wheel as it’d be more time and cost effective to do the whole wheel than just re-doing the face and having to be ultra careful not to damage the non diamond cut (black) sections.
With stripping and refinishing the entire wheel in two colours, it’d be necessary to mask up once the primer and first colour (black) had been applied, to protect those black areas from overspray of the colour to be used on the face of the spokes and rim of the wheel that were originally polished / diamond cut and to ensure a ‘sharp edge’ and no colour bleeding where one colour meets the other. It’s that precision masking up that I dare say would be quite time consuming that would add to the normal refurb cost.
Would a two colour powder coat refurb affect trade in value? If it’s to the standard of GolfTi’s Austin’s alloys, I’d say probably not, although a dealer will always look for reasons / excuses to offer a low trade in value. It might also depend on whether the car’s being traded in at a VW or non VW dealer and the age of the car when the time comes to sell. If the car’s ‘young’ enough to go on a VW dealer’s forecourt then they may probably want or expect the wheels to be in the original factory finish and if they aren’t, they may reduce their trade in offer. If it’s an older car and a non-VW dealer, then they probably won’t care.
