Powder coating -VS- mikes wheels

[Lluber]

I'm about to do my wheels on my bike (83' heritage special) Starting with the back wheel 1st as its a mess. Needs to be trued and balanced.

I like the look of the black rims & hub.

I know I'm not painting them myself. Recently helped a friend and after all the work we did the paint flaked and we ended up getting them powder coated anyway. huge pain in the arse.

So, do I get my stock rim powder coated (local guy does them for 80ish per) not sure if he would even bother with the spokes as they might be to tedious. Or, I could pick up a new rim from mikes or somewhere else and lace it up with my stock spokes?

Thanks guys.

 

[Paulrxs650]

Hi

Doing a similar thing with my Heritage wheels. I'm going to polish the hubs and go for the stainless spokes and new rims from Mikes.
By the time a strip and re-chrome the old, I think the costs will be very similar. Plus - new shiny bits

 

[Lluber]

nice.. just called the powdercoater to confirm. he said 70 each.. Im gonna keep mine and have them done. put that little extra $$ to some tires or tyres!

good luck with yours @paulrxs650

 

[Lluber]

And holy crap your build is amazing.. great work.

 

[Paulrxs650]

Thank you very much indeed for the kind words. Why not! I'm going to go for new tyres on mine too - white walls I think!?

 

[gabecustom]

looking into painting my wheels, i dont have the $$ to get them powder coated, so going to be using radlcan.. i've had alot of luck in the past with the flameproof VHT header paint, but not sure that'll be the way to go.. any ideas on brads or suggestions in my case?
anything helps, thanks

 

[Lluber]

based on what I've experienced. the better prep (cleaning and better priming) the better rattle will hold. We didn't have any luck with it. We cleaned the rim, sanded, sanded, cleaned. primed 2x, wet sanded the primer. Primed again, wet sanded that primer then hit the rim with epoxy paint 3x. it chipped off fairly easily. I mean its worth a shot since you can do it yourself and paint might be 7-10 bucks each.. I think the key is getting the rims scuffed enough to allow the primer to grip it.. I think we used 160grit on the rim to try and scuff it and that didn't work.. Maybe go with 60 grit and then hit it with some acetone and then sand it again? not 100% sure.

 

[jd750ace]

The problem is the surface of aluminum needs to be etched in order for the paint to "bite" This is done with a phosphoric acid solution. In most cases in aircraft, this is followed with "Chemical Conversion Coating" which is a chromic acid (read POISON) solution which actually corrodes the surface slightly by chemical conversion, but the corrosive action is arrested with a fresh water rinse, and the oxidization actually acts as a protective layer for the base metal. anodization works in a similar manner. Aluminum is different stuff. Conversely, it powder coats, and retains extremely well. If you can get wheels powder coated for 70 bucks each, that's cheaper than you will ever get them painted correctly. Plus, Powder coat is much more durable. If you must try, you need to wash those wheels down with a mild soap and water solution and dry them thoroughly, and use a self-etching primer prior to paint. May be very difficult to find in a rattle can.

 

[gabecustom]

i wish i knew someone to do the powder coating, but i don't.. i was just thinkin, about half way through your post, Napa sells a metal etching primer in a can. my buddy used it on his sporty cases, worked pretty well. i'm not quite to that point yet, i was just running things through my head on what i wanted to do with the wheels. in the mean time i'll keep my ears and eyes open for a powder coat guy..
thanks for the incite!

 

[jd750ace]

Check that self etching primer and make sure it specifies aluminum. I think all of them do these days, but check it before ya buy if you end up going that way.

 

[gabecustom]

i'll be sure to check before buy it. it should be okay though, by buddies cases where aluminum, and it worked great on those.

i've seen couple guys on here have drilled holes in the middle of the wheel spokes.. is this something i could easily do myself with some careful measuring and a drill press?

 

[jd750ace]

Yes. It's best to drill sizes that stay out of the radius of the lateral web. Some here have drilled holes that are too large, and the outiside of the hole lies beyond the tangent line of the stiffening member's radius. That pretty much makes the hole act like a notch in a tree. It's a weak spot in the wheel forever at that point.
I know there will be a half dozen people tell me how thier wheels have been drilled for a billion miles and never broke one, and they been drilling them since I was drinking Yoohoo and watching Fat Albert, but that don't make it structurally sound. Be careful what you put a hole in, and where you put it. We can install holes all day long. Removing a hole is hard!

 

[gabecustom]

okay, i wont get to carried away with it, maybe 3 holes to a spoke. i'm building this bike for my wife and the last thing i need is for her to end up a skid streak on the pavement! that would make for a rather unpleasant holiday with the in-laws!
thanks again!

 

[Lluber]

anyone know where I can buy just the spoke nipples? I pulled apart my rear yesterday the the heads of the spoke nipples are kinda trashed.. rusted, some are stripped. Have a email in to mikes to see if they'll just sell me some nipples.

 

[Lluber]

Finally got everything painted and powder coated and after some looking around I ended up ordering the mikes spokes and nipps. Work got crazy busy so I havent had much time to work on my ride lately but had some spare time yesterday and I think the rear came out decent. Need to order some tubes and get my tire on there.