Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Rosco663]

Gidday one and all,

I have 6 @ Dunlop Magnawire wheels to refurbish. I have already noticed some broken spokes on them and for safety sake I will be respoking all of them and will end up have two spares for the Morry.

The replacement spokes and nipples will be coming in a bright steel factory finish and will need some form of coating to prevent corrosion (and of course to look good ). the rims and hubs will also be taken back to bare metal to remove the last remnants of rust and old paint.

As the rims will be separate from the hubs what recommendations are out there regarding painting or powder coating? Prime each component separately then assemble and paint. Or turn the whole lot over as bare metal to the powder coaters?

Cheers
_________________
Rosco

[Bitumen Boy]

Powder coat is a load of pony. Your idea of priming each part, assembling and then painting is a good one - run with it. Yes it will be a fiddle, yes you'll probably get yourself covered in paint, but if you use a good self etching primer it will last a lot longer than powder coat, plus paint is easier to touch up and won't hide any quantity of rust before you spot it. Have fun

[Desert Fox]

There is nothing wrong with powder coating. Providing the preparation and priming is done correctly there will be no issues. Obviously, it depends on the quality of the powder used. and the quality of the company used.

Most powder coat failures are due to incorrect curing by either the temperature being too low or too high or poor surface preparation. Powder coating is very tough and durable, if a stone chip appears there should be no corrosion creep if the powder used is of good quality and was applied correctly.

Car manufacturers will not use any coating including powder unless it meets and passes strict corrosion / adhesion test procedures.

Just bare in mind that BMW, Mercedes and other car manufacturers use powder as a clear coat to paint the body shells of their cars.

[Miken]

A good powder coater ( like the one I use) will shot blast, phosphate dip, zinc powder coat and then powder coat topcoat in the colour that you desire.
You can hit it with a round metal bar and it just dents the metal underneath without breaking the coating.
Should be virtually eternal.
I have had lots of motorcycle wheel hubs done done this way.
Sometimes I open up the spoke holes in the hub with a drill a bit as the coating will reduce the diameter and you may have difficulty inserting the spoke.
The problem is if you do ever want to get the p/coating off, in which case a propane torch and a wire brush does the job.
Mike

[Desert Fox]

Please be careful if burning off powder coatings. Some of them still contain nasties when burnt.

[Rosco663]

Hi all,

I went for the painting option as per Bitumen Boy and others recommendations. You can see the details in the following thread. It wasn't as difficult or messy as first thought once I had set the job up.

http://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/forum/phpbb/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=13038&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=15

Four done with two more left to do

Cheers
_________________
Rosco