Coating/finishing wheels

[Ron Earp]

I've got a set of pin drive halibrands that need to be finished up.

The castings are good, but I need to paint/coat the centers. I don't want to polish them, I'm one of those that subscribes to the "Chrome won't get you home" philosophy (sorry, comes from my Anti-Poser No-Chrome biker line of thought, no offense).

Everything I have that is to look nice will be powder coated, ceramic coated, or painted. Not polished as I don't want the maintenence.

Thus, any thoughts on how best to finish the wheel centers? Would a nice black paint or coat be good for this? How are most of the Halibrands you've seen on cars finished?

Thanks,

Ron

 

[Dave Wharran]

I plan on painting my centers (BRM style). Remember seeing a blurb from Jongbloed that they don't recommend powder coating their wheels as the cure temperature can effect the heat treat. The Jongbloeds are 3 piece with cast aluminum or magnesium centers and spun aluminum rims. I know Eastwoods powder coating system cures at 400 degrees F. I don't know if this is hot enough to bother aluminum or magnesium castings or rims or not. I did coat my transaxle and throttle bodies, both aluminum castings with no obvious problems. I don't think I'll do the wheels though.

Por15 makes a clear paint for wheels that is advertised as being pretty tough I haven't used any yet. www.por15.com

Dave

 

[Guest]

Is there any body on the forum who has used the POR15 clear coat?? I have been trying to find something to clear coat polished aluminum to avoid the maintenance Ron mentioned. (Sorry Ron, I like polished metal ;-) The Eastwood Diamond Clear didn't work for me and this was on a plain flat piece of polished alloy. The POR 15, I agree, sounds good, but I am once bitten twice shy and really want to talk to a successful user; please!!

 

[Ron Earp]

I like polished metal too, it is just I'm not going to spend all my time polishing and not driving (or riding as on bikes).

Clear coat over polished would be good if it will last and not discolor over time, as those coatings used to in the 80s. They were very particular of chemicals and excessive photo-bleaching.

Ron

 

[Brian Kissel]

There is a good article in the July 2002 Streetrodder mag., about this. There is a new product out, that lays claim that once it is applied to your clean polished aluminum, it is sealed from oxidization for years. They also claim, that it resists water spotting, on aluminum. It is called ZOOPSEAL. I currently haven't tried it, but will be doing so in the future. You might check out their website. www.zoops.com
I am going to try it on some 24 kt. gold parts also. If it works as they claim, it sure would save a lot of time.

 

[Peter Delaney]

The POR-15 folks have a product called "Glisten" - It is a 2-pack clear finish, designed to go over Alloys & S/S, & is absolutely brilliant ! After reading a recommendation from an Alfa restorer who has used it on polished alloy cam covers, etc, I used it on my front suspension ('87 Corvette polished alloy), MK3 window frames, window hinges, etc. It provides a really smooth finish, is very tough, & is the only coating that I have ever used which is totally self-levelling after brushing. My local POR agent had some sample pieces of Al coated with Glisten & belted them with a ball-peen hammer - no cracking, just dents !

A couple of things to remember (from experience) :

- use POR's AP120 metal cleaner after polishing alloys or S/S - it won't leave marks at all & leaves the surface perfectly clean. You just brush it all over, leave it for about 2 mins, then hose it off & apply Glisten when completely dry.

- Don't try it on polished mild steel - it looks great for a month or 2, but then you start to see fine "veins" of rust forming under the coating.

I know I am starting to sound a bit like a POR salesman, but the stuff is just so good !

Kind Regards,

Peter D.

 

[Mark Clapp]

Ron, to your question about the wheel center color, Halibrands on the original cars were magnesium. It does turn black just a few hours after cleaning, but most painted wheels I've seen try to match the color of clean magnesium. Sorry I don't have any codes but it is sort of a gun-metal color; I used a color called medium titatnium. Maybe contact Trigo and see if they sell the paint for the centers.

 

[Guest]

Ron, the first place I would look for a magnesium look would be Eastwoods-- they have everything else from cadmium to cast iron.

Peter, thanks on the recommendation for Glisten. It sounds like what Eastwoods Diamond Clear is supposed to be, but wasn't by my experience.