Painted Rotors and Rims (Lots of Pics)

[ron bayless]

Yes, we taped, and it was actually kind of easy, albeit somewhat time consuming. We used painters tape and laid it over the bare aluminum, then got a razor blade and simply sliced it right along the sides where we wanted to cut it.

Don't know about wax, but I have definitely read about people using the same technique with vasoline.

tapeworks.com has stuff for rims too.

[justin caise]

stoopid qustion #17;
remove the tires before using phosphoric acid degreaser/descaler? Or just mask them off?

[J_C]

Well, I knew I was replacing them anyway, so I didn't care. But even afterwards, I didn't notice anything to the touch or feel in terms of having altered the rubber. That being said.... I'm sure someone will come along and say something to the effect of "You only have two wheels which makes your tires twice as important, don't gamble with safety." I'm not inclined to disagree with them; I think you'd be fine using some tape.

[Road_Clam]

Awesome job! Taking the time to refinish the GS cast wheels will pay you ten fold, when everything is complete. I simply left my wheels silver matte, and then just did a clear coat. I also painted my rotor hubs "imitation Brembo brakes" gold.

[J_C]

Yeah it's pretty neat

If I had to do it again, I would have spent a little more time on the polishing of the aluminum. I'm convinced that with a lot of 400 grit sandpaper or maybe some kind of sand bar (does that exist?) I could remove enough of the little pit spots to have it REALLY shine. As it is, I couldn't get the insides to really shine as it comes grooved from the factory. Through the steel wire wheel mostly did away with the grooves, if I had spent more time I could really get it to a point where a buffing wheel would have kicked ass.

[pozzi]

Yeah it's pretty neat

If I had to do it again, I would have spent a little more time on the polishing of the aluminum. I'm convinced that with a lot of 400 grit sandpaper or maybe some kind of sand bar (does that exist?) I could remove enough of the little pit spots to have it REALLY shine. As it is, I couldn't get the insides to really shine as it comes grooved from the factory. Through the steel wire wheel mostly did away with the grooves, if I had spent more time I could really get it to a point where a buffing wheel would have kicked ass.

they make foam blocks that you can wrap with sand paper to work into different surface contours.

Eastwood carries an assortment of foam block shapes to accomotdate almost anything you'll ever run into.
Here is a kit of Soft Sanders for around $25:


also, wetsanding with a higher grit (800/1000/2000) will also get you a better shine after you've done your work with the 400.

yours still turned out great!

[J_C]

Oh yeah, I know...I would have gone 400, 800, 1000, 1500, 2000, white rouge I just got tired of buying sandpaper. I need a 400 grit block made out of steel or something?

Cool product!

[renobruce]

J C,

Did you use the clear on the bare aluminum too, or just over the black?
The rims look great! I'm going to do the same thing. I just finished spraying a set of rims with some aircraft stripper... getting them ready to polish and paint.

[txironhead]

I've used that Dupli-Color Engine and High Heat for years on bikes with wonderful results. Long-lasting, durable and very fast drying times.

If the tire is off of the bike you can degrease/prep it with Wal-Mart brand carb and choke aerosol cleaner. About $1.19 a can, I used to buy it by the case. Doesn't leave any residue and gets the part CLEAN. Dries the crap out of your hands, though, so wear chemical resistant gloves or don't get any on you.

As far as the wax idea goes, some paints will "dissolve" a bit of the wax and you'll end up with an absolute mess. To mask a troublesome area, use 3M Blue tape and a SHARP razor blade or Xacto knife. The tape sticks great and you just trim the excess off. I've done rims, rotors, even engines (polished fins on black engines, etc.) this way, it's really easy once you get the hang of it. It comes in various thicknesses, too.

The parts look great! My compliments on great bang for buck ratio!

BTW, I painted the tins on my '85 Shadow VT700C with Duplicolor Truck and Van, Emerald Teal, 5 coats color, wet sanded, then 5 coats of clear wet sanded and polished. Nobody believed it was spray paint, thought I'd had it professionally done, and it lasted great for two years before I had to sell her. Last I saw it it still sparkled like new. Total cost: $36.50 including primer, tape and a small tube of scratch glaze.

[txironhead]

Damn I need to learn to type faster.....:-D

[drhermanstein]

Looks great!
I did mine by: chemical paint stripping, hand-held sand blasting, automotive aluminum primer, Sikkens automotive silver basecoat and clearcoat.
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BTW how do you get full size multiple photos into a post?

Hey Cletus, go to the gen discuss forum I got great advice from the guys there how to post pics with photobucket. It's under How do I post pics.

Herman

[J_C]

Yeah I used the dupli-color high heat engine enamel (the 500 degree one) in gloss black. On the rotors I used the clear. HOWEVER, I noticed that after applying the clear it actually lost some of its black glossiness. I could have put too much on, but I just decided not to fuss with it.

So the rims are just black paint. I didn't clear coat so as not to lose the shine. As an added bonus, it'll be easier to quickly polish the inside portion of the rims again if I deem it necessary.


Thanks for the props guys!

[Mike_H]

Nice work. Looks good. I need to redo the black on my wheels as well this winter...course the whole bike needs paint/powdercoat and polish. I did polish my front wheel, lip and vanes. To get the machining grooves out, I started with 220, and a jitterbug sander That took care of most of it. I had to hand sand the corners, and of course, as soon as I made the jump to 400, it was wet sanding by hand. Once you have the machining lines gone though, it really goes quite quickly. Here is a pic of my wheel. NM the waterspots



[IMG]file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Mike/My%20Documents/My%20Pictures/motorcycle%20pics/DSCF0072.JPG[/IMG]

[gerkin]

pj1 satin black for me

quite a few of the rd boys in the uk swear by pji satin black engine case spray,ok for discs because it heat resistant,,plus it dont need a primer,,,pj1 painted wheel below my first attempt not to bad but some spokes have a rounded edge hence not as crisp as they should be...the back wheel was a lot better ,,also used the pj1 on all the alloy brake parts. calipers ,clock cups etc great stuff

http://www.aircooled-rd.com/forum/to...earchTerms=pj1 great on cases too!

[gerkin]

rd250 disc and wheel