Wheel Paint?

[renobruce]

How hot did you bake them? and for how long?

Baking rattle can paint doesn't typically make it harder, just cure faster. There there thermal setting paints that require heat, but those are not off the shelf stuff.

Something I noticed on the cans of the VHT stuff:

"After the part is completely dry, it must be cured to substantially increase the durability of the finish and enhance the chemical resistance. Bake at 200 deg. F for 1 hour."

Caliper paint and Duplicolour Ceramic Motor paint are the same stuff... Same formula, same can different label... They ARE both pretty impervious BTW, Ive spilled BRAKE FLUID on them and it didnt do a darn thing to it. I shot my ES wheels with it, stuff is tough as nails, EXCEPT, its brittle. Flying hard stuff like a stone MIGHT chip it, or changing a tire over a barrel without a towel or something down will chip it too..This I KNOW...lol If you're going for black, get the Duplicolour. Its cheap, effective, and looks good.

You are right on the Duplicolor stuff. I noticed also that if I tried hard I could chip it off. The VHT stuff I'm using now seems alot better. It's also rated at a higher temperature (900 deg. as opposed to 500 deg.). I etch-primed and painted some test pieces with the VHT stuff, then baked it like they say, and I can't get it to chip off. If I run a screwdriver over it, it will leave a scratch mark but won't chip or flake. So if you decide to go the rattle can route, I would recommend the VHT over the Duplicolor. It's only about 2 bucks more per can.

[doctorgonzo]

I used VHT and baked per instructions (god what a stench) , and it seems pretty durable.

[Nessism]

Ok, you guys got me on the engine paint. Yes, it needs heat to reach it's full strength. More common paint, doesn't need heat, but heat speeds up the cure.

Checked the VHT web site and they don’t sell a charcoal gray paint of any type. Closest thing they have is cast iron gray engine paint.

[Nessism]

Painted the wheels today. I'll post photos tomorrow after the paint is dry enough to take off the masking. I think they turned out pretty well.

Couldn't find any paint locally that matched the metallic gray of the stock wheels so I mixed my own using Por-15 silver engine paint and ChassisCoat Black. The POR guys recommended against mixing the paints but I decided to chance it. Color turned out well I think, maybe a smig dark but I like it. Shot the POR paint right on top of the metal after bead blasting the wheels. Was going to hit the wheels with epoxy primer first but learned today that So. Calif. outlawed epoxy paints like the PPG primer that works so well. Needless to say, I'm pretty annoyed about that. The POR paint is pretty good stuff so I think it will stick well enough to the metal - better than rattle can stuff at least. At any rate, that project is almost done.

[Nessism]

Painted the rotors today so should be able to bolt them on tomorrow.

[errorcauser]

Painted the rotors today so should be able to bolt them on tomorrow.

That looks really nice. What's the trick to getting the aluminum lip to shine like that ? Strip it and a buffing wheel ? Mine look like crap.

EDIT: I guess that was kind of a silly question. I'd say it's the same procedure as the engine covers...maybe.

[renobruce]

Those wheels look awesome!!

[Shin-Ken 1074]

Great job with those wheels, thanks for the project update, cheers.

[midnightcafe]

Review of self etching primers

excellent polishing job nessism. I'm planning to strip, etch prime and apply POR chassis paint to my wheels in the next week or two, depending on the weather. First I planned to to use acrylic enamel rattle can, but my friend used it on his cb750 frame and it looked like crap. A real shame since he had put so much effort into the prep work. You could tell it didn't adhere well enough and it was easy to damage.

I just etch primed my frame and swingarm last night... that frame was not an easy task. it turned out great but i didn't use a lint-free cloth to wipe it down and there was an abundance of cotton raised from the paint that I'll have to go back and remove, might have to sand the whole thing down.

From my experience with self etching primer, I have to recommend either Rustoleum or duplicolor over SEM. SEM would sputter even with proper use and is expensive. Duplicolor worked fine, but rustoleum lasted longer and was easier to spray (I used a spray trigger on duplicolor, the wide trigger on rustoleum wouldn't allow for it) and could spray at any angle.

[Zooks]

Caliper paint. Impervious to chemicals and heat. Top stuff!


Edit: My bad. I hadn't read the whole thread when I posted the above info. It appears I'm a little late.

[Nessism]

Caliper paint. Impervious to chemicals and heat. Top stuff!


Edit: My bad. I hadn't read the whole thread when I posted the above info. It appears I'm a little late.

I bought some Duplicolor brand caliper paint to use on my brake rotor flanges and that stuff is miserable to spray; goes on very dry looking, lots of orange peel, but runs easily if you get too much spray on there trying to get it to smooth out. Stuff goes on very thick as well. Stay clear of this stuff if you are particular about appearance.

[sachsaca]

Dupli color has a wheel paint, i think it's tougher than regular paint, no personal experience but fixing to have some, Charcoal gray also. GS 1000L.