Help restoring Henry Abe wheels

scott s

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Last year, I stumbled across a set of really rare Henry Abe wheels for my Honda CB500/550.

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These wheels were originally anodized, I believe. You can see the sort of plum color on the unrestored wheels. I'm told that this is old, faded anodizing.

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I took them to a friends body shop and used his soda blaster to clean them. I then spent a LONG time taping them up.
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I was going to have him paint them, but he's super busy so, after they sat there for a few months, I took them home and spray bombed them. They initially looked pretty good.
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However, I guess I didn't clean them well enough. The front one, anyway. Almost immediately, the paint started flaking off.
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How can I prep these wheels? I've considered paint stripper, but don't know what that will do to the aluminum. Maybe a ScotchBrite pad and retape, but what can I do to assure the paint sticks next time? I used some Preps All on a paper towel before painting them last time, but apparently I didn't do something right.

The lips of the spokes are machined. The lips of the rim are smoother, but I don't think I can polish them to a mirror shine. At least not with the equipment I have.
 
Nice wheels. I have read easy off oven cleaner will remove old anodizing. Could look that up to verify and try it, then clean and prep again. I have had good luck with Duplicolor or rustoleum self etching primer then paint on wheels. You can hand polish the edges with wetdry sandpaper, 400-600-800-1000-2000 polish compound.

Cheers

Maritime

Edit. the wheels should be marked tubelss if they are and if you don't know for sure, just run tubes to be safe.
 
I'm told that you have to really clean an item after soda blasting. Think that was the problem or was it the anodizing?
The rear seems to be holding up OK. I'm going to work on the front wheel with a ScothcBrite pad, re-clean and try again, I guess.
 
I'd say they're worth investing a bit in and having them powder coated. Not sure where you are, but get in touch with Joe on the board here (JRK5892) - he does it professionally in the Chicago area.

www.thepowderpro.com

Otherwise I've seen people use 'appliance epoxy' spray paint with success.
 
I was told by a local (automotive) wheel repair shop that they don't have a way to mask off the highlighted areas. They powdercoat the entire wheel and then re-machine. I did get the vibe that they just didn't want to mess with the wheels, though.
If I were to powdercoat I'd have to remove the bearings and I don't have the special bearing retainer tool. I could figure something out, I'm sure, but.....
 
The best way to get anodizing off of aluminum is to let it soak in Castrol Super Clean, sit back and watch it bubbling as it eats off the anodizing. And no worries about it damaging the aluminum, I have used this before to on my CX500 switch controls and it worked great, but you will need to clean it off after with a light sanding using a high grit sandpaper
Here is a link to a posting of it
http://cxgl.wikispaces.com/How+to+Polish+Aluminum+%28by+LRCXed%29
 
I'll start with your last question:
They originally shipped with tubes. They can be run tubeless, but you have to drill the rim where the stem goes to fit the new tubeless stem. The front wheel has a very narrow groove in the center, so many tubeless stems will not fit in there without either modifying the stem or doing a little machining to the wheel.

The powdercoater that you talked to is full of shit. He is just too fuckin' lazy to mask the wheels properly. You need a powdercoater who is a craftsman and interested in doing good work. You can also do that yourself. You just need to buy some high-temperature tape suitable for powdercoating.
http://www.columbiacoatings.com/store/p/5190-Green-Poly-High-Temp-Tape.aspx

Two things about the soda blasting. One, it is probably not aggressive enough for this task. For paint OR powdercoat to stick properly, you need to sandblast. Aluminum oxide is usually used for sandblasting for powdercoating. It gives the surface enough tooth for the coating to adhere. Two, soda has to be washed off with WATER. You may have still had some soda on the surface, which interfered with the paint.

Here's what I think you should do. I am keeping in mind that you are trying to do this on the cheap, but you see that it gets you poor results, so bite the bullet and do it right.

Remove the bearings from the wheels. I know it isn't always easy, but skipping that step is shoddy work. Those bearing should be cleaned thoroughly and repacked with a good marine grease like Lucas Red & Tacky.

Have them sandblasted.

Clean up the spoke faces and outer bead area using 120 sandpaper. Be careful not to round over your edges. In my shop, i would use a flap wheel on an air tool. You probably don't have that so do the best you can by hand.

Mask the areas where you don't want powdercoat. As you know, it's a time consuming and tedious process. (That's why your lazy powdercoater doesn't want to do it.)

Have them powdercoated.

After you have stripped off the masking, you can decide what you want to do with the raw aluminum areas. You can leave them with the 120 grit surface, which if you have done properly, will have a brushed look. You can use ScotchBrite to make a finer brushed look, or you can sand with finer and finer grits of sandpaper and finish by polishing with a buffing wheel.

Edited to add: NEVER use Easy Off Oven Cleaner on aluminum. It can give you a long-term continuing corrosion problem that will haunt you forever. That shit dissolved aluminum, and it will penetrate into pores of the aluminum, and cause corrosion to happen underneath whatever coating you put on those wheels.
 
I totally got the feeling the car wheel guy just didn't want to do it. That's OK....if he doesn't want my money, I'm not going to beg him to take it.

I'm awaiting a quote from a local guy whose work I like. Gonna see if he can prep and paint them and at what cost.

BTW, the last set of these wheels with an 18" rear sold on ebay for $1,496 and $1,827!!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NOS-Henry-Abe-Honda-CB750F-Aluminum-Mag-Wheels-New-Old-Stock-CB-750-Cafe-Racer-/150969442527?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item23267ae0df&vxp=mtr

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HENRY-ABE-DAYTONA-SEVEN-STAR-MAG-WHEELS-HONDA-CB750-K0-K6-HAYASHI-LESTER-/110968908624?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr&hash=item19d6432b50&nma=true&si=LAQnSOkm5WQPZPkRpfrQ8XFy9MA%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557
 
You can remove the bearings with a $1 expanding anchor concrete bolt. Slip it into the bearing, tighten it down expanding the anchor in the bearing race, and then use a rod/hammer from the other end to drive it out.

Destroys a 40 year old bearing that needs to be replaced anyhow with a new $10 sealed unit. Do this before you bother painting the wheels, or after if you're powder coating them (although I think bearings survive powder coating ovens).
 
Tim said:
You can remove the bearings with a $1 expanding anchor concrete bolt. Slip it into the bearing, tighten it down expanding the anchor in the bearing race, and then use a rod/hammer from the other end to drive it out.

Destroys a 40 year old bearing that needs to be replaced anyhow with a new $10 sealed unit. Do this before you bother painting the wheels, or after if you're powder coating them (although I think bearings survive powder coating ovens).

Not quite. Not on Honda wheels. The front wheel has a retainer. Someone's been beating on this one before.
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The rear also has a retainer. This is on a Lester wheel, but same idea.
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Edited to add: NEVER use Easy Off Oven Cleaner on aluminum. It can give you a long-term continuing corrosion problem that will haunt you forever. That shit dissolved aluminum, and it will penetrate into pores of the aluminum, and cause corrosion to happen underneath whatever coating you put on those wheels.
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Good to know, that's why I said to look into it as I had no first hand knowledge of that.
 
I've had guys tell that they have used oven cleaner to clean old aluminum, and they would never do it again. They had constant problems with retuning white corrosion.
 
As others have said, the best results take a lot of time.


Good suggestions above, I order the operation in this way:


If you are planing to have any area polished, meticulously tape that area off
Media blast (Sand or glass bead will work depending on how much "tooth" you want it to have)
Remove tape and polish to your hearts content
Clean thoroughly to remove all polishing compound
Pull old bearings (and expect to put new ones in after)
Clean thoroughly again
Re-mask off polished areas and bearing races with high-temp tape
Powdercoat process
Gasp at your amazing wheels when you get them back from the PC process
Install new bearings
Install tubes/tires/etc.


As always, individual results will vary. I have helped a friend do this process exactly (even PC at home) and things turned out awesome and are still amazing almost 6 years later.
 
I have to say those are some bad ass wheels. I would have to say they would be worth putting some time and money in to.
 
With your method of doing polishing before powdercoating, the powdercoater could then strip off the masking, and apply clear powdercoat over the whole thing and the polished aluminum will stay polished. Requires really, really meticulous cleaning with acetone before powdercoating because traces of the polishing compound on the surface can cause outgassing bubbles in the powdercoat.
 
AlphaDogChoppers said:
With your method of doing polishing before powdercoating, the powdercoater could then strip off the masking, and apply clear powdercoat over the whole thing and the polished aluminum will stay polished. Requires really, really meticulous cleaning with acetone before powdercoating because traces of the polishing compound on the surface can cause outgassing bubbles in the powdercoat.

This would be my choice if the wheels were mine. Especially if you plan to actually ride the bike they are going on. Even if it doesn't rain on you you get enough crap off the roads to make the shine go fast on unprotected polished aluminum. I am waiting to save the $$ to have my valve covers done on the GL cause I am sick of re-polishing every winter
 
+1 for clear PC over polished accents.


If we would have been aware of that option back then we would have done so.


(not certain how long clear PC has been around?)


And another +1 for those wheels being well worth the effort!
 
I do a LOT of aluminum polishing, and I clear powdercoat almost every piece I polish. I like the polished aluminum look, but I would rather ride than re-polish. 8)
 
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