Comstar Powdercoating

rs_ss350

Active Member
Hi guys, so i brought my comstars to the powdercoater, and he told me to get them painted, because the assembled wheel will want to expand and nylocks melt (are there nylocks?) putting the whole wheel out of whack.. Went to the painter he recommended, and he sent me back to the powdercoater... but i didn't go back. am considering painting myself with rattlecan, but first i want to confirm with any of you guys who might have had experience powdering comstars... was his concern valid?

Thanks!
 
too deeply invested in the comstars to turn back now. http://www.dotheton.com/forum/index.php?topic=73476

Doing spokes on the 77 so wanted to keep comstars on this one.
 
While there have been several instances of powder-coat jobs done on COMSTAR wheels, some fine BOOMERANG wheels in good colour-matched GOLD (from Silver or Black original Boomerang wheels, no less) done on other 'F-orums & Four-ums. Lemme dig one up for you here.

http://www.cb1100f.net/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=69170&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=powdercoat+gold+boomerang&start=0


But that having been SAID, I think it's also important to note that there MIGHT be some heat-sensitive material in the Comstar wheels.

After my 2013 house-fire, wherein my '82 CB750F was parked at the end of the driveway having been 'rescued' twice - once by myself on my way out the door and then a second time by a sympathetic bike-nut fireman (what a good dude!) nevertheless the heat coming off the place managed to cook the bike and especially those wheels. Important to note, this was in winter ("local weather patterns" notwithstanding!) and the rear tire only melted slightly while the front tire was mostly intact though far from ride-able. Paint was cooked off most of the bike, in fact the POWDER-COAT was cooked off of the Comstar wheels themselves - I also yanked my '81-'82 CBX caliper-hangers (((standard twin-puck calipers but 296mm discs up from 276mm, sort of a "sleeper" mod, especially with replica CB1100RB dished one-peice rotors, available for cheap-cheap-cheap from Metalgear Australia - an awesome mod when paired to a 19" rim but even better when you swap to an 18" front!))) yanked 'em straight out of the ashes where the house once stood - they're intact but the black powder-coat was turned to a black 'soot' which wiped off at the slightest touch.

So I figger I've discovered a new method for removing stubborn powder-coat! Whatcha call "serendipity"! Whatcha call life giving you lemons.

ANYWAY - when I then went to disassemble those Comstar rims -

(((FOR a rebuilt 18" using '79 style non-"reverse" spokes from early CM400's 1.85x18" single-disc front wheel with dual-disc hub and Akront 'NERVI' rim in 2.50x18" which is substantially lighter than the D.I.D. equivalent.....)))

I found the nuts holding spoke-blades to the hub itself, the "assembly bolts" if you like, or rather I should say the "DO NOT DISASSEMBLE" bolts, were only finger tight!

Normally those bolts are so tight as to round off the three-lobed head from the bolt itself. They SEEM as though the nut & bolt might have some sort of "obturating thread", but now that I've seen 'em "COOK OFF" I'm inclined to suspect a THREAD LOCK material of some sort. 'Cause they cooked off clean.

IN that same fire, I also had a conical rear disc hub from KZ750B/KZ1000A stuffed away in the freezer, for a stuck bearing. IT'S made up of an alloy core with a chromed-steel spoke flange on the right-hand-side (brake side, I should say) Well that joint is nothing but a smooth round surface a "lip" without even so much as an interference fit - I had POLISHED mine, so I was keen to recover the stupid thing, and risked death most horrid just getting it back. Imagine my disappoingment when that spoke flange came off in the sink - but the RELIEF in knowing it did so while it wasn't on the damn BIKE! When the joint came apart, there was a blackened dust in the dry space within (dry despite having soaked for days in the sink, which is to say it must've been still "stuck" to a point but the material had lost it's strength) and a distinct smell of EPOXY emanated from this powder. As opposed to the crust of blackened frozen-mixed-vegetables which I'd been chipping from the once polished surfaces. (((Such a pain in the butt, polishing that hub - rough as a gravel road when cast, painted with resilient coatings and such tiny lil' nooks in the middle where you could only reach with the crook of your hand

So having been forewarned about that hub, it's cool to note that it'll fit a front COMSTAR type rotor! It's a four bolt hub & five bolt rotor, but otherwise perfect fitment. Meaning it could be a decent swap for a wire spoke DOHC-4 with a rear disc, though to be honest I'd prefer a drum rear hub anywhere you can get away with it.

Well whatever - the COMSTAR wheels are the way to go. Check out the powder-coat threads but at the same time check out the REBUILD stuff - maybe kill two birds with the one stone......



-S.
 
If you sent the wheels to me to coat I would just remove the bolts and nuts at the hub and coat the wheel. Many Comstars have been coated in the past. Or remove just the cuts if they are Nylocs and replace them after coating using a thread locker.
I would be extremely careful about burning off powder coat. The temps needed to burn it off are usually in 700-800° range and could negatively effect the composition of the metal. Chemical stripping is the best and easiest way to remove powder, but some don't like dealing with the safety issues related with it's use.
 
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