Painting spoked wheels

Lunanzar

Lunanzar

Bare-knuckle Boxing Champion
So I replaced the bearings, sanded and cleaned, and then trued the wheel with a buddy of mine.

If i tape off the innards enough- would it mess anything up to just rattle can the spokes and rim?

So far my only concern would be it not looking as smooth as a powder coat finished rim- but at the same expense i am NOT taking apart my rim and having them all individually powder coated. And I really want a black rim for my plans to my bike, and I don't have a lot of money.

Any catastrophic failures I should be expecting?

Thank you
 
nope not to my knowledge, a lot of people rattle can the wheels after they are laced and trued. just make sure all dirt/grime/residue is removed and tape off etc..
 
Thank you sir, that's really reassuring.

My room mates keep telling me they're certain it will cause problems, but i'm certain they're just stupid.
 
Hard to get the assembly dirt free before painting. If you need to adjust the spokes, you'll crack the paint. Unless... you can slit drinking straws and tape up over the spokes and nipples. Then paint your hub and hoop. Spokes can be tightened if needed and nothing will get cracked/chipped in the process. Will give you "the look" w/o messing up the spokes. Or, paint the spokes a contrasting color, then do the straws and spray your hub and hoop....

Simple. Cheap. Works.
 
I spray painted mine and I haven't had any problems. I agree with scruffy, if you paint the spokes and rim together, you will probably mess up the paint if you try to adjust the spokes later. Maybe you could clean up the nipples, tape them off and then paint the spokes and rims, leaving the nipples bare.

When you get the tires installed, they may scratch the paint.

Are the rims currently chrome? It is really hard to scuff those up enough to get the paint to stick well. My paint bubbled the first time I did that. The second time I spent more time and cleaned them with MEK instead of alcohol like the first time. The paint stuck better. However, the paint will still scratch off fairly easy if they hit something.

DSC00210.JPG
 
I spent A LOT of time taping up my wheels. I also painted the middle of the hubs at the same time as the rims.

DSC00206.JPG
 
Yes they are currently chrome. I painted my forks, and just hit them with some sandpaper and then wiped it as clean as I could, and it stuck and looks really clean and smooth. Would it be safe to assume if that went so well, the same paint and sand paper treatment would give the same result?

and no the forks were not chrome.
 
You need to break every last bit of "shine" to effectively paint chrome. 220 grit, self-etching primer, high build primer, then color coat. If you prefer appliance epoxy, a couple light coats, then a medium to wet coat will hide the scratches, and no primer is needed (read the can, it recommends no primer).
 
Just my opinion: it's easier and the results are better if you just break the wheels down into separate parts. Remove the spokes, prep everything separately, paint / polish whatever needs it, and reassemble.
 
Re: Re: Painting spoked wheels

Big Rich said:
Just my opinion: it's easier and the results are better if you just break the wheels down into separate parts. Remove the spokes, prep everything separately, paint / polish whatever needs it, and reassemble.
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+1
 
actually if you check out the $50 mod thread i did a how to in there about 4 years ago... let me know if you need any help
 
There are 2 concerns with painting while assembled. Everyone mentions cracking the paint if you true the wheel, most are referring to the nipple and spoke junction. Most people don't realize that the nipple has a recess before threads start in them so chances are slim that painting will fuse this junction. Painting will fuse the nipple to the rim hole though and the other concern is on many spoke wheels the spokes actually touch each other where they cross mid wheel. this junction will fuse together also and a as soon as you ride and the assembly flexes it will break this fusion creating a spot for rust to occur. Same concerns with powder coating an assembled wheel.
 
JRK5892 said:
actually if you check out the $50 mod thread i did a how to in there about 4 years ago... let me know if you need any help
Click to expand...
Can you post the link to that thread?
 
o1marc said:
There are 2 concerns with painting while assembled. Everyone mentions cracking the paint if you true the wheel, most are referring to the nipple and spoke junction. Most people don't realize that the nipple has a recess before threads start in them so chances are slim that painting will fuse this junction. Painting will fuse the nipple to the rim hole though and the other concern is on many spoke wheels the spokes actually touch each other where they cross mid wheel. this junction will fuse together also and a as soon as you ride and the assembly flexes it will break this fusion creating a spot for rust to occur. Same concerns with powder coating an assembled wheel.
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where in the fuck do you come up with this shit? a rattle can paint job is gonna make a 40 year old set of spokes rust. Do you even think about how dumb the things you type are
 
To the op there are thousands of bikes on this very site that run painted wheels. On the off chance that a few spokes need adjusted its a simple touch up
 
bradj said:
where in the fuck do you come up with this shit? a rattle can paint job is gonna make a 40 year old set of spokes rust. Do you even think about how dumb the things you type are
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How do you figure this is dumb. If you have 2 pieces of metal that are touching each other and you paint them as a unit as soon as you ride that bike and the spokes flex that fusion of touching parts will break free exposing the base metal to the elements and your wheels will start to look like they did before you needed to paint them because they were already trashed. It doesn't matter if it's rattle can, pro paint or powder coat the issue is there. Which is why in my powder coating business I will never coat a wheel that is assembled. It's not something I have to think about but something I have experienced in my 45 years of building race vehicles.
 
They were completely exposed since the 70s and all of the sudden it a problem. And for a seasoned vet you sure are asking some soft ball questions.
 
bradj said:
They were completely exposed since the 70s and all of the sudden it a problem. And for a seasoned vet you sure are asking some soft ball questions.
Click to expand...


I never said I knew everything. When it come to electrical stuff I am sorely lacking. It seems most of the people here rattle canning their wheels are trying to cover up that 40 years of rust. It least it took 40 years to get to that stage. Rattle canning them assembled should only take about 1 year to get back there with the paint flaking off and exposing more rust. But that's okay because you can shoot some more crap paint over it. It'll never look as good or hold like a proper paint or powder coated job will.
 
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