Any thoughts on repainting wheels?

[expjawa]

I want to put a set of white wheels and red tires on my Schwinn American, but I'd like to avoid buying new wheels or rims and having wheels built up. I'm thinking about painting a set of wheels I have, which are pretty rusty at the moment, but I think will clean up acceptably. Does anyone have any tips on painting wheels that are still assembled? Also, if I clean the wheel with a courser steel wool, will that scuff up the surface of the chrome enough for primer to adhere, or will I still have issues sticking to the old chrome no matter what? Any thoughts would be helpful.

Thanks.

 

[yoder327]

I'm in the same boat as Jawa. Anyone out there have any tips for us?

 

[expjawa]

I think that regarding painting the assembled wheel, I don't have much choice but to mask off the end of each spoke. But I think that from maybe a half inch out (or inward, I suppose), I can tape paper over the hub and most of the spoke lengths. That ought to cover everything needed and still allow adequate paint coverage between the nipples on the rim. Kind of a PITA, but it is what it is, I think.

I still have the open question about paint adhesion, though. Can an old chrome-plated rim be paint prepped sufficently, or will there always be problems getting the paint to stick?

 

[KJV]

sand the chrome with 220,primer with self etching primer.cut slits in straws put over spokes,
taped @ nipple.

 

[yoder327]

Anything wrong with painting the spokes too? My goal is to have as little chrome on the bike as possible. I think the only thing not painted will be the hubs and the crankset.

 

[blackdiamond]

I rattlecaned my westports rims red viewtopic.php?f=6&t=35508&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=30
they look perfect, if you have the patence to paint every single spoke.

 

[yoder327]

Wow all those bikes are gorgeous! Props to you my friend!

When you say patience to paint every spoke, you didn't wet sand them all did you? Any tips for us? Things you would have done differently??

Thanks for your help!

 

[Anonymous]

I unlace all my rims for painting.Way easier for sanding prep.

Quick and easy if your reusing your original spokes...tape them all together before unlacing.Note where the valve stem was.

Be very careful sliding the spokes back in.

Been there done that.

 

[Anonymous]

Sand the bare rims down to bare metal or close to it.

If there are any pits still left ...scrub them clean then prime them then swab on some Bondo spot filler in the pits.Be heavy,it shrinks a little.

Sand smooth...DONE

 

[twomorestrokes]

Of course you'd get the best results by breaking the wheels down. I do that for restorations but I got nice results on my klunker when leaving them together. I just sanded the chrome the best I could, and masked the spoke off with blue painter's tape. Not too bad of job but I like the straw idea. Seems to be holding up well. They were black first, now red.

You could always sell the chrome S-7s if they are in decent shape and get some poor finish painted S-7s for cheap.

 

[expjawa]

Thanks for the input everyone.

You could always sell the chrome S-7s if they are in decent shape and get some poor finish painted S-7s for cheap.

Except they're not S-7's. Somewhere along the way, someone replaced the original wheels with the smaller diameter 26" rims with 26 x 1.75" Bridgestones. That suited my purpose, since I wanted to put balloon tires on it.

 

[twomorestrokes]

If they are not S-7s then I'd scuff and paint 'em. What do you have to lose?

 

[expjawa]

Good point. Thanks.

 

[Strings_and_steam]

Ive re-painted two sets, neither of which I took apart (other than having taken the guts out of a coaster brake to clean anyway. One set I painted spokes and all, and the other just the rims/spoke nipples. In both cases, make sure everything is super clean, scuffing them up with some steel wool or similar (I recommend Micro-mesh products, I use these fine cloth abrasive papers for violin finishing, they make up to a 12,000 grit), and laying down at least two coats of primer before colour. Here's a few pics for you, the first of the completed wheels (all painted copper) and the second a few of the prep process for the rims only. More pics can be seen the the thread in my signature. Do remember that if it's a bike with caliper brakes that they will likely wind up eating through some of your paint over time, and might leave black scuffs on the rims. I'm hopign to solve the scuff problem by using coloured brake pads, they make all sorts of colours!