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hey guys

I just got done tearing apart the winter rims for my buddy bike and I have a question

the spokes are rusted pretty badly and im planning on sticking the whole rim in the sandblaster to get the spokes and hubs nice and clean
I am then planning on shooting some paint over them to keep em looking nice

hubs, spokes, no problem BUT the rims are polished aluminum and im not sure how to treat them
If they get "scuffed" by the sandblasting (not full on but by being in the cabinet while it is in use) will I be able to hit them with a scotchbrite pad or some OO steel wool to get the shine back ?

or should I polish the lips up a bit and tape them off before sticking them in the cabinet and then just painting the centers off them ?

im not going for show stoppers here, just winter wheels for the buddy bike but I want it to get as good as I can

"will I be able to hit them with a scotchbrite pad or some OO steel wool to get the shine back ?"

noooooope

break out the tape

If the spokes are rusted that badly I'd just replace them. Cost of new SS spokes is worth the piece of mind for me, plus it makes cleaning up the hub and rim a LOT easier when its all apart. Building a wheel is not difficult. But then I guess I fall into Batesys camp

Soda blast everything, paint the spokes silver, wet sand the outer lip of the wheels with 400 grit then clear the rims/ hubs and put them back together.

Roadhazardguy wrote:Soda blast everything, paint the spokes silver, wet sand the outer lip of the wheels with 400 grit then clear the rims/ hubs and put them back together.

+.5

Try to soda blast every thing still assembled and see what they look like. It wouldn't hurt to try a "magic eraser" on the rim to get the crap off and see what is still there. The spokes should be stainless so painting shouldn't be required.

Look for spoke coats at ebay.

rbates9 wrote:

Roadhazardguy wrote:Soda blast everything, paint the spokes silver, wet sand the outer lip of the wheels with 400 grit then clear the rims/ hubs and put them back together.

+.5

Try to soda blast every thing still assembled and see what they look like. It wouldn't hurt to try a "magic eraser" on the rim to get the crap off and see what is still there. The spokes should be stainless so painting shouldn't be required.

right now, that's the plan
I was a little surprised the see the amount of rust on the spokes but it came off pretty easy with a wire brush but I just don't feel like doing all that work by hand

as for replacing the spokes, I don't think that is necessary, it doesn't look like the rust penetrated the spokes very deep and I don't think the structural integrity is damaged

Postigo wrote:Look for spoke coats at ebay.

you mean those straws you have wrapped around your spokes?

I stopped doing that when I was 7


(actually did look them up and considering getting them in green or purple, but only AFTER blasting the rust off the spokes)

You'll need an etching for all the aluminum bits or it will peel pretty quickly. The best option is to have it powdercoated, painted aluminum if done correctly works OK but still not very durable.

I deal with this on customer snowmobile parts all the time. Do a little googleing about painting aluminum.

It's about a boat but this goes over the process pretty well http://voices.yahoo.com/how-properly-pa ... tml?cat=11

diymirage wrote:

rbates9 wrote:

Roadhazardguy wrote:Soda blast everything, paint the spokes silver, wet sand the outer lip of the wheels with 400 grit then clear the rims/ hubs and put them back together.

+.5

Try to soda blast every thing still assembled and see what they look like. It wouldn't hurt to try a "magic eraser" on the rim to get the crap off and see what is still there. The spokes should be stainless so painting shouldn't be required.

right now, that's the plan
I was a little surprised the see the amount of rust on the spokes but it came off pretty easy with a wire brush but I just don't feel like doing all that work by hand

as for replacing the spokes, I don't think that is necessary, it doesn't look like the rust penetrated the spokes very deep and I don't think the structural integrity is damaged

Postigo wrote:Look for spoke coats at ebay.

you mean those straws you have wrapped around your spokes?

I stopped doing that when I was 7


(actually did look them up and considering getting them in green or purple, but only AFTER blasting the rust off the spokes)

It seems that you going to start doing it again. Lol
Another tip on the wheel restoration is to use some blue magic paste on the rims and some eagle one mag cleaner on the hub.

not planning on separating the hub from the rim so the mag one cleaner is out of the question

I started today with a scotchbrite pad on the rim, that came out looking ok
I will tape off the outer part of the rim and then soda blast everything else and paint it silver







while cleaning them I cam across this though





i'm thinking of cutting a groove on the inside of the crack and laying a bead in there, then grinding that down to almost smooth again and I should be good right ?

Yeah my rear wheel on my atk is welded on both sides and its fine. A lot of people say that's a big no no but I've put a lot of miles on a front wheel that was cracked worse than that and also on both sides but running a welded rim will definitely be better than just leaving it. They all crack at the original welded seam eventually so I would just weld it and keep an eye on it.

diymirage wrote:not planning on separating the hub from the rim so the mag one cleaner is out of the question

I started today with a scotchbrite pad on the rim, that came out looking ok
I will tape off the outer part of the rim and then soda blast everything else and paint it silver







while cleaning them I cam across this though





i'm thinking of cutting a groove on the inside of the crack and laying a bead in there, then grinding that down to almost smooth again and I should be good right ?

don't need to remove the spokes to clean the hub with the mag cleaner. Use an old tooth brush and avoid contact with the rim and you will see how good it looks after the cleanup. To clean the spokes you can use a scotchbrite with soapy water to remove the rust and dirt.

My 95 200 rescue had fairly stained spokes from the PO. I don't know what did it but it would not come off.

So I put my big boy panties on and tore the wheels apart and cleaned each individual spoke as best I could, cleaned the hubs and painted them green, I used Grabber Green engine paint. There are a couple of pictures of another bike done the same way in another thread above this one. I'm too lazy to learn how to post pictures!

Some may not like what I did to the spokes but I do. While the wheels were apart I painted the spokes black like the KTMs have been recently.

Relacing the wheels and truing them was time consuming and a bit frustrating at times, but all in all not that bad.

I don't know why it would be a no no to weld the rim they usually crack where the factory welds them.

Well, thanks for all the advice guys

I taped up all but the center inch of the rim and sandblasted everything that was left exposed
I then painted the hud, spokes, nipples and that center inch with silver rim paint

Once the paint dries I will remove the tape and have the crack welded
Then I will put down a few coats of clear

Ill post some pics once the tape is off

diymirage wrote:Well, thanks for all the advice guys

I taped up all but the center inch of the rim and sandblasted everything that was left exposed
I then painted the hud, spokes, nipples and that center inch with silver rim paint

Once the paint dries I will remove the tape and have the crack welded
Then I will put down a few coats of clear

Ill post some pics once the tape is off

The recommendation for aluminum is to SODA blast them NOT sand blast them.

honoutly Batesy, I have no idea what medium I used
we have a blasting cabinet at work and I used what ever was in there

seemed to work out allright though

rbates9 wrote:The recommendation for aluminum is to SODA blast them NOT sand blast them.

Should you use coke or pepsi?