Triumphrat

Craigore

Just wondering what success people have had with sandblasting, priming, and "spray-bombing" or "rattlecanning" their wheels/hubs. Yes, the correct way to do this is to de-lace and have everything powder coated- but no one in my area re-laces wheels. I have built bicycle wheels and am familiar with "dish"- or "offset", spoke tension, etc... I'd rather not ship everything to have it done. Was thinking about doing it myself with one of those Harbor Freight truing stands but am weary about the results.

Retro-Racer

I've never seen good looking results with rattle can painted wheels. It's very difficult to mask the spokes where they lace to the hub. Secondly, rattle can paint is not very durable and scratches/peels easily.

If you do try it, use quality automotive paint such as Dupli-color or SEM. Both brands sell an Adhesion Promoter, essentially a clear primer. Absolutely use it on all spray projects.

I recently sprayed a speedometer drive unit gloss black with Dupli-color engine enamel with fantastic results.

/M

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beemerrich

What Mike said. Lacing wheels isn't hard. You own a panhead, so working on this little project is cakewalk in comparison to normal maintance on that baby...

Regards,

--Rich

BirdoPrey

I have observed two things about lacing wheels.(Disclaimer: No expert, just a guy who has done it a couple of times).

First, the use of a dial indicator is very helpful. At first blush, it would seem that this only helps get the wheel dead on during the last final adjustments. However, what I find is that it more easily helps you observe the small changes that occur as you start bringing the wheel into alignment. In other words, if you need to move a spot on the wheel in some direction, the dial indicator will let you know right away if you are going in the right direction. Harbor Freight has a cheap one for around $35 or you could invest in a better one if you have need.

Second, you need a good straight wheel to start with. I have frustrated myself no end trying to true a wheel, the hoop of which had weaves and lumps in it.

So, if you are thinking about breaking down your wheel, just for painting, and reassembling, you might want to check to see how straight it was to begin with. If you know it was really true before, then you should be able to get it back after reassembling. But it it's a lot more wobbly than you realized at least you will know what's the best you should be able to expect.

And, as Retro-Racer mentioned, rattle can paint is usually not very durable as it is usually a type of lacquer and quite soft. However, hubs are pretty well protected and usually will only get wear and tear from reassembly and then cleaning. Just be sure you properly clean and prime prior to painting. Given the time and work of disassembling and reassembling wheels. better paint might be worth the cost.

Here is what I did...

http://artshobbyprojects.com/%2771wheels.htm


Art.

Craigore

Hey! Thanks for that post! I have dial indicator with a magnetic base, that's an interesting way to true a wheel but I might try it!
Think i'm going to do it myself this winter

Anyone have spec on spoke torque? I suppose as long as they're not loose on one side and tight on the other, i'll be fine.

BirdoPrey

Hi Craigore,

I dug out the paper work that I got from Buchanan Spoke and Wheel. It did not include a clear answer to your question "anyone have a spec on spoke torque?".

The instructions were minimal with a caution against not getting them tight enough.

From what I can understand about spokes, they can be viewed as a type of bolt. The purpose of "preload" is to prevent the "bolt" from stretching under load. If the spoke is not preloaded enough it will flex if the load exceeds the preload and, according to Buchanan, cause the spoke to break at the head.

All this makes very good sense however, it would be nice if it could be translated into actual numbers that you could use. Unfortunately, the only number that I see in the paper work references "large displacement cycles" which it says should be torqued to "in excess of 80 inch pounds". And, according to them will require the use of "a close fitting 6"to 8" wrench".

All of this is not very helpful as one would need to know what gauge spoke was being used with "large displacement cycles" and then be able to adjust the torque setting to the gauge of spoke you are working with. Furthermore, it would be important to reduce any additional friction such as is found in the nipple head to rim contact point as this would throw your figures off.

In the end, I did basically what you suggested, tried to tighten them evenly to a firm torque and figured I will check them after riding a bit. Not very scientific but it's all I've got.

Art.

DEcosse

Enjoyed reading your whole blog on the Triumph project - well done!

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Craigore

Thanks for clearing that up.

andrewp

i highly suggest removing the wheels/hubs and powder coat them properly.

but if you wanted to see what they would look like, you could just plastidip them, lots of people do that to car wheels without even removing them, i've even seen entire cars plastidipped... just do a search. it's by no means a permanent solution as any nick or tear you will have to peel it off and do it again. but its cheap (couple bucks a can). You don't need to sand/prime just make sure the surface is clean (maybe tape off the spokes/tire and trim carefully with a blade. it's a neat product, i went on a bit of a rampage and sprayed all sorts of random stuff around the house lol.

ap

Thrux-ton-up

Going to all the trouble of disassembly and re-lacing, why not powder coat then? The cost if you shop around should not be too high. I did these 2 rims last week for a cafe CB750. Powder is super durable.

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