This may not be the right place to post this, but it is a follow on to the plating work I've been doing.
I ended up having my somewhat ugly OEM CL77 rims powdercoated over the holidays and picked them up on Monday. It cost me $60 each to have them done in what is called "chrome". It is definitely not chrome, but I knew that going in. The guys at Powertech are stand up guys and have samples of all the colors and finishes they do. The chrome is pretty shiny and my goal was to get close to what aluminum rims look like. They came out a little greyer than aluminum, but they look a heluva lot better than before and won't rust. There was another color that was more of a true silver and probably might have been a better choice to emulate aluminum rims. Maybe next time.
I did not do a lot of prep work and had I known they would have looked this good, I probably would have had them sand blast them and then give them back to me so I could fill in the areas that were pitted or marred in some way prior to powdercoating. But I didn't and you can see the pitted areas in the valleys on each side of the spokes. But the goal was not to make them perfect, just make them decent and prevent future rust.
So attached are two pics of the front wheel. The spokes and nipples are the ones I replated and posted pics of here previously. I'm very happy with how the wheels look. I think that with tires mounted and the wheels on the bike, somebody will have to look twice before they realize that the rims are powdercoated. I've got $120 into the two wheels versus about $600 for new stainless spokes, nipples and Excel shouldered aluminum rims.
regards,
Rob
For the home plating specialistWheel are done
Thanks Davo. Yes, I agree, doing everything yourself is rewarding. I know that some folks don't have the time, skills, tools or confidence to do it all themselves and I would never think poorly of somebody that had a bike restored, versus did it themselves.
For me, this stuff is like candy. Learning how to plate zinc these past few weeks was a great and rewarding experience. I think we all tend to share our passions with others in hopes that they will get the same rush that we get when we do this stuff. But we are all different so you can't expect everybody to like what we like and hence you can't be disappointed when somebody just shrugs at your latest work like it was a crayon dwg. I tried taking flying lessons after having been around private and military pilots alot. Their love of flying was almost contagious. My wife finally bought me flying lessons with a great instructor that turned out by coincidence to be the brother of a friend and co-worker. I had fun flying for that demo lesson, but when all was said and done, the planes and the mechanics of them interested me more than actually flying them. The instructor was disappointed because we hit it off and he is 110 % into flying. I think he felt bad that I was not all excited about it. But that's just the way it is. I think we all get a lot of satisfaction from doing this stuff, and not because others throw praise at our work. I think I'd be content to just enjoy it myself and never let anyone into my garage. But then again, I do like the reaction when somebody sees an old bike from their youth. regards, Rob Looks good, Rob, I actually like the satin look of dirt bike wheels better than chrome anyway.
Speaking of flying, while waiting for weather to clear for one helicopter flight I had to take, the pilot showed me a couple of old helicopters in pieces in the rear of the hanger. He then picked up one turbo engine and said it was about 350HP. So I'm standing there wondering how easy it would be to stick that in a frame?? 66 dream, 78 cb750k, 02fz1, 09 wing
Helicopters are pretty wild machines indeed! My son is Chief Pilot for a local Heli company so I get lots of interesting info on them and am lucky enough to have about an hour's "stick time". Lotsa fun and some wonderful rides!
And yes, you can tote one of those engines under your arm no problem! Wilf Ok, so this thread has got me going. I was able to find the Moss Boss zinc. Bought vinegar and epsom salt. Getting the solution mixed and it says 100g/l of the salt and 120g/l of the sugar. Do you really use that much sugar? I'm using 3 gallons of vinegar so that's 1362 grams of sugar. More sugar than salt?
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