'88 Wheel Refurbishment

hey all.

So I was looking at my '88 fj last night and noticed that the paint was flaking on my rear wheel. Sure enough I peeled away the flakes and found surface corrosion on the wheel.:frown:

As I inspected the wheel I found more signs and yet more flaking paint

My question is this, does anyone know of a company in London or near to that will remove the corrosion and respray my wheel?

I've done a google search and the only company I can find is going to charge £135 just for one wheel and lives 70 miles away.

Any help would be very helpful.

 

Hey fella

Jesus, that sounds expensive. I've just had a pair of FJ wheels done by my man in Catford and he only charged me £90 for both - sandblasted and then powdercoated. I'm in the process of swapping the front end of my FH for an FJ and having all sorts of trouble with little bits and pieces . . . but that's another story.

Your options will depend on how badly corroded the wheel is, although knowing that they're alluminium, I very much doubt its too bad. If the corrosion isn't too deep, you can flatten the offending areas off with wet and dry paper - I had to do that around one rim where the wheel had been dragged along a kerb. Looked awful to start with but after a couple of goings over, you couldn't see it.

Anyway, look up 'stove enamellers' or 'powder coaters' in your area - I would've thought there should be one or two not too far from you. Powder coating is effectively the new (and safer) way of stove enamelling, but the finish is pretty much the same.

HTH

Neil

P.S. If you know of anyone with a spair pair of FJ front brake calipers, give us a shout would you?

 

Yeah thanks for the info. Will be calling them tomorrow.

Looking at the wheel it only seems to be surface stuff anyway. I work on helicopters so seeing this stuff isnt new, just getting rid of it is!

Many thanks.

Will keep you posted on those calipers.:biggrin:

 

No worries fella.

Unless you use a specialist in bike work, there's a couple of things you'll need to bear in mind if you're gonna get the wheels powdercoated (apologies if you know all of this already).

Firstly, you'll need to get the tyre off of the rim. Not as easy as it sounds and if you don't have a bead breaker and the right levers, don't even consider doing it yourself - the steel cables in the tyre walls are virtually indestructable. I took mine to Quick Fit and after they stopped telling me they 'didn't do bike wheels', they took the tyre off the same way they would with any other wheel. Didn't charge, but I gave 'em a fiver for their trouble.

Secondly, you'll need to pull the dust covers, bearings, spacer and speedo drive unit out of the centre of the wheel. The bearings are a bit of a pig - get something down the centre of the wheel and drive them out from the inside. Either that, or get a garage to pull 'em with a puller. I managed to knock mine out with a long, thin, blunt ended metal spike and 'the persuader'.

Thirdly, make sure the 'coaters mask over the centre hole and the brake disc mounting holes before they blast or spray. The brake disc monting holes need to be completely covered, 'cos when you put them back on, the discs need to sit flat against the wheel. If the 'coaters only cover the holes (and not the flat top surfaces) the brake discs almost certainly won't sit flat when you remount them - the coating depth will vary fractionally accross the surface of the wheel but those same variations will cause the discs to warp if/when they get hot. So just save yourself the hassle and make sure they're masked over.

Other than that (!) it's all pretty simple really. And it's well worth it . . .

 

Heya.

you wouldn't happen to have an adddress or phone number for this place would you in Catford.

Again google search has turned up nothing

 

Oh yeah - sorry - that was something else I forgot to mention. Stove enamellers aren't the sort of folks who are big into web pages. You'll have far more luck using a local telephone directory search, like yell.com.

My guys are in Crayford (sorry again - I get my Catford's and Crayford's confused)

R & G Finishers
73 Swaisland Drive,
Crayford,
Dartford,
Kent
DA1 4HY

Tel: 01322 526723

It's a unit out the back of an industrial park (of sorts), which makes it a bit of a pig to find. The guy who owns/runs the place is Mark, but I think there's only ever two of them there anyway.

Neil

 

Mucho Mucho Thanks!!!!!

Getting the tyre off isnt a problem, have some guys at work who will take it off for me at the MT Section.

Will be ringing the people this morning... Watch this space for details.

 

Well after a few phone calls i have managed to get my wheel quoted as £60 for shot blasting and respray.:smile: :smile:

Adept finishers in Thornton Heath will shot blast it and Primus in Croydon will spray it.:biggrin:

Sorted!!!