I'm still working on my 62 Typhoon rat, that I'm making into an 8 speed. I'm hoping it will be ready for some pix next week.
I got the Nexus 8 speed coaster brake laced into a new rim, and got the rear triangles spread apart to accommodate it. I cold set the frame using the wooden clamps trick I found in an old thread here on this board. I eased the rear dropouts apart using a couple of Harbor Freight clamps, gradually, spreading them easing them apart and then checking the spacing. I got them out to about 136 mm and then bent the dropouts back in to make them roughly parallel.
So, here's my next task - I bought plain aluminum rims, I did not want fully painted rims and didn't really want any stock color either, but I would like to add a touch of color to them. This is going to be strictly a coaster brake bike - no rim brakes.
The profile of these rims has flat side walls, then a flat bevel, then a roughly flat center portion where the spokes attach.
I'm thinking I'd like to paint just the sidewalls or just the bevels, leaving the rest of the rims aluminum silver. The bike is black, but I'm using some red and burgundy accents. I'd probably do the rims in a burgundy metallic.
So - never having been much good at painting stuff, I have a couple of questions:
1 - Does anyone have recommendations for painting aluminum? Type of primer and paint? Should I sand the aluminum a little for better grip?
2 - The REAL question: How about tips on masking a rim for this kind of job? (Assuming I'll use a spray can.) Would you try to mask the entire rim and then cut away the portion I want to paint? Should I be real anal about masking and try to get real clean lines, or should I mask it rough and then rely on cleaning paint off of the adjoining flats? (For example - if I paint the sidewall only, and get a little wobble in the line at the bevel, I could sand the edge of the bevel clean?)
Is there an argument that for this kind of job I might be better off applying paint with a brush? I can see maybe hand brushing the bevels and then cleaning the edges with chemicals and/or real fine sandpaper.
Is there maybe a somewhat transparent paint that would go on kinda like fingernail polish, without primer, giving the colored stripe a little depth?
I got the Nexus 8 speed coaster brake laced into a new rim, and got the rear triangles spread apart to accommodate it. I cold set the frame using the wooden clamps trick I found in an old thread here on this board. I eased the rear dropouts apart using a couple of Harbor Freight clamps, gradually, spreading them easing them apart and then checking the spacing. I got them out to about 136 mm and then bent the dropouts back in to make them roughly parallel.
So, here's my next task - I bought plain aluminum rims, I did not want fully painted rims and didn't really want any stock color either, but I would like to add a touch of color to them. This is going to be strictly a coaster brake bike - no rim brakes.
The profile of these rims has flat side walls, then a flat bevel, then a roughly flat center portion where the spokes attach.
I'm thinking I'd like to paint just the sidewalls or just the bevels, leaving the rest of the rims aluminum silver. The bike is black, but I'm using some red and burgundy accents. I'd probably do the rims in a burgundy metallic.
![rimpaint.jpg](https://proxy.imagearchive.com/d3e/d3ebe1712c634b966e801e05772eac2f.jpg)
So - never having been much good at painting stuff, I have a couple of questions:
1 - Does anyone have recommendations for painting aluminum? Type of primer and paint? Should I sand the aluminum a little for better grip?
2 - The REAL question: How about tips on masking a rim for this kind of job? (Assuming I'll use a spray can.) Would you try to mask the entire rim and then cut away the portion I want to paint? Should I be real anal about masking and try to get real clean lines, or should I mask it rough and then rely on cleaning paint off of the adjoining flats? (For example - if I paint the sidewall only, and get a little wobble in the line at the bevel, I could sand the edge of the bevel clean?)
Is there an argument that for this kind of job I might be better off applying paint with a brush? I can see maybe hand brushing the bevels and then cleaning the edges with chemicals and/or real fine sandpaper.
Is there maybe a somewhat transparent paint that would go on kinda like fingernail polish, without primer, giving the colored stripe a little depth?