Powder coating my wheels.

[highonthai]

I'm about to powder coat some spare wheels for my 700x Red. Stripped and ready to media blast.
The Honda paint code is R 201 magna red.
I ordered some Honda Red OEM swatch's from prismatic powders but none are a quite right and not a perfect match. They don't seem to have the Honda R 201 magna red listed.
Not wanting to purchase the full catalog of the red swatch's, Has anyone tried to match the R201 Magna red in powder?
Thanks
Scott

 

[showkey]

As you experienced ……..Honda used at least 75 different variations of “RED” over the years.
Add the complexity of paint then add the complexity of powder coat…….the matching is hit and miss with almost endless variables.
I was matching the RED on 1960’s Honda generator and 1989 NT650 Hawk. Both took a dozen spray outs test panels to even get close.
i know this is no real help…….just info on the quest.

 

[highonthai]

Thanks for the reply.
If it was just paint, it would be allot easier. But I'm determined to nail the powder coat color.
Spoke with the Prismatic color match department today. Gave them a couple of RAL numbers that looked to me to be close. Ordered a few more color swatch's.
Like I said, I'm determined to find the color match.

 

[highonthai]

Media blasted the wheels today. Ready to spray some powder.

 

[highonthai]

How ironic, the powder coat color swatch that matched was called " Red Wheel"
Ordered a couple of pounds from Prismatic and will shoot the wheels as soon as it comes in.

 

[highonthai]

Shot the powder on the wheels this morning.
Ready to mount the tires in the morning and fit the wheels to the bike.

 

[OldBoots]

That looks badass. I want an all white bike for some anime oriented reason. Nice to know you can do your own powder coat!

 

[hulkss]

What was the oven temperature?

 

[OldBoots]

How did the color turn out?

 

[highonthai]

Color turned out to be 99% match. Oven temp was set to 400 degrees. Once the wheel came back up to 400 it cured for 10 minutes at temp.
I'm also painting a couple extra side panels and a extra front fender black, just incase its too much red.
Won't know how it looks until tomorrow when I install the wheels.

 

[highonthai]

That looks badass. I want an all white bike for some anime oriented reason. Nice to know you can do your own powder coat!

I think white would look great! Seen a white NC online but it didn't have white wheels though.
Powder coating is easy, the prep of the part takes the most time. And having a big enough oven and blast cabinet.

 

[OldBoots]

Color turned out to be 99% match. Oven temp was set to 400 degrees. Once the wheel came back up to 400 it cured for 10 minutes at temp.
I'm also painting a couple extra side panels and a extra front fender black, just incase its too much red.
Won't know how it looks until tomorrow when I install the wheels.

99% on a moving horse may as well be 100%.

 

[hulkss]

400 degrees F will overage the cast aluminum alloy that the wheels are made from, potentially causing a significant degradation of the material properties.

 

[highonthai]

Never having contacted a Metallurgist in 4 decades of running powder coated wheels or parts on cars, trucks and bikes. I've never had a problem related to any parts/material that had been powder coated to date.
The potential for anything to fail is always there. But thank you for that info.

 

[highonthai]

All finished. I still might switch out the front fender to a black one.

 

[OldBoots]

Sweet baby cheeses! That looks great with those tires.

 

[highonthai]

Went with the black front fender.
Now on to the next project.

 

[Rapturee]

Well done Sir, and excellent choice on the Black fender! just the right amount of RED!! :{P

 

[TheIronWarrior]

400 degrees F will overage the cast aluminum alloy that the wheels are made from, potentially causing a significant degradation of the material properties.

Around 400F tends to be the worst temp for most aluminums for degradation (except during artificial aging immediately after heat treat, but once the max properties are achieved, things drop off pretty quick). Time-at-temperature is going to play a major role, but where wheels have relatively thin spokes, I'd imagine there's a strong chance that strength is reduced. I've seen claims of between 30% and 55% reduction in strength for different alloys from 400F temperatures.
It's entirely possible the relatively short baking time had negligible impact, or that the wheels are so overdesigned that the reduction in strength is acceptable, but there isn't an easy way to know how much reduction and if it's still good. I'd be particularly concerned with fatigue
I'd recommend finding a lower temp cure coat for aluminum, but that's just me.

 

[mzflorida]

Went with the black front fender.
Now on to the next project.


View attachment 46982

View attachment 46983

Very nice work!