AC Ace Wheel colour

[AK1161]

I am going to remove the chrome and powder coat the wheels on AEX443 silver. Is the correct code RAL 9006  ( white aluminium )
Thanks in advance as ever.
Luke

[AC Ace Bristol]

.
Luke

When I had a set of Lotus Steels refurbished at MWS ( Motor Wheel Services Ltd ) their standard Silver Paint finish is RAL 9006 Silver Ash.

When I worked for FAAC UK Ltd we were very cautious when instructing Powder coaters  to powder coat  Road Traffic Barrier cabinets Silver especially for   Customers like  Mercedes Benz F1 as RAL9006 can vary from bright silver to a grey silver, it can also vary pending finish  e.g.  Gloss, Satin or Matt.
Granted RAL number should mean  batch after batch is  consistent   re ; colour / shade,    We experienced Silver RAL9006 being  harder to match than any other RAL Number   ???
Check out MWS    tel ;  +44 (0) 1753 549 360.

Once you have a price,  give Tim Isles a bell,  he has a guy in Yorkshire who is really good and will save you £££ss  or  Euros.. ;)

Keith..

[B.P.Bird]

The really interesting question is not the colour, but the process: Should wheels, alloy or wire, be powder coated and if so to what specification? My experience of powder coating has been very mixed. There is the well understood problem of capillary action underneath the coating which results in corrosion being rampant, but hidden. Then there is the preparation process which requires the work to be stripped and I have seen alloy castings seriously damaged by this. In the case of wire wheels they should always be open to inspection - spokes do develop a lack of tension and this shews as a crack in the paint at the rim/spoke junction, possibly with a trace of rust and is an indication of it being time to investigate or consider a rebuild. With powder coating this warning will mostly be hidden. Having said that I have some Ford 260 pressed steel valve covers which are 56 years old and were powder coated (outer side only of course) some 20 years ago and remain pristine to this day.
I hasten to point out that I have no real knowledge of the powder coating process, just some doubtful experiences. Perhaps there are members who can give us more expert opinions ? Rob Hendriks would be the very man to give us a pointer.

[James Eastwood]

I considered powder coating for the suspension parts on my Ace. It's certainly looks very glossy and is good at covering corrosion pitted surfaces. It's also very convenient for the restorer; you simply remove the parts take them to your powder coat-er, who then de-greases, sand-blasts and paints them, you just turn up 3 days later to be greeted by a box full of shiny parts.

But (yes here it comes) it's not a period correct finish, it's way to 'wet-look' polished than real suspension parts should be. It also corrodes internally, and the rust occupying more volume than the steel it replaces, then lifts the coating allowing the moisture to spread further. It's also extremely difficult to remove, necessitating acetone or methylene chloride, ordinary thinners won't work. Nor can it be removed with a wire brush it's just too strong, it is after all a plastic polymer not a conventional paint.

So in line with my original-as-possible renovation I have had the components media blasted, then I've painted them with ultra traditional red oxide primer, then a layer of chassis paint (Frosts 'Extreme Chassis Black) this is a bit like yacht 'spar varnish' in that it doesn't completely set hard, allowing just a bit of 'give' when it gets stone pecked under the car, rather than chipping off. It can be brushed on or I use a finger tip type small spray gun (200cc) to apply it which works very well. I think that will be as close to factory spec as I can get. Then I typically hang them up in the workshop and later walk into them getting paint in my hair  ::) ! 

I'd be interested to hear what other have done?

[James Eastwood]

Here's a pic showing the results of my completed half shafts I sprayed using red oxide primer then multiple  coats of the Frost Chassis paint. If you zoom in you can see the surface isn't perfect, but I think it looks 'correct'.