Refurbishing front hubs

[82DMC12]

Hey guys,

I am going to replace my front wheel bearings this week. While I have the hubs at the machine shop to get the bearings put in, I want to get the hubs cleaned up. I'm thinking about having them bead-blasted. Any tips on what I should do? I am doing a frame-off in the spring and don't want to bother doing this twice and replacing bearings again.

Andy

[content22207]

Paint the shit out of them:

5251

Bill Robertson
#5939

[82DMC12]

What did you use for yours?

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[content22207]

10 coats of brushed Rustoleum (and a layer of brushed rusty metal primer -- it sticks better than any spray primer I've ever found).

Notice that the rotor mating surface was masked off -- the paint is nearly 1/16" thick, so I didn't want any of it between the hub and the rotor lest tolerances get thrown off.

Bill Robertson
#5939

[Farrar]

+1 on Rustoleum's rusty metal primer. That stuff is great.

Farrar

[82DMC12]

Yes the mating surfaces were my main concern. Good ideas, I will probably do this.

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[stevedmc]

10 coats of brushed Rustoleum (and a layer of brushed rusty metal primer -- it sticks better than any spray primer I've ever found).

Do you use the engine enamel version of rustoleum or just the regular stuff? I have been thinking about doing some touch up work on my frame and am debating whether I should use rustoleum or POR15.

[content22207]

Plain old Rustoleum from Lowes.

Currently everything is sun baking (baked enamel finish):
5257
After they get a little bit harder, I will reassemble the suspension and take some pics. (Please disregard drips in the back of the upper control arms -- in another a week or so I will flip them over and trim them off).

BTW: Does anyone know what the diameter of an OEM finish sway bar is? After painting mine yet again, it is now .865":
5258

Bill Robertson
#5939

[82DMC12]

I'm wondering if powder coating would be better for this kind of thing?

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[content22207]

I live 4 blocks from Lowes, 50 miles from the nearest powdercoater -- you do the math.

Besides, Byrnes arms come with the bushings and ball joint already pressed in -- kind of hard to powder coat them. Same with the upper control arms I am reusing (several owners have bent their arms trying to press out the old bushings and press new ones in). I painted over my powder coated Uding outriggers to match, and in the process noticed bare metal around their bushings (they would have started rusting there otherwise, eventually popping the powder coat off).

Can't powder coat assembled brake calipers.

Bearings were also pressed into my hubs before I painted them.

My sway bar has been painted 3 times over the years (more than 30 coats) -- it's about 1,000 times more durable than any powder coat ever dreamed of being.

When you get right down to it, the springs were the only candidates for powder coating.

Powder coating is kind of like undecoating -- if water gets underneath it will trap moisture, foster rust, and eventually peel off as the steel sloughs it off. It is not impervious to scratches either -- I have damaged the powder coat in several places on my service truck's jib crane. The paint job on my sway bar has withstood tire scrubbing quite well:
5262 5263
I'm going to continue to take my chances with 10 coats of Rustoleum (30 plus coats in my sway bar's case).

Bill Robertson
#5939

[Bitsyncmaster]

I'm wondering if powder coating would be better for this kind of thing?

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Powder coating is the best protection because it can take a solvent without harming it. But plain old Rustoleum is a great product I use when I paint things. My engine parts are just plain Rustoleum and hold up well. You do need a primer if painting smooth aluminum.

[content22207]

Rustoleum makes an etching primer (aerosol) that works well on bare aluminum.

Paint is a vastly underrated substance. The problem is most people just spray a few coats from a rattle can, then assume that their unsatisfactory results apply to all paint everywhere. The secret is to lay it on *THICK*. You can't do that from a rattle can -- you need a brush. Of course the thicker you lay it on, the longer it has to sit in the sun baking.

Rustoleum makes an aerosol appliance epoxy that works well in hard to reach areas, but it only comes in three colors (black, white, and stainless). I used it on my headlight buckets & brackets because brushed enamel doesn't slide well against itself. Do follow Rustoleum's directions for recoating (one week. Anything shorter will craze the earlier coats -- it's suspended in a very aggressive agent).

Bill Robertson
#5939

[stevedmc]

Do follow Rustoleum's directions for recoating (one week. Anything shorter will craze the earlier coats -- it's suspended in a very aggressive agent).


Do you mean spend a week painting or a week between coats? I thought you did one coat a day for 10 days.

[content22207]

Brushed enamel can be recoated as soon as it's dry. I do indeed apply one coat per day.

Appliance epoxy can be recoated while it's still wet, but as soon as it starts to dry (about 10-15 minutes) you're out of business until next week. If you respray it before then the earlier coats will wrinkle up. Been there, done that.

Bill Robertson
#5939

[Bitsyncmaster]

Rustoleum makes an etching primer (aerosol) that works well on bare aluminum.

Paint is a vastly underrated substance. The problem is most people just spray a few coats from a rattle can, then assume that their unsatisfactory results apply to all paint everywhere. The secret is to lay it on *THICK*. You can't do that from a rattle can -- you need a brush. Of course the thicker you lay it on, the longer it has to sit in the sun baking.

Rustoleum makes an aerosol appliance epoxy that works well in hard to reach areas, but it only comes in three colors (black, white, and stainless). I used it on my headlight buckets & brackets because brushed enamel doesn't slide well against itself. Do follow Rustoleum's directions for recoating (one week. Anything shorter will craze the earlier coats -- it's suspended in a very aggressive agent).

Bill Robertson
#5939

I agree with you on all counts. And that is the primer I use.

[Farrar]

Wow. All this discussion makes me want to just buy a whole bunch of used or NOS suspension parts, paint them all with 10 coats of Rustoleum enamel, and then put the painted parts on the car and sell back my old parts!

Farrar

[stevedmc]

Wow. All this discussion makes me want to just buy a whole bunch of used or NOS suspension parts, paint them all with 10 coats of Rustoleum enamel, and then put the painted parts on the car and sell back my old parts!

Farrar

I have my old LCAs for sale. $125 each and they are yours.

[content22207]

Is there a market for OEM LCA's? I have heard that they are NLA. If so, I have four of them in unbent condition I may have to repaint and resell.

Bill Robertson
#5939

[Farrar]

Is there a market for OEM LCA's? I have heard that they are NLA. If so, I have four of them in unbent condition I may have to repaint and resell.

Weld reinforcement plates on them and then sell them on eBay, maybe?

Farrar

[content22207]

Those reinforcing plates are an overrated proposition. You cant put them underneath the ball joint, which is the area under greatest stress. Some owners put a little plate between the ball joint and the shock absorber, but it's so small it doesn't do any good. The only area you really can reinforce is from the shock absorber back -- less than half the arm, and the narrowest part of the arm.

Bill Robertson
#5939

[Farrar]

The only area you really can reinforce is from the shock absorber back -- less than half the arm, and the narrowest part of the arm.

But surely that would be better than no reinforcement at all, no?

Farrar