keith

I'm thinking about having my front hubs blasted to clean them up before installation, but am wondering if I need to repaint them or coat them in some way for protection, or can I leave them raw aluminum for a clean look?

Any long-range issues here?

Thanks.

Tabor

Raw aluminum will oxidize quickly. I suggest you clear anodize them.

keith

accomplished how?

Tabor

You pay someone who does it for a living to do it.

keith

ok, past the obvious answer, here's the less obvious question:

what sort of business does this?

anodizing companies?
coatings?
machine shops?
etc.

Also, is heat not an issue with anodizing?

Tabor

I really don't know. But I have a book that says to clear anodize aluminum to protect it. I bet if you called up a machine shop, they could point you in the right direction.

keith

uh oh. this worries me because the machine shop that is blasting them (as I type), turned them over and around, and then asked ME what material they were...

Tabor

Oh, one more thing:

If there is any inlaid steel on them, they can't be anodized, and you will have to paint them, or protect them in some otherway. I think they came from the factory with a coating of perrifin.

instigator

after you blast them just paint with engine paint. ive done mine that way with no harmfull effects yet.

and as far as raw alluminum corroding ,it does not! alloys will corrode because of the disimilar metals but pure alluminum will not corrode.

to get it anodized try a chrome plating shop they might have the tanks for it as well.

keith

I don't suppose the hubs are pure aluminum, then...?

Tabor

They will not rust like Iron, but they will oxidize. Bauxite is Al2O3·xH2O

Edit- And aluminum oxide is straight Al2O3.

Manning

Well, you are right about pure aluminum not corroding, but the hubs are definitely not pure Al, as Tabor points out. And as I have pointed out in the past, since they are alloyed they must be protected, either by anodizing or coating, or they will become susceptible to intergranular oxidation (between the aluminum and the metal with which it is alloyed) and will crack and fail.

keith

and your suggestions, Manning?

Manning

If they can be anodized I would say do that. Being in a Midwest industrial type area it is pretty easy for me to find shops that will anodize. There is an index in our yellow pages that tells you what section to look at for what you are interested in. In our book it is actually listed under anodizing. In others it might be under specialty coatings.

If not, then prime with, I think, zinc chromate primer and them paint with a tough engine enamel

keith

boy, I LOVE upstate South Carolina.

of the 2 local coatings shops, one is closed for the week, and the other doesn't anodise, nor know of anyone who does...