Could some kind soul send me a sample swatch of Indian Red coloured paint for wheels so I can get it made up in the near future. A piece if steel dipped in the paint colour has worked pretty well in the past for matching purposes. I'll pay postage to the US too so no out of pocket costs to you.

Also, with the advent of powder coating. Is it worth having rims and dustbin lids powder coated Indian Red or just paint them as had been traditionally done in the past. I know with powder coating on some rims you have to scrape some coating off around the lug holes to allow the wheel nuts to correctly tighten.

Thanks for all advice in advance!

My bus number (if any): RLH62

Surely living in the US of A it would be easier to get Red Indian paint?? :)

My bus number (if any): RML2532

hi jim
ive just sent off sample to get some made you must of read my mind .i can send sample ,will email later

My bus number (if any): RCL2238

Hi Roy

Yes I just need a sample so they can match it at the paint place. My rims are currently a crappy black colour and I have no decent IR shade to get a copy from.

My bus number (if any): RLH62

Wheels take a fair bit of a bashing from heat from brakes and the friction form road dirt and water.

Even powder coated, chips and scratched will occur as will damage when a tyre gets change.
So it's more prudent to paint things like the wheel nut covers and dustbin lids and keep a supply of the paint for retouching or repainting.

If your bus barely turns a wheel then they will rarely need to be repainted but if the terrain and use is tough it could be an annual event.

I would probably shotblast and powder coat the wheels and fittings in and undercoat/primer base and use conventional paint for the colour coats.

There's a recently posted picture on the 'other channel' that does show a really good RM wheel well painted and the colour looks very authentic. If it helps.

Cheers Jack.

I'm going to get the rims back down to bare metal and then get them really well primered before paint. I was thinking about the powder coat question after I posted it and the chips and repair equation made me decide to go to traditional paint top coating methods.

I'm not on the other channel so I'll just have leave that for now.

Ta Jim

My bus number (if any): RLH62

My bus number (if any): RLH62

I was waiting for the penny to drop...:)

My bus number (if any): RML2532

It's renamed. It's 'Native American' BS 5453 !!

A reference picture forwarded to me of the wheel of RM70 repainted in July 2003.
I hope this posts OK.

I recognise my own work and my own photograph!

That is in fact, a wheel off RM408 not 70. Repainted quite some years ago now - 2003 I think.

I stripped the wheels (off the bus) entirely back to bare metal using an industrial coarse tufted wire wheel on a heavy duty grinder, followed by a second run with a less coarse wire wheel.

The wheels were coated with jenolite, keyed lightly and then primer coated with an industrial heavy zinc grey primer/undercoat. This was then lightly flatted and a red undercoat applied and the top coat is from an actual gallon can of LT Indian red which was dated 1978 and was perfect when opened, took half an hour to stir. The paint quality was superb and the paint in the can lasted for years.

To do this work it takes about an hour per wheel to strip back. I have to stress that a full filter mask, protective gloves and eyewear be worn and I chose also to do this in wet weather so everything is damped down.
This is because LT Garages did not prep everything terribly well and under the layers of paint are dirt and dust which contains both asbestos and lead.

On 408 both sides of all the wheels were done over 6 weeks!

I treated the wheels of RM70 in a similar way but only the external sides the following year. The last time I saw that bus they still looked presentable, so the preparation certainly pays off long term.

When I've stripped wheels I tend to use a needle gun first, then the wire brush. Less dust and it's quicker! Otherwise send them away to be shot blasted.

My bus number (if any): RML2532

All separate hubs and wheel centres coming out of Chiswick were sand blasted and then stove enamelled. Full axles were not. After that on 8 and 16 rota the wheels were wire brushed off and repainted by hand by a Brush Hand, not a painter.

It's possible asbestos dust is present in the paint but very unlikely on RMLs. It is possible some of the early sold off RMs might have asbestos fibre dust if shoes have not been changed for a long time or asbestos content shoes were used post purchase, but wearing a face mask for any sanding work is a sensible idea anyway.

My bus number (if any): RTL 960, RMC 1458 RM 1585, (M 961, M 271 - both sold) and several RTs

At Hanwell, they simply painted over dirty wheels, I've even seen them paint over wet wheels. It got farcical when the FFD started.

But I think Mark has made a very valid point. I think it more than prudent to take no chances stripping these back and we don't really know what to expect. Masking up and taking precautions if you are going DIY as well as wetting down could avert some really nasty side affects, possibly decades later.

I remember the stick that some got when they first started to wear latex protective gloves. Now it's almost show stopping to see someone working without them. At our place it's a disciplinary if you do not take precautions.
But who. even 30 years ago know various fluids were highly carciogenic? Not many and if some did, it was kept very quiet.

Cadmium and Lead was still used in LT paint and paint at AEC and PRV until the 1960s. LT was one of the first to abolish lead and cadmium content in paints although they were a bit slow on the asbestos issue.

So crusty old split rim wheels might be a higher risk than the later one piece wheels which post date all the nasties.
But even then care should be taken.

A word of warning:

Unless you like the idea of Three Wheels on My Wagon, do NOT apply gloss paint to the mating surfaces of: wheel to hub/drum/stud, wheel nut to wheel, or twin wheel assemblies. Prettify it when everything is in-situ.

Thanks Roy for pointing that out.

Forgot about that.

That's correct no gloss paint or undercoat on the mating faces on both sides.

There was though, just a thin coat of zinc etch primer.
Wheelnuts painted after torqueing up. Wheelstuds not painted at all.

Jack

Quite right, who knows how many workers died of occupational related illnesses. My own grandfather died of lead poisoning Christmas 1907, he was just 27 years of age and his death left my grandmother trying to bring 2 children up in poverty in Kilburn London. His occupation was journeyman painter & glazier, the compensation culture was many years away in those days.