How do you tidy up Comstar wheels?

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

My Superdream wheels are in need of tidying up.
Not sure what to do really, currently cleaning grease and dirt from the back of the spokes.

The rims and hubs are clearly alloy, are the spokes steel on the Superdream?

Would they powder coat if I removed the bearings, would you get an acceptable finish just from Soda Blasting?

Amended:  Spokes are alloy of some sort

[Murf]

What to do with tatty comstars is a regular topic in CBX clubs . I assume yours are original style coms and not reversed coms. Original coms are anodised and in general practical terms cannot be taken apart and re anodised although some claim to have done this. Putting aside the risk involved in dismantling and re anodising a comstar I would think it would be far cheaper to find and buy a really good set. Therefore an option that is often used is to find some better ones, they are around.

You can paint them and I have seen some really good painted ones that are hard to distinguish from standard. I imagine a two pack paint would give longest lasting finish. I wouldn’t recommend powder coating because you shouldn’t really grit blast them. This is due to the grit particles getting in the joints where the spokes join the hubs and rims and causing wear due to any slight movement when in use.
 Soda blasting could work in that it might just act to polish up the anodising, I have not heard of it being used so it could be an interesting experiment.
You can get a conversion to turn comstars into spoked wheels, I have had a pair done and they come out really well, there are a few CBXs with these and they look good.

[Murf]

Forgot to say, some people have stripped the anodising off with something like oven cleaner and polished the wheels.  Not for me,  I hate just washing and giving them a quick polish, never mind having to really set to and polish them.

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

Forgot to say, some people have stripped the anodising off with something like oven cleaner and polished the wheels.  Not for me,  I hate just washing and giving them a quick polish, never mind having to really set to and polish them.

Interesting that you mention Anodising, there seem to be lots of discussions  about this on some other sites including that the alloy that Honda used was not of sufficient quality to be anodised.

My first impression based on the original wheels that Mercedes used on the early W124 230E alloys, is it looks to me like anodised alloy. (Merc stopped anodising on later W124's due to costs)

[ka-ja]

if you are not a standard finish type, you could try, adapted from comstar hubs

[DomP]

Surely blast media is no different to the build up of road grit/grime?

[Laverda Dave]

I watched a very old episode of Tyrrell's Classics the other day. He had in the workshop a very, very rare Lamborghini V12 engine that needed cleaning. Apparently it is the only engine in the world where the engine and gearbox is one casting. He called a company that used high pressure dry ice with amazing results. The process was actually filmed and it was very quick. Being dry ice it just evaporated leaving no residue or blast media. Naturally this isn't a DIY process but maybe worthwhile investigating.

[K2-K6]

Good idea Dave.

I've seen that, on a different show, and very effective it was too. Even rubber, plastic and things like loom components were cleaned without any  apparently detrimental surface consequences.

Looks ideal as a treatment and to save the time of manually accessing all those difficult areas Ted.

[Rozabikes Tim]

Also saw it on Ant Ansteads Born Mechanic show. They restore cars to supposedly fund house renovation for his parents. Thet used it to restore some oak framing and I think on  car too if i recal correctly.


Also Jonny Smith featured in on his Late Brake show.

Seems a brilliant technology....

[Johnny4428]

Never heard of this dry ice blasting before sounds interesting!

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

Sound amazing, probably with a price to match.
As I'm doing my best to keep costs down I think dry ice blasting is off the table.

I do love some of the restoration stuff they do on TV.

[Murf]

Ted
The CBX 1000 Z twin shock comstars are definitely anodised, and it is easy to tell they are, that is what I based my reply on, however maybe not all comstars on different models were. So I am sorry if the info I gave you is not relevant to your wheels.

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

Ted
The CBX 1000 Z twin shock comstars are definitely anodised, and it is easy to tell they are, that is what I based my reply on, however maybe not all comstars on different models were. So I am sorry if the info I gave you is not relevant to your wheels.

The Wiki entry and stuff I've read confirm there are variations in construction materials with Comstar  Wheels so you have not misled me.
If I forget  everything I've read my gut instincts are that the rims are alloy with what looks like an Anodised edging.

The spokes look like aluminium as there is no hint of rust anywhere except on the bolts at the hub end fastening. There is something about the spokes that feels more like a type of SS. It sort of feels like kitchen sink stainless in the shaping, the outer finish again looks like a coated  finish.

Up to now I've not found much about the construction on either of the SD sites. A lot has been going on at home in the last couple of weeks so I've not had the time to trawl the internet or even ask Ken.

All good now but I've had a very scary time with Wendy's health just to frame the behind the scenes stuff. I've been all over the shop but getting back to normality now.

[Johnny4428]

Not good Ted but I wish you and Wendy well so you can resume your restoration work.

[K2-K6]

Hope you've got Wendy's health back on track Ted.

 "The spokes look like aluminium as there is no hint of rust anywhere except on the bolts at the hub end fastening. There is something about the spokes that feels more like a type of SS. It sort of feels like kitchen sink stainless in the shaping, the outer finish again looks like a coated  finish."

I've never seen stainless spokes on these, but shouldn't say never  I've a hat, a very nice trilby of my late grandfather, ready to eat if wrong. Think it's safe though 

The spoke have a structural integrity to them from material spec that may make them "sound" like stainless if you tap them with your fingernails.

Loosely, the Aluminium is usually in something like this, something of a "Duralamin" type alloy, that encompasses amongst other elements, copper, manganese etc. This giving it  integrity in stress much above simple plain aluminium.
Further, it's rolled under significant load to final plate thickness, which ultimately refines the grain structure (forging) and giving a skin of particularly refined/compressed nature along with a gradient into core structure that's less so.
Finally, anodising of that outer surface, a controlled environment corrosion and measured in microns of depth/penetration, to avert any environment influenced corrosion from taking hold.

This effectively gives a hard final surface with very little way for corrosion to start. And why abrasive media should be avoided if at all possible.

Additionally, stainless steel is approx three time the weight of aluminium alloy, for given dimension equivalent.  These spoke aren't that thin, which theyd have to be in match of wheel assembly weight dynamics.

It'll be interesting if anyone has definite possession of any stainless example.