Super Rat (98) hubs

[SuperRat01]

I have a 1975 Super Rat that my Dad bought for me new in 75 when I was 11. I still have it and I am starting to restore it. My question is: what should I do about the hubs...I mean, were they originally "painted" black, or were they anodized black, or some other process that I don't know about? I am afraid to powder coat them because of chipping around the spoke holes. Any info would be appreciated. Linc in Florida

[BrianZ]

Since you haven't received a reply yet, I have used a medium black high heat paint on my Road Toad hubs, which I "think" are finished the same as the 98 Rat hubs. The original finish was not flat black and not gloss black, but somewhere in the middle, hence "medium black". If you ever use the bike in anger you will want to use the high heat paint. Hubs can get pretty hot during racing.

Brian

[JayLael]

Caliper paint is way tougher and available in semi flat black.

[bobwhitman]

What's caliper paint; where you get it?
Bob

[bchappy]

Not sure of why it is different but you can get it at O'Reiley, NAPA or any auto store that carries paint.

[Zyx]

Far as I know caliper paint is a marketing thing, not a different kind of paint. High temperature ceramic paint is easy to find, easy to apply, and tougher than it needs to be. I have used high temp ceramic paint to paint the front wheel knuckles on my old 1968 Kaiser Jeep to fill in pits and scratches. The paint eventually wear off the working part, but stays in the voids greatly reducing leakage around the wipers. "Eventually" as in it took three years for the paint to start showing signs of wear.

Semi-gloss is what is being referred to as "medium" black. I use Dupli-Color brand paint. Take a look at Dupli-Color Semi-Gloss Engine Enamel, DE1635, 500 degree ceramic. Never had reason to complain about it. Use self-etching primer under the paint on bare aluminum. As for the question of whether the originals were anodized, I seriously doubt this. If anything they were painted. If you are painting to make them look nice, fine. But if you race and want maximum heat dissipation, don't paint them with anything. Bare aluminum passes off heat faster than painted, regardless of color. Folks say black gives off heat faster. Nope. Anodizing, maybe, but not paint. It is the layer of paint that holds heat, the color has nothing to do with it.

On the other hand, unless you are road racing, your brakes are not going to get really hot anyway, so paint won't hurt a thing.

[BrianZ]

I have been using Dupli-Color DE1634 low gloss engine enamel which I find is a very good match. I haven't seen DE1635 in stores, so I'll need to keep my eyes open for it. I'm curious to see how it compares. I have used regular paint on my hubs and have found that it discolors badly due to the heat in hare scrambles. In a hare scramble the rear brake is used fairly aggressively, especially in tight sections. When I was racing modern hare scrambles rear brake pads would often wear out in 2-3 races.

Brian