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My Lyriks have seen better days so I want to repaint them. What's the best, most effective, way of stripping the old paint off?
I was thinking about getting them dipped at a local wheel refurb place, but I'm not sure if the solution used for dipping would cause any issues, are the bushings glued in for example? Has anyone had this done?
Similarly, is powder coating likely to cause any issues?
Starchem paint stripper. You can sometimes find it in 1 litres rather than 5 litres which makes it a bit cheaper.
I guess so long as the important bits are masked up then powder coating should cause issues.
I don’t think I’d dip lowers - you don’t want that inside the stanchions.
Are you planning on spraying them yourself?
If so I think I’d lightly sandpaper the top surface with a fine ish grade of paper and just take the lacquer off so there’s a slightly rough surface for the paint to key into. The paint on rockshox lowers is harder than standard spray paint though - the new paint will mark easier than the original standard paint.
Did a thread years ago about repainting some Reba's
https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/singualr-hummingbird-fork-respray/
If so I think I’d lightly sandpaper the top surface with a fine ish grade of paper and just take the lacquer off so there’s a slightly rough surface for the paint to key into. The paint on rockshox lowers is harder than standard spray paint though – the new paint will mark easier than the original standard paint.
That’s what JMJ did for my EXTs, sanded back to key it, then spray painted over the top.
Yeah, no real benefit to stripping here and some possible big downsides. Getting paint to stick on bare metal'd lowers is a challenge, I guess it's a magnesium/oxidisation thing but I've never got a result I was totally happy with, especially considering what a hard time forks get. Going over the old paint is a far better approach for our purposes.
Might be worth speaking to cerakote up north? (the people from the cerakote thread a couple of months back). Very tough and attractive finish and surprisingly good value, he's got a bunch of car parts for me just now
I've just had a quote from cerakote up north for some 38 lowers. £100 plus return postage, seems very reasonable. Quotes for a respray start at 150. But I think they have to be stripped back in some sort of dip first so if there's a concern on that front...
Did a thread years ago
Shame the pics don't exist any more.
If you are dipping, powder coating etc I would remove the bushes and fit new (need to use aftermarket, WSS for OEM style or ND for polymer as RS dont sell bushings). Check the temps they will use for any critical temps.
If painting with 2k etc just prep and mask as normal for painting, if the paint is compatible just need to scuff for key, if you need bare then you will need to prime for the base material and paint.