I have the frame and swing arm at the powdercoaters to get a fresh coat of Jet Black 70-80% powder. This is two steps down from the glossiest color they had. I'm hoping this color is close to the original shine. Unfortunatley, I will not get to see it until March because I leave this weekend for a 17 day stretch of working out of town.....The things we do to pay the bills and buy some toys.
I have been going through all the plated hardware and prepping it for zinc plating. Lots of degreasing and dressing with a wire wheel. Oh, and by the way, I recommend double gloves if you ever work with ZEP Industrial Purple Cleanser and Degreaser. It turns out I had pinholes in the thumb and for finger of one off my gloves....not good...this stuff is nasty.
I was also going to send off my spokes and nipples for replating but I decided against it. I am going to try two new sets of spokes from partsnmore and see how they are.
I had been debating what to do with the hubs. Paint with Duplicolor and clear coat, Powder coat, or polish and clear. I have decided that I am going to do a hybrid of bead blast finish and polishing just the outer flange of the hubs and clear over everything. So, the hubs are blasted and I have sanded the area where the spoke holes are with 400 and 800 grit and then a quick buff with emery compound. It has a nice satin sheen on the buffed area. I think it will look good when cleared with a semi-gloss or satin clear.
Here is a picture of the front hub before clear.