Modern Vespa

I just got done painting my steel hoops but forsee them rusting.

Because I like washing my scooter, the gaps between the hoops will see water and I'm back how original 40 year old P200E rims look. Also, with the threads being painted, as soon as I torque the halves back together, the paint on the threads will scrape off and rust. The inner part of the hoops only have primer on them but it's hard to tell from the photos.

I sandblasted them using walnut media to raw metal, prepped them using POR-15 metal prep, sprayed them using Duplicolor green etching primer and then finished them off with U-Pol Wheel Silver.

What's the best way to refinish hoops back to the original satin silver while eliminating the problem of rust?


Also polished the stainless steel hub center cap with lots and lots of wet sanding but still have to shine it up a degree with some red jewler's rouge but boy are they shiny.

Wouldve thought that what youve done has pretty much done a pretty good job.

Dont think walnut ny itelf will remove proper pitted rust, but treating the area with acid mightve done a good job of it, time will tell.

The paint...wheels get a pretty rough time of it so 2 pak would be best, but plenty have done rattle

Nuts an threads...yeah the primer will come off, ive used a smidge of copper grease on mine. The torque settings are for dry threads and you dont want to use too much if you also choose a dab. Also dont be tempted to use nylocks, they dont fit properly...just sayin...

Otherwise, good job and the only thing i wouldve done differently is the type of paint and sand or glass bead for the prep. They wont ever last forever but thats wheels for you