<VV> Powdercoating Magnesium (No direct Corvair)

Bill Elliott Bill Elliott" <Corvair@fnader.com
Fri, 01 Oct 2004 11:59:26 -0400


Posting to VV because this is a technical subject that some of us could possbily be faced with....

I recently purchased a set of magnesium alloy wheels (not pure magnesium but an interesting aluminum-
magnesium alloy which was delveoped by J.A. Pearce, a supplier to many factory racing teams int he 
60's.)  These are not Corvair, but I do have a potential line on a set that might fit an early Corvair...

Anyway, it appears these rims have been spray-painted over a gold-colored finish (which I'm told is 
"chrome salt", the traditional way of coating magnesium.)

A quick web search shows that "chrome salt" is pretty nasty stuff and virtually impossible to find now. I 
was considering powdercoating, but was concerned about getting the old finish off AND concerned 
about powdercoating magnesium. (It's "common knowledge" that you shouldn't powedercoat 
magnesium... except that virtually every powdercoating company I've found on the web says they do 
powdercoat magnesium.

What's the thought of some of the experts on the list? 

(Actually I have two sets of these rims... one set is rather common (a few dozen made and maybe 
another 15 or so still known in the world) while the set I just got is EXTREMELY rare... one of six sets 
known to be made and one of two sets known to still exist... so I'm not taking any chances with them....)

Thanks!!

Bill Elliott
Urbana, MD