Hi all! I recently found my way to the forum after doing some research on my new project. I've got a '87 LT230S Quadsport that I'm doing a full restoration on. This quad was bought brand new by my dad in '87 and I grew up riding it. I've put some serious miles on it when I was a kid, but it has been sitting in the barn for the better part of the last 10 years. For the last several years, I've been a jet ski guru and I've decided to shift gears and work on a 4-stroke project. I've got the advantage of working in the remanufacturing industry, so I've got all kinds of blasting and cleaning equipment at my disposal.

One question that I have, how does everyone go about refinishing or painting wheel rims? The old Suzuki has nice gold anodized wheel rims and I would like to go back to a satin aluminum look. Will paint hold up in the long run? Any thoughts?

Also, I've read that the steering column is a weak point on these quads. My steering column is slightly twisted from my buddy hitting a tree years ago. I doubt it could be fixed right, so I either need a replacement or an alternative to the OE column. Thoughts?

 

You are probably in a better position than most of us to know what works on aluminium wheels. I would guess, overcoating with rattle can "wheel silver" and lacquer, not too good. Blasting and powder coating better, and stripping, possibly blasting then anodising heavy duty, (this only comes in satin aluminium), best. Column is NLA, so used, or get someone really professional to make up a new shaft using top and bottom of old one.

 

I was thinking about bead blasting the wheels with #10 glass bead and then painting. The gold anodized look is just too dated for what I like. I can live with the orange plastics, but the gold wheels are too much. Having access to blasting equipment is a huge help. I probably wouldn't take it as far as I do if I didn't have that stuff. I've bead blasted all of the hardware (nuts, bolts, washers, etc.). I ran into an issue that I wasn't expecting though... Coming from doing jet skis and watercraft, all the hardware is stainless. Stainless is easy, bead blast then a dip in the ultrasonic tank and it comes out as good as new. With all the plated hardware on an ATV, the bead blast takes the zinc plating off. I did some research on DIY zinc plating and tried it out. Results are OK. It's definitely not like factory plating, not nearly as shiny. Hopefully, the plating holds up and keeps rust at bay. I didn't think about cutting the top and bottom off of the steering column and making a new one. I was thinking about a used one on eBay.

 

With something as vital as the steering, it does need to be someone competent, to fix a bent column, so used from eBay could be the best bet. With paint on the wheels, it does depend on the paint, two pack, fine but I can't see anything else lasting, and will need etch prime for aluminium first. Worth checking how much heavy duty anodizing costs, what prep is needed, and if it gives the finish you want.