painting/powdercoating laced rims

[militaryrider]

I am currently working on a 45''old school bobber . I have 2 excellent 18'' rims , laced and solid .
Problem,I don't want to unlace these rims to refinish they are too tight and straight , althought I want to refinish .
Has anyone ever refinished a laced wheel while it was still laced ?
Merry Christmass to all and a Blessed New Year

[20scout]

Powdercoating your rims wile laced may give you major problems later on. If you need to replace a spoke later or do repair work of some kind, you will need to remove some of the powdercoating. Like trying to remove the broken or damage spoke. As nice as the wheels are, I would unlace them to powdercoat. Saving a little time now will cost you down the road. Good luck.
TR

[Tom Lovejoy]

I have painted Rims all laced up on my clinchers, wanted the spokes painted the same color. Kind of a hassle but they came out pretty well and I was suprised at how well the paint held up on the spokes to. I thought they would probably start chipping right away, but they did not. Powder coat is hard to beat I think, but I agree that it might be a real pain if you have any spoke problems in the future, oh yes and if you use regular paint. Use plenty of caution mounting your tire or you will or can chip or scratch your paint, I had troubles there, good luck Tom.

[militaryrider]

Yes I throught about spoke probloms down the road .
another idea I had is not to refinish anything on this bobber !
everything I have for this project is original paint , wheels , frame , brake drums ,etc. however everything needs to be refinished . I wounder if it will reduce the value of the part if its refinished , I am not looking for a circle bike in the end , Just a cool ride ! Thanks

[20scout]

Since original parts tend to be more valuable than repanted parts, as "unusual" as it might be. perhaps you should leave all the originals as is and ride her the way she is. I can garantee that no one would have anything close to what you have and anyone who knows old bikes would truly appreciate what you have. Just my two cents worth.
TR

[militaryrider]

20scout , I must add My 2 cents to Yours and agree !
Look at the time and money I will save , and the net outcome will still be a cool machine , a little rusty , mismatched parts , and 6 different colors! Jim p

[Tom Lovejoy]

You will probably get the most attention too, seems to work that way in our get togethers, The none show machines with lots of character seem to get the biggest crowds, always cracks us up. We have a guy who rides a 101 that looks like a rusty old shovel, everytime he can park next to a new restoration - beautifully done. It will be the 101 that gets the crowed + another good thing is you dont have to worry about scrathing nothing when you ride it :-)