What the best way to paint my lug nuts; or, should they only be powder coated ?

They were getting rusty looking so I tokk them off and dipped them in Rust Remover, primed, and rattle canned them. They looked Great !
But after putting them on the paint was starting to come off. By the time I removed and reinstalled a second time the nice new finish was a bust ?????

What's the correct way to get these done ?

They came from the factory Cad plated. I had mine cad plated and they last for years. Any plating will over time wear off and they will start to corrode again. I think some plating is rated longer than others.

I used VHT (brand) high temp engine 650 degree rattle can paint. I have a old oven in the garage that i use for baking parts to finish the paint process. Did my lugs years ago, and they only chip when i drop them. They still look 95% good.

Factory finish

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VHT

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Nice ! Are those steel nut ?

try some of these covers? http://www.autoatlanta.com/Porsche-914-Lug...overs-srch.html

I Have heard good things about VHT high temp paint. I have read that you use a coat of vht for the primer and lightly sand it and apply a top coat, let it dry and then cure with heat. Would a cheap toaster oven get hot enough or heat gun. How hot is required to cure?

Home would powder coating hold up ?

It does ok. You want to use a lug nut socket made not to scratch the nut or in a pinch, use a grocery bag in the socket to soften the contact. If you powdercoat, I would make sure the part of the nut that sits in the wheel is bare metal.

I use the steel lugnuts on my cars and wipe some wheel bearing grease in the threads of the studs and lightly coat the nuts. If I wanted pretty I would either get them plated or spray them with cericote (ceramic paint).

Jim, do a search on Zero Rust spray paint. It wears very well and has the inhibitor built in. I used it on my front suspension rather than PC. Easy touch up. A little spendy for rattle can but worth it.

K

Totally agree on the plastic grocery bag trick, used it for years on my 911 nuts till I got the right socket. No matter what paint you use always at least use the plastic grocery bag and always use a 6 pt socket. Works great!. Oh and on the paint no heavy coats needed. Good Luck!

Thanks for all the great tips !

I degreased mine several years and blackened them with gun metal bluing, no paint to chip and they have lasted very well with no rust.

Can someone chip in and tell me the color of the lug bolts from the factory?

My lugs were replated in bright silver zinc.....I keep a thin coat of wax on them and use the plastic bag technique when removing. I'm currently replacing the polished alloy center caps from 914rubber with the originals.......

Interesting: I was looking at the idea of using a bluing agent, but how do you get it black ?
Do you have a reference for where I can find the product ?

Metal bluing solutions are widely available, especially at gun shops and even hobby shops. Multiple applications of the bluing solution turn lug nuts/bolts darker with each application.