From: Art Wegweiser
Date: Wed, 11 Apr 2001
Subject: Re: Wheel Restoration
From CSR Newsletter Vol XVI, #3-4:
Painting Your Wagon Wheels - Art, Edinboro, PA - '72 CSi
The advice below refers to my experience, over the last 13 years,
keeping my stock 5 spoke wheels looking good with minimal stress,
effort and expense.
(1) If your wheels are merely dirty and stained, scrub them with the
usual commercial cleaners and solvents. If they are a little rusty
and pitted, have them sand blasted (fine) or bead blasted to a proper
smooth surface. If they are too far gone, convert them to garage door
stops or scrap them and find other wheels - decent ones that can be
reclaimed are not rare nor too expensive.
(2) Unless the wheels need refurbishing and painting on all surfaces
and you really want to do this instead of replacing them as per item
(1) above, it is not necessary to dismount the tires nor even remove
the wheels from the car to paint them.
(3) Protect your fenders from over spray by using masking tape to
affix some old sheets around the wheel wells.
(4) Remove the hub caps and tape over the wheel nuts if you wish to
keep them free of paint.
(5) Stuff paper towels into each of the wheel openings to keep paint
off the brake discs and other components.
(6) NOW - The real pain in the butt part is how to keep spray paint
off the tires.
(a) The El Cheapo route is to use masking tape and carefully
block off the tire from the rim - it's almost guaranteed you will
miss a small segment as you attempt to use a linear material to
follow a curve.
(b) On the other hand, the Eastwood Company markets a set of
four sheet metal shields that can be easily set around the tire/wheel
margin and held in place with plastic clips.
$28.99 http://www.eastwoodco.com Product #43123 or "wheel tire masks"
(7) And the paint? The secret formula is Krylon Dull Aluminum. Two,
maybe three passes around the wheel and it's done. Just check that
sheet protecting your fenders and do it in a closed garage or
otherwise make sure there is zero wind velocity. It will last two,
maybe three years.
Art