wheel paint

jvandyke

jvandyke

True Classic
While waiting for tires to come in I painted my wheels. Duplicolor silver wheel paint and then some Duplicolor Wheel clear. Turned out nice. One wheel was different in that the little patch of black between the spokes was smaller than it's area, ie; silver intrusion into its spot. The other three were the opposite: the the black went into the silver's zone. That's why one has no black as I decided to lay down the black later.
First pics are before, later ones after.
http://gallery.me.com/jvandyke#100444
 
Looks great! Let them cure as long as you can to keep the tire monkeys from ruining the paint...
 
the paint is a little bit too metal flake, I read the rustoleum version is a bit less metallic and equally good. They will sit until Tuesday, hopefully that's long enough. I took plastic polish to the center caps, those look good again too.
 
Steel wool and soapy water, I don't know if that's proper or not. I did sand a bit too. I'm not sure what finish these had originally. First time I washed them with soapy and soft nylon brush it seemed even that was taking off something. By the time I was ready to shoot 'em they looked milky white and were giving off grey dust. Hopefully they don't get dinged up too bad for while after tires and mounting. $14 invested in 2 cans of paint and they look really good.
 
Jeff,


Doh! - I didn't read your post accurately. Already have clear. Sweet.



-Tim
 
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silver paint

Eastwood has a warm silver wheel paint that is a dead ringer for the original Cromodora paint color.
 
Looking good!

I used the Duplicolor on my wheels as well, though I went with the magnesium look. I really like how yours turned out!
 
WOW... another fan of Duplicolor...

They look great Jeff and after the tires are mounted... if ya have to... just mask up the tire a bit and touch them up.

Clean up any overspray with some lacquer thinner...

BTW... one time I picked up some can of Duplicolor silver to repaint a Honda Civic hubcap that got scratched up against a curb. After prepping the cap, where it was scratched, I test sprayed that area and only painted about 1/3 of the cap to compare it against the stock color.

IT MATCHED SO PERFECTLY I could hardly tell where I started or stopped! HA! I ended up painting the entire cap, but didn't even bother with the other three as it looked like a perfect as it was!
 
I put clear on them all too, Duplicolor wheel clear. Turned out nice. You're supposed to do all coats within 10 minutes of each other and no more than an hour between, clear included. I'm happy with them. Is there a good way to tighten up the center caps? They are pretty loose. I'm thinking a bead of RTV, the type that won't harden, so they can come off if needed. They rattle around in the wheel and come off too easily, I'm afraid I'm going to start loosing them. I'd try the Eastwood or something a bit less metallic next time around. They look good, just a bit flashier than OEM.
Here's a hi res pic.
hireswheel.jpg
The black bit between the spokes I masked off and left black on three of them, the original edge was very inconsistent and foggy, like it was sprayed by Cromodora and not too carefully. I made crisp lines and matched the roundness of the center section better. Although eliminating that black would have been easier.
 
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Center caps

I used electrical tape on the cap and kept adding until it was a good snug fit. Of course, that's just a temporary fix...
 
What a difference!

They look great, especially for "rattle can" work. I have new alloys for my Vanagon that need the same treatment, and likely will get it now that I see how yours turned out.

My Maserati wheels have tires and are waiting for 2 more, then I'll be trimming a little off the fender liner to make room for them in turns... Can't wait!
 
Here is an idea of what they look like without the black section. I can go either way myself. Having the black I think makes the rims appear a little slimmer.

IMG_4442.jpg
 
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Here's mine

Here's the one I did without black. I saw some like this on a car pictured somewhere and decided I didn't like but they look good off the car....
wheelnoblack.jpg
 
OPINION

In my opinion (for what that's worth) I think the wheel looks best just solid Silver. Looks less busy. The shade in the recessed area is dark enough. If it were me, I'd leave it all silver without doubt.

But who am I??? :wacko:

For those getting ready to paint wheels, try a ScotchBrite pad in medium or fine. Clean with Castrol Superclean first.
 
I like the wheel better all silver off the car, but I decided for some reason they look better with the blackout area when mounted. I redid the black on the one I did all silver, it was a pain. Looks great but next time around, all silver I think.
 
Tires mounted, wheels on car, test drive. Drives infinitely better (but I still have suspension issues). Looks tons better too! Next project.....
 
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