Freshening Up Wheels (CD91)

[Russe11]

One of my winter projects was freshening up my wheels (CD-91’s). It wasn’t intended to be a pursuit of perfection, just intending to spruce them up, a bit. Here’s how it went:

A conversation at a local automotive paint store led us to choose rattle-can products to do the job. Step one was bead-blasting, to get down to bare metal. Some careful filing was done to remove some curb-scuffs. Then Cleaning with a pre-paint solvent, Primer, Color, and Clear coats. Setting them up to rotate on a spindle mounted to a ‘Lazy Susan’ bearing made it much easier to give an even coat.

After painting, I applied some blackout-decals I got from Myron Samila. The only tricky part was the notch for the tire valve. To deal with that, I made a card-stock template the size & shape of the decal, and pressed it against the edge of the valve cutout, to get the location. I cut the template on the witness mark with a ¾” punch. Then checked the template on all 4 wheels, to make sure they were close to uniform. (close enough for jazz, anyway…) Then, I punched 4 of the decals using the template as a guide. Installing the decals was a little finicky, but peeling the backing halfway, then holding it with a pair of pliers let me get down in the groove without too much difficulty. These decals were a great time saver, which made the job go quickly and smoothly.

(EDIT: Sorry the pictures are upside down... I don't know how to fix that.)

 

[kmead]

Nice.

 

[Russe11]

I guess a picture of the finished product would have been useful. I've attached one below. I'm pleased with how they turned out.

 

[Bia]

Nice job, they look great!

 

[myronx19]

Looks great, Brian! And thank you for the post! I had my wheels restored many years ago, and I was going to paint the black areas on the spokes - this proved to be impossible, so I decided to make the die. I didn't have a decal die for the valve stem, but I'm going to work on that!

I stole this picture from an upcoming RM auction and here you can see that the original painted black areas on the CD91 are very inconsistent - mine were no better. The castings themselves are also a little inconsistent - but I think the blackout tape is a nice compromise that works! https://rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/el20/the-elkhart-collection/lots/r0284-1981-fiat-x19/820533

I'm thinking of making more to offer for sale, but they're time consuming to make (it's a hand cut die process). I've had mine on my car for 15 years, with no peeling or shrinking! They've been great. I'll post a current pic of my wheels.

I see a lot of naked CD91 wheels out there - and putting the blackout tape solves that - not "easy", but much better than taping and trying to shoot black paint in there.


Looks great, Brian - look forward to seeing your wheels on your car!

 

[myronx19]

here is my car with my CD91 blackout tape

 

[Bia]

Looks great, Brian! And thank you for the post! I had my wheels restored many years ago, and I was going to paint the black areas on the spokes - this proved to be impossible, so I decided to make the die. I didn't have a decal die for the valve stem, but I'm going to work on that!

I stole this picture from an upcoming RM auction and here you can see that the original painted black areas on the CD91 are very inconsistent - mine were no better. The castings themselves are also a little inconsistent - but I think the blackout tape is a nice compromise that works! https://rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/el20/the-elkhart-collection/lots/r0284-1981-fiat-x19/820533


View attachment 32015


I'm thinking of making more to offer for sale, but they're time consuming to make (it's a hand cut die process). I've had mine on my car for 15 years, with no peeling or shrinking! They've been great. I'll post a current pic of my wheels.

I see a lot of naked CD91 wheels out there - and putting the blackout tape solves that - not "easy", but much better than taping and trying to shoot black paint in there.


Looks great, Brian - look forward to seeing your wheels on your car!

Hey Myron, if you get around to making some let me know. I was thinking about redoing my rims and it looks like this would be a lot easier to do than trying to mask off the area, and spraying it black.
Great idea, and looks good!
P.S. nice looking X.

 

[Russe11]

...Looks great, Brian - look forward to seeing your wheels on your car!

Hi Myron,

I finally had a good opportunity to take a picture for you:

 

[myronx19]

I finally had a good opportunity to take a picture for you:

Gorgeous!! Thanks for sharing and thank you for the kind words about the CD91 tape!

Hey, I have another idea for your bumper fillers. What I did to flatten mine was use a heat gun to get it 98% there. NOT easy, but doable. Going slowly as to not ruin the finish (you can reflow the plastic a bit, won't harm it much - it'll actually restore a bit of the shine as well). I worked it over using parchment paper in between a block of wood to flatten it while it's still on the car. I also loosened the mounting studs a bit so that I can really get it flat - starting from the center and working outwards - then starting again (it's not usually a one shot deal, it takes a while).

Anyhow - once it's mostly flat, I removed the filler - cleaned it well with acetone, and flipped it upside down and applied 3M VHB tape. Let it sit 24hrs. I left a "tail" of the release liner much longer than the bumper filler. Clean the top of the bumper with acetone, let dry.

Then I reinstalled the now flattened filler back on the car. Have several large F-clamps or big c-clamps ready and some 1x2 or other flat material. If the filler is out in the hot sun, it might help a little more. Install it back on the car, with the mounting studs all buttoned up and everything aligned.

Starting on one end, pull the release liner tail and peel it back on an angle while putting pressure down on the tape that just had the release liner off. Things should start to flatten out - but then after the liner is all off, take the precut material and clamp it down (the more clamps, the better - just some cheap ones that can reach the flat material. Clamp and leave for at least 24hrs - the VHB is mostly instant, but full cure takes ~24hrs.


Here's mine after flattening - the inboard part is still a bit wavy - there's a way to fix that too! (with some black trim tape just above the highest point of the wave - the wave will still be there, but it'll be less obvious. Mine was quite warped! The 3M VHB tape comes in grey and black. It's harder to find the black, but the grey should be OK. I used black, and it comes in different thicknesses. I did this in 2005 or so, and it's still holding up!

 

[kmead]

VHB can be had in clear as well. Additionally it can be had in different thicknesses, from .020”/.5mm on up to over .080”/2mm. The thicker versions may have foam as a filler (thus the color). The thicker versions deal with variation better.

 

[kmead]

Hi Myron,

I finally had a good opportunity to take a picture for you:

The wheels look great, nice work.

I am always struck by how great your car looks with with that color. It is rare, unusual and in excellent condition. Beautiful.

 

[Russe11]

...Hey, I have another idea for your bumper fillers...

Thanks for the tips on the bumper filler. That part's a little like a wart on a familiar face. After you get accustomed to it, you hardly see it anymore.
I've flattened it a bit with a heat gun a couple times, but what was missing is the VHB mounting-tape. I'm glad to know you've had such good longevity with it.

I'll add that to the 'to do' list. (Those projects are quality-time with Dad, so that's a good thing.)

Brian

 

[Russe11]

...I am always struck by how great your car looks with that color. It is rare, unusual and in excellent condition. Beautiful.

Favorable lighting helps the color look good. It wasn't even very clean when I snapped the picture. (Living on a gravel road makes cleanliness a transient state.)
When I purchased the car, it was UPS-Truck-Brown, which just wasn't working for me. As Dad & I pondered what color would work, we considered what would 'go' with the brown carpet/dash & 'parchment' seats/door-cards, etc. Since the car had long before passed the point-of-no-return regarding originality, we considered all kinds of colors, and thought this would be 'unique'. Then it turned out that the X belonging to 'Stoney#1', who is geographically closer to me than all but one forum member (mlott) is nearly identical!

Brian

 

[JNewm]

Hey Myron, if you get around to making some let me know. I was thinking about redoing my rims and it looks like this would be a lot easier to do than trying to mask off the area, and spraying it black.
Great idea, and looks good!
P.S. nice looking X.

Add me to the waiting list as well! I've been pondering how best to refinish my wheels for awhile now. These look fantastic!

 

[kmead]

Add me as well if you would be so kind.

Is this a cut pattern which can be taken to a vinyl place to be cut? Meaning an Illustrator file or DXF?

 

[myronx19]

Hi guys - I've had good success with mine, however understanding that there could be adhesion issues - I've decided that perhaps this is best shared as a DIY approach.

Unfortunately I don't have a dxf file of the die. Regular vinyl may shrink, but I had good success with this tape made by Avery (the tape is Avery, and TrimBrite is a converter (they cut this to size and package it), so you should be able to find this in most stores that sell pinstripe supplies).