Technical Painting Steel Rims for 53 Chevy - Body shop or Rattle Can?

I've been looking but I'm a bit picky. I don't want hubcaps with flippers, etc...

I like the ones on this 53' with the bullet center. When I've looked for caps like these that are restored on ebay, they are in the few hundred dollars or more... I'm not sure if there is a cheaper source. A set of Chrome smoothies costs less than those but I don't want smoothies.

 

I was quoted $75 per rim by one shop. Another shop quoted me $50 per rim if I supply the powder coating but this was a shop I found on craigslist.

 

Duplicolor......love it.

 

sounds like you are not only on the fence about a color but, running full caps too. for now just use rattle can until you are absolutely sure about what color looks best to you. as suggested above use a shield , even playing cards, around outter edge of wheel to keep paint off those special tires. I use a kit that I got many years ago, that you could make yourself. 4 pieces of galvanized sheet metal 3-4" wide, and long enough to wrap around entire outside edge of rim with a few inches longer than needed. at overlap joint use something light weight, split a piece of small diameter plastic tubing (or ?) about 4" long and slide on top top at joint to hold shield tight to rim. then place old towels, or whatever, over the entire outside of tire to help guarantee that you have no over spray onto tire. put tire on an old tarp, or?, under tire/wheel so that no dust, etc gets on them ,and do not leave a paint mark where you do painting. use masking tape to cover valve stem when painting.then once you have settled on the perfect color you will need to decide if you will run full caps or no caps. if no caps, ever, then consider powder coat. there are many sources for spray paint, or as mentioned before, find out if your local auto body/paint supply store can mix custom color spray cans.

 

Oh awesome advice thanks so much. I'm going to go the rattle can approach for now.

 

Wow they look great!

 

Those are just '53 or so Olds full wheel covers, nothing special. Be patient and you'll find a good set on eBay for reasonable money. Then invest in a polishing wheel for your electric drill and make 'em look new yourself.

 

Oh thanks that is some great advice too. I will look as well on ebay.

 

I've seen some rattle can jobs that were outstanding, & powder-coat jobs that failed in time. All in the prep. IF you can get by with limited color choice, the appliance epoxy rattle cans are some tuff stuff.
Those wheel bands the Jalopy Joker mentioned are a great idea for painting mounted wheels. I first seen 'em used in a shop I was hanging at in the 70's. I've improvised sets using pieces of scrap vinyl sheeting or construction cardboard, works great. If the wheels are REAL bad, it'd be worth it to get 'em blasted first, if you go rattle can, for best results.

 

I just painted a pair of vintage Raders because the chrome rims were rusty. I used Rusteoleum "Stainless" color appliance epoxy. Love the color and the level of shine. After I got the 1st one done, I noticed on the can it said "for interior use". I hope it holds up.

Blue

 

That made my day, buddy. The flask must have influenced the music choice.

 

thread I started on painting wheels http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/...ction-sandblast-and-etch-prime-wheels.354215/

 

If you want black or white get the appliance epoxy, follow the heavy coat instructions and call it good. Otherwise get a couple cans of our favorite rattle can color and have at them. Not rocket surgery and its cheap enough to change your mind and play with colors about all you want

 

Rustoleum has a line of metallic that looks great when clear coated over. Home depot carries it. Probably a can of color and of clear for each wheel should do it

 

I finally got the push thru caps and bullet lugs put on with some grinding work required.

I'm thinking of painting the rims a copper metal flake, lime green metal flake, or burgundy metal flake depending on what I can find in Duplicolor cans. I'm going crazy trying to decide what color to try first.

I'm switching from red because I know it's been done by so many others.

 

I already looked at oversprays other thread on painting wheels.

What's the best approach for low cost and not making a huge mess in my garage? I can spray paint in my yard but not sure on the prep work. I'm probably selling my house so I don't want to accumulate more tools if I can avoid it and I also want to try and keep it clean in there as I prepare for people possibly looking at my house.

I felt texture (or surface) variations in the rims where some of the red paint peeled off. In this case do I need to sand all the paint off by hand or what should I try doing? I have a small compressor (20 gallon 4 hp) but no air tools for it other than a tire inflator. Would primer absorb much of the places where the red peeled off?

Here is a photo I posted earlier.

 

Here is a close up on my front "Jersey chrome" wheels with 1950 Ford SS caps & ribbed trim rings. Looks OK especially "at speed" these rims were sandblasted , etched primed, (can) & then sprayed Rustoleum rattle can red

 

The quality of any paint job is all in the prep. If you want my opinion the lime green will not work with your blue car, maybe if it were black. Secondly if you aren't familiar with painting whether spray can or gun, the metalflake will puddle in the low spots. Even if it doesn't you will need clear to smooth out the texture and then sand smooth. It's hard enough to metalflake a flat surface let alone a rim with all the different nooks & crannys. Looks like your tires are all mismatched. Are you gonna remove them to paint or just deflate? When you buy new tires, chances are your newly painted rims will be scratched up when mounting.

 

Go buy you a case of Krylon Cherry Red paint. Don't tell you wife because shell be painting everything red

 

Thanks. I would take the wheels off but leave the tires on and deflate and use some type of masking paper. I would like to sandblast and do other things to prep them but I don't think I want to buy tools or make a big mess. I wonder if light sanding and primer then duplicolor would be enough to get me by for a little while?

I'm going through a mess of moving on from a bad relationship, selling my house and looking for a new place for myself to live and for a place to keep the car so I need to keep things simple while I get myself back on my feet.

 

There's a reason everybody paints their rims red. Metalflake aint simple.

 

I see... I guess maybe duplicolor like timwhit is doable? or is that metal flake in his burgundy paint?
This sucks I may just have to leave the rims alone I have bigger issues to start taking care of not related to the car :-(

 

Looks like just metallic to me.

 

I used the same method but added a clear coat over the krylon base.

 

Thanks. The car almost always looks black, its hard to get that blue look except under the garage white lighting. Basically I think dark metallic burgundy is a nice color that works for both the blue and black look the car has in different lighting. I thought about copper or gold but it might be too bold. I want to avoid the red since it seems too overdone.

 

Mine aren't red but gloss black I sand blasted them and used rustoleum out of a rattle can.

 

Thanks they look nice. I don't know what to do since I don't have a sandblaster and prefer not to spend too much nor making big messes in my garage as i need to gear up to sell my house.

 

Powdercoat