Painting steel wheels

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tonydata
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Painting steel wheels

Post by tonydata »

Hi all,

Looking to repaint/spray my original steel wheels in a nice shiny new colour so the new chrome hub camps sit nicely... There's a few colour options, the usual... black, silver, white... I'm thinking silver would suit my van best (white).

Anyone have any advice/paint codes/warnings before I start masking the tyres up? Anyone know of the original colour they may have come in? Van ID is in my sig...

Plus, if anyone has any pics/links of any jobs they've done themselves that would sweet too :ok

Cheers
Tony D
1986 Transporter 1.9 w/c Tin Top

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kevtherev
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Re: Painting steel wheels

Post by kevtherev »

I painted mine in two pack.... with the tyres removed it was so much easier
your steel wheels would have been silver.

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skippymoss
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Re: Painting steel wheels

Post by skippymoss »

Get someone to pop the tyres off. Got my tyres off and on and rebalanced for a fiver a corner. Loads easier.

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tonydata
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Re: Painting steel wheels

Post by tonydata »

skippymoss wrote:Get someone to pop the tyres off. Got my tyres off and on and rebalanced for a fiver a corner. Loads easier.

Think tyres off and spray is the way to go, cheers :ok
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tonydata
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Re: Painting steel wheels

Post by tonydata »

kevtherev wrote:I painted mine in two pack.... with the tyres removed it was so much easier
your steel wheels would have been silver.

Image

:ok
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discipleofsketch
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Re: Painting steel wheels

Post by discipleofsketch »

I'm in the process of painting up the spare steelies that a very generous person on this forum gave me. I'm not keeping the tyres they came with, but thought i'd mask them up anyway, as it felt wrong not too. I spent a few hours with a wire brush drill attachment cleaning off the rust and various old paint remnants, cleaned with white spirit and sprayed them with hammerite "straight to rust". I needed about a can and a half.

To be honest, the finish isn't very good, it's a bit rough and if I did it again (which I will for the steelies with winter tyres currently on the van), I might just use normal hammerite and a brush, but they look OK from a distance, and certainly better than the combination of rust and different paintjobs they used to be - I reckon with some new hubcaps they will look good from about 5 or 6 metres away :wink:

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kevtherev
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Re: Painting steel wheels

Post by kevtherev »

yeah, with the tyres off you can clean them up nicely if you pop them into the bead blasters
I was charged a fiver a wheel
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tonydata
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Re: Painting steel wheels

Post by tonydata »

discipleofsketch wrote:I'm in the process of painting up the spare steelies that a very generous person on this forum gave me. I'm not keeping the tyres they came with, but thought i'd mask them up anyway, as it felt wrong not too. I spent a few hours with a wire brush drill attachment cleaning off the rust and various old paint remnants, cleaned with white spirit and sprayed them with hammerite "straight to rust". I needed about a can and a half.

To be honest, the finish isn't very good, it's a bit rough and if I did it again (which I will for the steelies with winter tyres currently on the van), I might just use normal hammerite and a brush, but they look OK from a distance, and certainly better than the combination of rust and different paintjobs they used to be - I reckon with some new hubcaps they will look good from about 5 or 6 metres away :wink:

Image

"I reckon with some new hubcaps they will look good from about 5 or 6 metres away" :D :ok
1986 Transporter 1.9 w/c Tin Top

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tonydata
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Re: Painting steel wheels

Post by tonydata »

kevtherev wrote:yeah, with the tyres off you can clean them up nicely if you pop them into the bead blasters
I was charged a fiver a wheel

That's that then, tyres off, sand blast, re paint silver... lovely, cheers chaps :ok
1986 Transporter 1.9 w/c Tin Top

cleagarr
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Re: Painting steel wheels

Post by cleagarr »

tonydata wrote:
kevtherev wrote:yeah, with the tyres off you can clean them up nicely if you pop them into the bead blasters
I was charged a fiver a wheel

That's that then, tyres off, sand blast, re paint silver... lovely, cheers chaps :ok

..... and then post pictures of the whole process on here. (Please!) :ok
All I ask is for the chance to prove that money won't make me happy.

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itchyfeet
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Re: Painting steel wheels

Post by itchyfeet »

Just cleaned mine up, gave them a rub down, trated rust spots, masked them and sprayed them with a Halfords rattle can, easy.
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Allanw
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Re: Painting steel wheels

Post by Allanw »

Hammerite smooth Silver looks awesome. I painted my new merc steels with it, and they look like an OEM silver steel would look. It's soft-ish for a week or so after painting, so wait before fitting caps and have the tyre shop be extra careful! Once it's hard, it's HARD
Allan :-)

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tonydata
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Re: Painting steel wheels

Post by tonydata »

cleagarr wrote:
tonydata wrote:
kevtherev wrote:yeah, with the tyres off you can clean them up nicely if you pop them into the bead blasters
I was charged a fiver a wheel

That's that then, tyres off, sand blast, re paint silver... lovely, cheers chaps :ok

..... and then post pictures of the whole process on here. (Please!) :ok

Will see what I can do!
1986 Transporter 1.9 w/c Tin Top

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tonydata
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Re: Painting steel wheels

Post by tonydata »

itchyfeet wrote:Just cleaned mine up, gave them a rub down, trated rust spots, masked them and sprayed them with a Halfords rattle can, easy.

:ok
1986 Transporter 1.9 w/c Tin Top

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tonydata
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Re: Painting steel wheels

Post by tonydata »

Allanw wrote:Hammerite smooth Silver looks awesome. I painted my new merc steels with it, and they look like an OEM silver steel would look. It's soft-ish for a week or so after painting, so wait before fitting caps and have the tyre shop be extra careful! Once it's hard, it's HARD

Hmmmmm, another option, I think this may be what I might do, seems easy enough, and cheap... :P

How many cans did you use Allan? 400ml can on the bay, £8... You got a pic of the finish?
1986 Transporter 1.9 w/c Tin Top

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