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TR4/4A Wheel Paint

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bammons

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I am getting my wheels media blasted and was wondering about suitability of paints. If I spray paint them with something like VHT Wheel paint out of a can will that hold up? Has anyone used a paint on type of paint that they can recommend? Has anyone used POR-15 as a base and them spray painted with something like VHT? I only have a very small compressor but I might be able to spray a small job like these wheels. I wish to use Ford Argent Silver as the color. Bruce
 
Your proposal looks OK to me.
I would sandpaper the wheels by hand after blasting, and then thoroughly clean them with a grease and stain removal product.
Then spray a light coat of etch primer before the final VHT.
 
Make sure you let the paint cure before mounting tires. And let the tire installation folks know that it is new paint; can they go easy when mounting tires. (Not sure if that is an option - assume all is done by machines?? But they could run the tools on the inside of the wheel, leaving the outside blemish free.)
 
A good common practice is clean light sanding and good primer and any paint with tires installed from the rear. Madflyer
 
Ok that sounds like good advice I didn't know the tire guys could do that. So Thanks. Can anybody tell me which is better on sandblasted wheels (just got it done today); Self etching primer or epoxy primer? I need to get them primed soon for rust purposes. Eastwood has the Argent Silver paint on BO that I wanted to use but I may wait till it comes in. Bruce
 
Sandblasted the wheels.

Then I used epoxy primer followed by rattle can Ford Argent silver. That was over 2 years ago and so far they are looking good.

David

wheels painted.jpg
 
Was thinking of powder coating till I got the price. $125.00 per wheel even though I had them prepared. They said that was the price whatever the condition of the wheels.

David
 
I believe I will try the epoxy primer but looks like I will have to order it to get it in a spray can. Stopped at O'Reillys and Autozone and they don't seem to carry it. Is there a reason they don't carry it? Thanks for everybodies input on this I feel better about getting good results without a compressor and paint gun. Bruce
 
I'm not a painter, and will let the experts chime in. But I suspect an epoxy primer needs to be mixed and painted within a certain time window. As such, it may not be practical to ship it in spray cans.
 
I did not look it up but there must be a You Tube on painting and primers in general not just wheels. Question; I went through 11 rims for my TR6 to find 4 true ones and my spare was the best of the bad ones. are yours true in rotation steel rims can look good but be bent . A poor or bad bead edge will slow leak and rust pits can also make for a bad seal. It could be a waste of money spent on a rim that has hit the curb more than ounce. A TR 6 owner that need one rim for a spare asked to buy one of my old ones. I said no problem but you have to take all 5 and tires $ 100.00 done deal. WIN WIN There was also a Thread on gluing tires normally on race cars but also on limited drivers. I put up with it for years until I got alloy wheels and new tires. Madflyer
 
I used Eastwood Argent in spray cans, and after 15 years, time for a respray. It held up very well.
 
In no particular order, I saw that Eastwood and Ebay have the 2 part epoxy primer and that is what I was thinking of using. They are not cheap for 5 wheels it might cost me $80 (w/shipping) just for primer. Is epoxy worth that? I stopped at one auto paint supply store and didn't see the epoxy on the shelf. There are complaints that some people have with those cans dripping while spraying. Madflyer I don't see indications of damage on the wheels so I hope they are good. I really like wires but where I live they would be a nightmare to clean and subject to wear and I have to spend slot more money on painting and interior so I did not want to upgrade wheels right now. I got a set of trim rings with the car and I thought I would use them and who knows upgrade to alloys later. Kevin- Eastwood is out of the Argent Silver and apparently has been out for months. They have already moved the expected date for it to be back in stock further back in just the last few days. That's what I want to use but looks like I will have to use VHT which I think will be OK. So one last question; Is epoxy primer worth the substantially more money than self etching primer? If not then I will get self etching primer and VHT locally. Bruce
 
Bruce If you are think of alloys at some point you might spend a little less on paint. Look up 18 racing wheels on the web for alloys they are SCCA cert. and much less than say Mini's. They are in California and are not made in China. Some say their web page is hard to work but not that bad. You first pick a style that will take you to all a options and size for your car. On my TR 6 I got 5 tires and wheels for the price of just 5 Michelin's tires. The reason for the spare was I do not get directional tread and x rotate each year with the spare. Why have a new spare rot and never used. They are also very good on the phone.

Madflyer
 
I went through 12+ rims to find a set of good ones for my TR3. I would mount each rim on the front axle and spin it to check for run out both wobble and concentricity. One rim that came with the car kit had been curbed so badly that it had split the rim where the tire seats.

I see that Rimmer has new steel rims for the TR6.

David
 
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