Wheel painting

[Dave]

Time for new rear tyres gives me the chance to repaint the wheels, (I have a small spray set up in the garage) the hard part is getting the right paint. Aerosol paints are likely to be too brittle when confronted by tyre fitter tools so I'm looking for some kind of 2 part epoxy or enamel. Any ideas ? Don't mind if it takes a long time to harden - unfortunately they won't fit in the oven while the domestic in chief is not here.....................but can do without the car for a week or so.

 

[Dan!]

For 65 quid a wheel you could get them refurbed and painted by wheelworx or similar, might be a better less hassle solution in the long run?

 

[Emtee]

Would have to agree with Dan Dave. I'm not certain there's anything you could easily buy that would better a heat cure process, both paint and lacquer.

 

[lozcb]

Powder coating is best, its tough and when oven baked , gives a really hard but not brittle effect


regards loz

 

[conaero]

Agree with Loz, powder coating is much harder than standard spraying. The problem you are going to have is finding the right colours. You dont mix the powder coat like conventional spray paint, its ordered and comes in as a job lot. Now if your wheels are silver, its going to be easy, but if your wheels are grey, then its going to be much agro and costly.

What I always do is get my new tyres fitted then send them off to be painted. They deflate the tyre and push it away from the rim face. That way you get rid of any tyre marks. I pay £180 to have a set of 4 done, by my local paint shop in Chichester. Excellent quality.

 

[Dave]

Thanks for comments so far but in my experience powder coating tends to have a sort of "hammerite" texture and is quite brittle. I dropped a 10mm spanner from a low height onto a motorbike I was rebuilding and the baked powder coat on the frame came off in a huge chip but left the undercoat. Most wheel painters push the tyre back from the outside rim and just paint the outside - it's air dried or very low temperature bake otherwise the tyre might be damaged. I understand that epoxy is baked to speed up the drying process but will self cure in a few days with no problems. So that's why I'm hoping to do both sides of the wheel while the tyre is off with something smooth and shiny which won't chip (very much) when I next drag the alloy along the kerb!!! I'll keep you informed.
PS anyone tried Uniroyal Rainsport 2's ?

 

[lozcb]

Thanks for comments so far but in my experience powder coating tends to have a sort of "hammerite" texture and is quite brittle. I dropped a 10mm spanner from a low height onto a motorbike I was rebuilding and the baked powder coat on the frame came off in a huge chip but left the undercoat. Most wheel painters push the tyre back from the outside rim and just paint the outside - it's air dried or very low temperature bake otherwise the tyre might be damaged. I understand that epoxy is baked to speed up the drying process but will self cure in a few days with no problems. So that's why I'm hoping to do both sides of the wheel while the tyre is off with something smooth and shiny which won't chip (very much) when I next drag the alloy along the kerb!!! I'll keep you informed.
PS anyone tried Uniroyal Rainsport 2's ?

Re the uni's , no one has admitted putting them on , most popular choices of tyre are usually the Pirelli , my self and several others on here swear by the Vredstein ultrac sessanta , Falken 452 are a popular choice as are the Goodyear Eagle FI , Should be lots on here re tyre choice if you use the search facility,

Recently had 2 sets of Masser wheels refurbed in the last year both sets painted with tyres off and the whole exteriors painted and baked , its the only way for a proper job and makes cleaning so much easier , any other way is only half a job and not worth it unless they charges around £30 a rim

regards loz

 

[reservoirfrog]

wheelspecialists take the tyres off & bake the wheel. has to be the easiest & cheapest option. they have a large range of colours in stock, the powder comes in a box so it cant be mixed to get a colour but if you want a colour diferent than what they have , as long as it has a RAL No. they can get it.

 

[Dan!]

I had the Lotus ones done a few months ago, I'll try and post a pic tomorrow so you can see the finish. It's lovely and smooth, no hammer finish at all. The tyres came off the wheels and all painted properly. I was actually put on to them by Maserati as they use them for refurbs on their used cars. As Rob said, any colour is available.

 

[davy83]

I recently have had both my wheels painted and then powder coated, its a stupid kind of a story!!!

However i would have to say that the paint finish was much more brittle and no where near as tough as the powder coating.

They both looked great.

Just my experience

 

[Dan!]

If I've done this right, there should be two pics below of one of the Lotus wheels recently recon'd.
As you (hopefully) will see, it's a nice smooth finish and not hammered at all.

http://www.sportsmaserati.co.uk/attachment.php?attachmentid=3665
http://www.sportsmaserati.co.uk/attachment.php?attachmentid=3664

 

[Dan!]

Hmm, that'll have to do.
Why do I struggle so much to just add a photo to a thread???

 

[Dan!]

How about the other code?

 

[Dan!]

Ah ha!!
Got it. May be some instructions for thickos like me would help?