Best way to prep rallye wheels for paint?

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drtybttr

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Hey guys I just acquired a full set of wheels that need some help. There are tires on them and I can't afford to sand blast them. I just wanted to put a decent factory colorish rattle can paint job on them. I was wondering what the best at home method on the cheap to remove the paint and rust would be? Should I use a wire wheel, aircraft paint remover, good ol sand paper or what? Also whats the closest paint match for a factory finish that can be purchased locally in a can? Thanks in advance guys.
 
Metal is metal, so remove the valve stems. Media blast them and then hit them with some self etching primer, sand and then use an air chuck to dust off and hit them with paint. Or just media blast and then paint.
It should be relatively cheap to have these blasted at a shop, if not paint stripper will work, but you need to neutralize the chemicals and let is set a while before you try to paint them.
 
The quick and dirty way to do this is with a cup wire wheel on a grinder.
Make sure you stay away from the valve stems, either mask them off or put an old chunk of heater hose over them. If you nick them with the wheel, they are junk.
And for god's sake wear a face shield, heavy duty gloves, and a thick coat because the wire in the cup tends to come off once in awhile and will stick into you!
Don't use a lot of pressure and let the wheel do the work for you.
It will buff off the rust scabs and remove the paint pretty well.
Then i would clean it up and use a rattle can self etch primer, the stuff i use is pro form and it comes in grey.
The back side of the wheel you can use duplicolor semi gloss black.
Then either get some chrysler rallye wheel paint, or something from duplicolor like the factory match paints in a color that is light silver with hardly any metallic in it if any.
Spray it on and it dries to an almost semi gloss/flat appearance. It should take only 1 can of primer and a couple of cans of duplicolor, put the coats on light and they dry quickly. They are lacquer based.
Don't worry about the overspray of the silver on the black, this is how the factory did them!
I'm going to do this in a few weeks to my wheels, and this is what i'm doing......
The best way of course is to take the tires off the wheels and sand blast them, but this way will get you by without dismounting the tires etc.
 
Duplicolor "Steel wheel" looked good on mine, but I didnt have an argent one next to it to compare. Its at most chain auto stores. A bottle of "naval jelly" is cheap and works pretty good on light rust. Just remember to rinse completely, dry and hit it with primer before it flash rusts.
 
If you do not have access to any of the equipment then you should use paint stripper. Let it set for a while, then pressure wash it off and scrub with steal wool or a wire brush. Then soak the rims underwater in a tub or something to ensure the neutralization of the chemicals, then rinse after you take the rims out of the water, let everything dry and then start the painting process.
 
Have them powder coated. Just make sure to have them blast it first.
 
DO NOT USE SELF ECTHING PRIMER

After all the paint is off, media blast is good , use rubbing alcohol for a cleaner than clean surface. Spray the MoPar Argent paint directly to the bare steel.
 
Wow....

Don't powder coat it gets a rock chip and the rust runs under the paint.

Best way is check them to make sure they are straight (use your wheel spinner you made out of a spare drum spindle) then garnet blast (not sand blast) then use DP epoxy primer to seal them. Once again use your wheel spinner when your painting them it's crazy easy to spin the wheel and paint it while it's going around.

I then like to paint the back sides black with single stage and use the proper formula single stage argent (the mopar wheel paint from the mopar dealer or mancini will work just not nearly as durable)

You said you don't have enough for blasting but it costs $10 bucks a wheel and you will get far superior results then any of the the other methods when you start with properly prepped metal. Also honestly when everything is said and done the "cheap" methods described earlier in the thread are not going to be that much cheaper then doing it properly and not nearly as durable.
 
Wow....

Don't powder coat it gets a rock chip and the rust runs under the paint.

Best way is check them to make sure they are straight (use your wheel spinner you made out of a spare drum spindle) then garnet blast (not sand blast) then use DP epoxy primer to seal them. Once again use your wheel spinner when your painting them it's crazy easy to spin the wheel and paint it while it's going around.

I then like to paint the back sides black with single stage and use the proper formula single stage argent (the mopar wheel paint from the mopar dealer or mancini will work just not nearly as durable)

You said you don't have enough for blasting but it costs $10 bucks a wheel and you will get far superior results then any of the the other methods when you start with properly prepped metal. Also honestly when everything is said and done the "cheap" methods described earlier in the thread are not going to be that much cheaper then doing it properly and not nearly as durable.
x2
 
Have them powder coated. Just make sure to have them blast it first.

Arghhhhhhhh!!! 1970Duster, with all due respect hun, if you have to "make sure" your powder coater blasts it first, then you're not hiring a coater; you're just paying somebody too much money to practice on your parts, and it's a pretty good call that the job won't last and you won't be happy with the results.
 
When I did mine, We didnt even break them down, I duct taped the tires and valve stems, my friend had a sand blaster at his garage, I took them around the side of the building, blasted them, blew them off, wiped them down with laquer thinner and let them dry.. hit them with primer and 3 coats of rattle can 'cast coat' and that was that.. they came out nice..
 
Wow. What an incredibly diverse set of opinions here. I guess that's what makes a forum great. I have to do the same thing. I have a can of Mopar Argent and it does not state any need to prime the wheels first. I'll follow the directions but I had a paint "pro" tell me once there is no such thing as self-priming paint (even though there is, he meant it doesn't work).
 
I paid 40 bucks to have 4 sand blasted all over ( no tires ). The bead surfaces were in such bad condition I'm not sure they would have held air.
After I spent a few minutes with a small pick digging the remaining sand out out of the nooks I spent 3 cans of Rustoleums rust reformer primer on the 4 wheels. Made sure those nooks were completely coated. 2 cans of color on faces only.
 
... 2 cans of color on faces only.

Bennie, if you left the backs in bare metal, you'll eventually have the same kind of "rust creep" that Ross kind of mentioned in Post #8 up there. It's one of the main reasons why when powder coating something it's usually done on the entire part -- it encapsulates it completely to help keep all the air, moisture and impurities out.
 
Arghhhhhhhh!!! 1970Duster, with all due respect hun, if you have to "make sure" your powder coater blasts it first, then you're not hiring a coater; you're just paying somebody too much money to practice on your parts, and it's a pretty good call that the job won't last and you won't be happy with the results.

My thoughts exactly when I read that, and I don't even do it for a living.
 
DO NOT USE SELF ECTHING PRIMER

After all the paint is off, media blast is good , use rubbing alcohol for a cleaner than clean surface. Spray the MoPar Argent paint directly to the bare steel.


Why no to the primer? I used the self etching primer and the mopar wheel paint from Summit and it looks fine. There is very little color showing once the center caps and trim rings are on. I would scuff them up and finsh with 320 grit, mask prime and paint. $20 and your done and they will look fresh until you have more time / $. Andrew
 
1.scrub with a scotch pad
2.blow off
3.spray the argent silver paint.
4.you may see some bubbles but dont worry as most of that is the paint and you cant even tell
 
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