Dressing Wheels & Tires

[OUTFXD]

First remove your wheels.  Wash them down good to get rid of any mud and road grime.

[OUTFXD]

Clean the wheels AND tires with windex to help break down any grease.

[OUTFXD]

Clean off wheels AND tires with Dawn and water (Or other degreaser)  and rinse to remove any hang about chemicals.

[OUTFXD]

Clean your whitewalls with a non alcohol bleaching agent,  Scrubbing the white wall with a 3m pad or other scrubber to help clean up any browning or stains. and finally dress with shoe whitening agent.   Also Bleach the blackwall to remove any stubborn dirt or grime.

Edited May 3, 2023 by OUTFXD

[OUTFXD]

On my tires there is a Lip that can be cleaned to give you a sharp edge!

[OUTFXD]

Cut a piece  of plastic large enough to completely cover the wheel

[OUTFXD]

Find some where near the center of the wheel and pinch the plastic.

[OUTFXD]

While holding the center, smooth the plastic out into a cone. then measure  from near the center of the rim to the air valve.  (Doesnt need to be exact)

Edited May 3, 2023 by OUTFXD

[OUTFXD]

Fold the plastic over and cut out the center near where the Air valve was.

Edited May 2, 2023 by OUTFXD

[OUTFXD]

Lay out the plastic over the wheel  sort of centered.

[OUTFXD]

Let ALL the air out of the tire,  I suggest removing the Air valve.  Push down on the sidewall hard enough to push the tire down slightly from the wheel/  Use a non-sharp tool (I prefer something made of plastic) to tuck the edge of the plastic under the rim of the wheel.  Once you have worked all the way around the wheel,  Go around again and make sure to tuck in any extra plastic, giving you a sharp edge  so you can paint the outside of the lip on the wheel.

Edited May 3, 2023 by OUTFXD

[OUTFXD]

Sand down the entire wheel, paying extra attention to any rusty areas,  hit again with Degreaser and rinse. Spray with primer, You only need a good coat on areas that are rusty or unpainted metal.

Edited May 3, 2023 by OUTFXD

[OUTFXD]

This is the perfect example of a basic habit for painting.  Once you have painted something, Move around,  Walk around it,  View it from different angles.   When an Item is painted while viewing from a single angle,  Bits that have been missed can easily be hidden from view!

Edited May 2, 2023 by OUTFXD

[OUTFXD]

First spray on a tack coat.  Misting the wheel with paint,  not concerning yourself with a good coat of paint.  Wait 15 minutes for the paint to tack up.   These little specs of paint will work like rungs on a ladder,  helping to support the weight of the paint and preventing runs,   Then give it a good solid coat of paint with a wet appearance.

[OUTFXD]

Wait at least 30 minutes before demasking the wheels, and 24hours for the paint to cure before reinstalling on the car.

[OUTFXD]

All wrapped up and looking spiffy!   I was actually approached while taking this picture and asked if I was interested in selling!

Edited May 2, 2023 by OUTFXD

[andyd]

Outfxd..........this is one of the best How To threads I've seen......while I don't personally need to do this I appreciate the effort and work that went into doing this & the improvement made......great work & thanks.......andyd 

[Ivan_B]

Are these DIY white walls? ?

I was under impression that the tires should be removed completely, rims sandblasted, and then re-coated with the applicable enamel, etc. How long ago have you had a chance to inspect the inside of the rims? Most of the older ones I've seen, had lots of rust underneath the rubber. Especially the ones where the center piece is attached with rivets instead of welding.

Edited May 3, 2023 by Ivan_B

[OUTFXD]

The White walls are.. factory?(the tires are reproduction BF Goodriches)   Your above sytstem is the recommended way to restore old wheels.  I am simply taking a set of wheels and tires that have seen better days and making them pretty. Both the wheels and tires are relatively new.

 

Thank you for your concern, and I hope this clears things up for you!

[Saskwatch]

Thank you  OUTFXD for sharing this with us , good to know and looks really good! 
   Your car looks great , what a transformation from those first pictures. 
 You have done a great job?

[Plymouthy Adams]

OUTFXD, Thanks for taking the time to present your work tactics in maintaining your wheels and tires both in words and pictures.  This will surely help someone along the way.

Edited May 3, 2023 by Plymouthy Adams

[Dan Hiebert]

Nice process.  I usually end up repainting the rims on our D24 every five years or so.  Red seems to go downhill faster than black.  So far, I just use masking tape, think I'll try this method next time.  Thanks for posting!

[Eneto-55]

I repainted the steel wheels on our then 'family car' last year.  (Rust was getting a start where the wheel covers had holes.)  I used masking tape and newspaper, but I've later seen where some guys stick a bunch of playing cards under the rim all around.  I had gone around with the masking tape first, then taped the newspaper to that.

[Ivan_B]

7 hours ago, OUTFXD said:

I am simply taking a set of wheels and tires that have seen better days and making them pretty. Both the wheels and tires are relatively new.

Thank you for the clarification. For some reason, the white walls on the pictures appeared to have uneven edges, so I thought these could've been self-made ?

What kind of enamel did you use? It appears that the regular ones outlasts the spray cans. The trick is to apply several thin coats with a brush, and then sand down the streaks to make it flat. I've never used this technique on rims before, but it worked well on a motorcycle gas tank, for example. This is considerably more labor intensive but the coat is way more durable. Unless, of course, you have a paint gun and can do the job properly to begin with ?

[Young Ed]

I've seen the plastic trick before using big black lawn/trash bags.