Painting Mag wheels?

[purebred]

Anyone ever get tired of trying to keep mags looking good and paint them? I have a set of turbin mags that I have tried to clean up but I am finnaly going to give up and paint them with hammered rustolieum paint, wondering if anyone else has done so? Here is the rims i am going to paint.

[LBHTG]

let me know how it turns out i have the same rims on my 65 and was thinking of doing the same

[MisterC]

Yours will probably look something like this after painting. Great look!

[markeb01]

I’ve painted numerous aluminum wheels since around 1970, and painted my current wheels twice. New American Racing TTO’s come without any paint at all. To me they look completely unfinished, like bare aluminum. In order to make them appear more authentic to the original 1960’s era wheels, I painted them with part number MS7250 Martin Senour Tecnique Iron Cast Gray. It’s the closest color I’ve ever found to original vintage 5 spoke mags.

http://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/Ca...250_0006419575

It’s available at any Napa store, although it is usually behind the counter.

Here’s a 15x7 painted with Iron Cast Gray with a rear tire mounted:



After a while I got tired of the look, so I went back to my old standard and painted the spokes, this time using MS7239 Martin Senour Gloss Black. These spray paints have a very nice finish with excellent color retention. Probably any black would have worked, but I wanted to make sure the paint was completely compatible with what was already on the wheels.

This is the same size 15x7 wheel with a front tire mounted:

[purebred]

Looks good

[Rich 5150 69]

Mark I`m with you on the TT`s, I think they have stood the test of time, painted or clear, By the way thanks for the e-mail link....

[jocko]

Hey Mark, how did you get black letter BFG T/A's? Or are you just running white letters on the inside? I had a BEAR of a time finding the tires I wanted in blackwall.... I like every version of paint and wheel your truck has gone through - definitely one of the nicest trucks on here my friend.

[markeb01]

Thanks for the comments Jocko. The Radial T/A’s are black letter on one side and white letter on the other, so I just turned them around.

The rear tires are a different story. I love the size, shape, and handling of these Firestone tires. They are much higher quality, balance easier, handle better, ride nicer, and don’t wear out in the center of the tread like T/A’s. The only complaint I have is the appearance of the blackwall side. In my opinion it’s just plain ugly, so I turned them white letter side out and colored the white letters black.

Back in the 60’s and 70’s I always had a can of Tire Black around for the chore. For years it came in a white can with black letters, and later was updated to a red can with black letters. It was available at virtually every auto parts store. In my youth I painted all my tires black with that stuff, both blackwalls and whitewalls. It covered completely leaving any tire wearing a rich deep black finish, looking like brand new.

These being the first white letter tires I’ve owned in decades, I was greatly disappointed to find Tire Black is no longer available, anywhere. So I bought a gallon of commercial tire black from a tractor outfit. It is suppose to renew old cracked tires and is also used on recaps to make them look fresh. It didn’t cover very well at all. So after a bunch of additional research it turns out India ink is the deepest blackest dye generally available, and this turns out to be the main ingredient in Sharpie Markers.

So I bought a few and went to work. First I washed the white letters with alcohol and dried them off. Then it’s a simple matter of blacking out all the white. If the tire is new, all the little molding spikes need to be cut off and colored too, as they are white at the base. The first time on a new tire takes a couple of coats. Once the ink is dry I apply a heavy coat of Armoral Extreme Tire Shine Gel. Its water based and is a great preservative for both the tire and the ink. When dry I give it a final wipe to smooth out and knock down some of the excessive gloss.



About ever 6 months some thin spots begin to appear around the edges of some letters. I simply repeat the process starting with the alcohol wipe. It somewhat of a pita, but worth it to me having the tires appear the way I like.

[1963c-10]

Originally Posted by Rich 5150 69

Mark I`m with you on the TT`s, I think they have stood the test of time, painted or clear, By the way thanks for the e-mail link....

I agree...looks very sharp