Dumb wheels painting question
 

This is probably a dumb question that the answer is obvious. Oh well. I want to get the wheels on my 87 Silverado sand blasted, so I can paint them. They need it. Well, I only have one truck, and they are on the truck. So basically I have to get the wheels to the tire shop, have them take the tires off, get the wheels sand blasted, and take them back to the tire shop, and then pay to have the tires mounted and balanced again. All while borrowing someone else's truck, or otherwise getting someone else to help me with transporting them.

Is there an easier way to do this? If it was you, would you just buy a junkyard set of ralley wheels and just blast those instead? And then take those to the tire shop and have 'em swap tires over? Or would that actually cost more? Like I said probly a dumb question but maybe somebody has a nice solution.

Re: Dumb wheels painting question
 

Search Craigslist. I got the steels on my 77 with caps off CL for 50.00 bucks. Put in a little time, you'll be surprised what you might find.

Re: Dumb wheels painting question
 

Yeah I was thinking that $50 might be about the going rate for some rusty old ralleys. However, is that less expensive than what the tire shop would charge me to dismount, then mount and balance my rimz? Maybe not. Sounds like it might actually be about the same. Then again, I could sell mine afterwards, and recoup the cost...maybe.

Re: Dumb wheels painting question
 

Going rate for a set of rally's at a swap meet is 100-125 dollars. Going rate on Craigslist seems to be nearer 250 dollars. Some people shop with their feet and eyes, others with their Internet machines.

I'd get a second set and do them up right then sell my originals after the swap out.
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Re: Dumb wheels painting question
 

Why dismount and remount the tires? Sandblasting won`t
hurt them, just blast ,mask and paint.

Re: Dumb wheels painting question
 

Exactly! Unless your planning on having them professionally blasted, or using a blast cabinet you can leave the tires in the rims. Just air it down, use pieces of cardboard crescent cut outs wedged under the bed and blast away. The cardbaord wedge will allow you to get the entire bead area and saves the hassle of masking with paper.

Of course of you really want them to look nice, have them blasted and powder coated. If your just looking for driver quality, rattle cans work just fine.

Re: Dumb wheels painting question
 

Are they pretty rusty? You have other options. On my '72 K2500 and '92 K3500 both sets of wheels (original type) had some rust and paint flaked off to primer. I wire wheeled them down to bare metal real easily. I use a band of sheetmetal to wrap around the rim and tape the end to itself,prime,and paint with great results. Both have been done a few years and still look fantastic. I'm sure you could sandblast the same way. The only thing that doesn't get touched is the outer edge of the wheel where the band is. But,my wheels look great and that's not noticeable.

On the other hand,I just ordered a second set of more aggressive tires for the '92. I have always thought about running old style wheels with hubcaps and bought a set of later Ford 7" rims that looked like new take-offs for $75. I just took those and three 5 on 5 15s for my utility trailer to my sandblaster guy,etch primed,painted all but face black,and the fronts with rallye wheel color. I spent more this way but not a whole lot. But,I had to mount the new tires anyway. round here,dismount/mount/balance runs $20 per wheel = $80. I did the tires on the rim for the cost of paint.

Re: Dumb wheels painting question
 

I like the powder coat idea. How much should I pay to get 'em powder coated? Would a body shop paint job look just as good, or better than powder coat?

Re: Dumb wheels painting question
 

Powder coat will run anywhere from 40 per wheel to 120 per wheel. Just like paint and bodywork, the price spectrum is wide and the quality thereof the same.
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Re: Dumb wheels painting question
 

I used brake caliper paint from advance auto. Get either black which is satin or silver. Holds up great and has that thick powder coat look.
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Re: Dumb wheels painting question
 

Yeah I pained the wheels on my 81 a long time ago and I guessed I just randomly chose the right paint. Cause it also had that thick powder coat look. Is there any chance that I could blast the wheels without taking the tires off? Like one member said, just mask off the tire with cardboard or something? Or would that be a bad idea? Something about sand getting down in between the rim and tire.

Re: Dumb wheels painting question
 

Why not wire wheel as much as you can from tire down, then blast it.
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Re: Dumb wheels painting question
 

That's a good idea. I'll do that first. I'll post before and after pics when I'm done. Might be a few weeks though.

Re: Dumb wheels painting question
 

You can leave the tires mounted up. Sandblasting wont hurt them.

Re: Dumb wheels painting question
 

i plasti dipped my rims and they turned out sweet $5 a can at home depot. don't even have to pull the tires off the truck any over spray peels right off.

Re: Dumb wheels painting question
 

bout two weeks ago i found a chunk of metal in my tire
not repairable and i'm outa time heading to the trailer
blew my "blast the rims" plan
bought 4 tires ran to get installed
then decided to try painting them last week got the drivers side done so far
sanded,scraped,sprayed tremclad white
then threw them in the back of the Jimmy to sun bake for two days...(EZ bake oven)
bit of over spray but I like em

Re: Dumb wheels painting question
 

I like those old wheels cause they don't have much holes for brake dust lol. Course I'm gonna run the Red Stuff brake pads next time I have to change my pads. Some brake dust does still manage to get through.

Re: Dumb wheels painting question
 

Also I ended up finding a local junkyard that is selling the rally wheels for $20 each. Not too bad given the prices I've seen at other places to buy them.


I know very little about plasti-dip. Do you know if its made for the kind of abuse that its going to see on a wheel? Small dirt and such always peppering it as you're driving down the road. Plus brake dust. The plasti dip that I remember, was originally being sold to fix fishing poles lol. You'd just thread around the break very tightly, then brush on a little plasti dip.

Re: Dumb wheels painting question
 

Paint from a rattle can is much easier to use when it comes to touch-ups. Try that w/plasti-dip once it peels (& it will somewhere w/o proper prep).

Get the wheels blasted if it's in your budget (with or w/o tires mounted).
Thoroughly degrease the surface.
A couple of light coats of paint (heavy/thick coats will crack).

To keep paint off the tires, wipe them down w/a pad soaked in some armor-all (overspray/paint won't stick to armor-all). You can just wipe them off again....

Re: Dumb wheels painting question
 

mine are rust spray paint
thanks Scoti i'll try that idea

To keep paint off the tires, wipe them down w/a pad soaked in some armor-all (overspray/paint won't stick to armor-all). You can just wipe them off again....

Re: Dumb wheels painting question
 

If you go with rattle can paint, do you need to sand the primer down first? In order to get that slick look.

Re: Dumb wheels painting question
 

Sandapaper or scotchbrite to gets things as smooth as possible. If primer is used, try to keep build-up to a minimum (just like w/paint). Excessive product build-up from rattle cans will crack once subjected to the heat cycling from use.

Re: Dumb wheels painting question
 

i just smoothed it out with some paper
scraped off chunks of rust,wire brushed the backs they are still pitted bad,
it's the tremclad gloss white
i did 2 just before it rained,threw them in the garage till later
then sealed into the back of the Jimmy for two days while i was away ,
baked in the sun better then i thought it would,even feels harder then norm