Guest Qman Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 I am about to paint the wood spoke wheels on my 1930 Chrysler 66 project. Anyone with experience want to send me some tips? My major concern is getting the paint right on the rims and spokes without a dripping mess. It looks like a challenge. Any thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keiser31 Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 Lots of masking tape. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trimacar Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 Hi- the best trick I have seen to paint wheels is to mount them on a slowly rotating motor/gearbox, on a stand. Then, as you paint, if there are any drips, they will even out on the wheel as it rotates. I would think you could also do this manually, mount the wheel on a rotating shaft of some kind, and as you paint spin the shaft. A motorized setup lets you keep it running while paint dries. Very small motor/gearbox needed. good luck David Coco Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KenHupp20 Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 I agree with David . I turned mine manually, you will need to shoot from many different angles, and then the other side! Four wheels in one day no runs, I was younger then .Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest VeloMan Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 Rig up an old BBQ rotisserie. You can find them on eBay, CraigsList, etc. If your set-up is balanced, this will provide plenty of power. Keep the wheel turning until the paint has set (30 minutes+).Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Qman Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 To strip the paint I've laid them flat on my bench and also have a jig to hold them upright leaning back a bit. Ken to turn them manually I assume they are laying flat, but my hubs have different bearing points on either side, what did you use to set yours on, and could you flip it over and avoid overspray. Would it make sense to paint em up with a brush? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrbartlett Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 My brother and I have painted wood and especially wire wheels by rotating them slowly. We bolted them to a rod and attached a pair of vice grips to the rod, then one of us spray painted while the other turned the rod. The wheels were vertical; the rod horizontal. You can mount the rod very simply -- we've put in the U-shaped bracket on top of jackstands, or even just rolled it back and forth on parallel boards. Paint heavily to fill in the pits, and the rotation eliminates runs and helps the paint flow out evenly. We used hardener in the paint -- after 10-15 minutes the paint is hard enough that you can stop. On the wire wheels, I find that our paint jobs look far better than powder coating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest windjamer Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 Im no expert, but small items I have done I find MANY dust coats give me a better job with no runs or mess than one heavy coat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrbartlett Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 What you are trying to do, particularly with wire wheels where you cannot get into the many tiny spaces in order to fill the rust pits and sand the filler or primer, is to get the paint to flow over and fill them, then dry to a glass-like state. A heavy coat seems to work well for this.Access is clearly not a problem with wood wheels, which are much simpler, but the rotating and heavy coat method does eliminate a lot of extra work with them as well. Plus, it helps keep overspray to a minimum. At least, that's been our experience. We've also disassembled them and spray-varnished the individual spokes and painted the rim and hub, then reassembled everything. That worked too for that application. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Boudway Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 Hi,Here are photos of the rig that we use.We have a gearmotor that rotates the wheels at about 4RPM.My 1919 Packard wheels are the subjects.Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KenHupp20 Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 I did mine verticly also . You asked about brushing , while I do a lot with a brush I would not attempt it on spoke wheels . The rigs in the photos look great !Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Qman Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 Bill, That is a great set up...and the wheels look great too. Thanks for sharing. And yeah I was affrai Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Qman Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 afraid that the brush idea was too lame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dean_H. Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 You learn something new everyday. What a great idea and set-up to paint wheels. Way to go! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Boudway Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 Hi,Quick PS on the wheel turner photos.We cover the gearmotor and reducing gearbelt to prevent the mess from overspray. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest stude8 Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 I built this affair with a garage sale rotisserie motor and a swivel stool flat bearing plate. I have done several kinds of wheels and they come out with even paint application thanks to the slow rotation speed. Do the back sides first then after it cures a little flip it over and do the show side. In the flat arrangement you can aim the gun in whatever angle you need to fill corners that show up during work. The wheels in photo are 1962 Studebaker truck Firestone optional rims.Stude8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest myold88 Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 I restored the wood spoke wheels on my '29 Franklin years age. They were in excellent condition (original paint with no rim rust). Few people believed it but I sand-blasted them using very low pressure and then hand sanding them. The oak spokes came out like new and I felt they were too beautiful to repaint. The spokes were refinished in natural stain and then masked off. The rims were then spray painted the original color. Of course you must have excellent wheels to start with to get this result. Again, don't be afraid to sand or media blast your wheels using "low pressure". It can save a lot of work and you will be suprised at the results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Qman Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 Thanks for all the great tips on wood spoke painting. The front two are finished, scraped, stripped, sanded, sealed with 3 coats of shellac, two primer and 4 finish coats, with light sanding in between each coat. I used Bill Boudway's vertical method, using a pipe clamp as an axle held in my vise, and turned them with my left hand as I sprayed them with my right. Light coats kept them from running and the hand control made it easy to hit all the tight spots. If you go to YouTube.com and search "painting wood spoke wheels" you'll get the see my pipe clamp jig, with me spinning the wheel after a coat of primer. Thanks for the tips. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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