Best Clear for Steel Rims?
- Thread starter mitch_04
- Start date
roger1
Member
Question.
I just blasted the Rally II wheels for my '69 GTO and am planning on painting them soon.
My plan is shoot 1 coat of epoxy and basecoat for the 2 colors which are Argent Silver and Charcoal Gray.
I have Universal Clear on hand. Should I use that or should I buy a quart of 2100 because it's much better for wheels than the Universal would be?
I just blasted the Rally II wheels for my '69 GTO and am planning on painting them soon.
My plan is shoot 1 coat of epoxy and basecoat for the 2 colors which are Argent Silver and Charcoal Gray.
I have Universal Clear on hand. Should I use that or should I buy a quart of 2100 because it's much better for wheels than the Universal would be?
Chris_Hamilton
Trying to be the best me, I can be
If you have the Universal I would use it. The main reason for the 2100 recommendation was that it would be less build. If you reduce the Universal some it would be ideal. 1:1:10% up to 1:1:20%. It will get thinner the more you reduce it. 1:1:20% would work well IMO. I would do two coats only. Perhaps test first with 10% reduction and see how that sprays. You can always add more reducer to you mix if 10% isn't enough.
roger1
Member
I thought y'all might like to see how my wheels came out and how I got there. For my '69 GTO convertible project, I decided to go with stock style Rallye II steel wheels but instead of the stock 14"X6", go with 15"X7" in the front and spare and 15"X8" in the rear. I acquired 3 used later model Firebird Rallye II wheels and bought 2 new Wheel Vintiques 15"x8". Pontiac didn't put 15"X8" Rallye IIs on any cars so I had to go with aftermarket for the rear.
The used wheels were in very good condition except for some mild rust. The Wheel Vintiques wheels come with a very good silver powder coating on them but some cheap paint for the center portions that comes of easily and is totally the wrong color.
I blasted all the rust off on the used ones and lightly blasted 2 the new ones to remove the center paint and put a good scuff on the powder coating to accept epoxy primer.
I then sprayed the rear sides of the wheels with black SPI epoxy, waited until the next day to flip them and paint the front sides with gray SPI epoxy.
Whoever made the 7" wheels for Pontiac, didn't cast them with the spokes totally flat. However the Wheel Vintiques spokes were perfectly flat.
So I added some finishing filler to the spokes on the 7" wheels and blocked them flat then followed that up with 2 more coats of gray epoxy and a final block sanding.
Next I sprayed the wheels with Argent Silver base coat followed by 2 coats of SPI Universal clear. The base coat paint I'm using is Automotive Art Motobase.
Next I put the wheels in my blasting cabinet one by one and very lightly blasted them just to etch them enough to dull the clear. I did this because it was a lot easier than scuffing them with gray Scotchbrite. Here's the first one ready for taping:
It took me about an hour and half to tape each wheel.
I then sprayed the wheel centers with Charcoal Gray Metallic basecoat.
After letting them dry for about an hour I removed the masking tape and sprayed the wheels with 2 more coats of SPI Universal Clear. I've got a lot of hours in these wheels. I wasn't sure what was the best way to attack painting them and questioned myself a few times on the way I finally chose. Putting them in the blasting cabinet after spraying them with clear I'm sure seemed a bit odd. I did it that way because I was afraid of getting tape residue on bare base coat and what it might do to it in getting it off. Anyway, it worked out great and I'm very pleased.
The used wheels were in very good condition except for some mild rust. The Wheel Vintiques wheels come with a very good silver powder coating on them but some cheap paint for the center portions that comes of easily and is totally the wrong color.
I blasted all the rust off on the used ones and lightly blasted 2 the new ones to remove the center paint and put a good scuff on the powder coating to accept epoxy primer.
I then sprayed the rear sides of the wheels with black SPI epoxy, waited until the next day to flip them and paint the front sides with gray SPI epoxy.
Whoever made the 7" wheels for Pontiac, didn't cast them with the spokes totally flat. However the Wheel Vintiques spokes were perfectly flat.
So I added some finishing filler to the spokes on the 7" wheels and blocked them flat then followed that up with 2 more coats of gray epoxy and a final block sanding.
Next I sprayed the wheels with Argent Silver base coat followed by 2 coats of SPI Universal clear. The base coat paint I'm using is Automotive Art Motobase.
Next I put the wheels in my blasting cabinet one by one and very lightly blasted them just to etch them enough to dull the clear. I did this because it was a lot easier than scuffing them with gray Scotchbrite. Here's the first one ready for taping:
It took me about an hour and half to tape each wheel.
I then sprayed the wheel centers with Charcoal Gray Metallic basecoat.
After letting them dry for about an hour I removed the masking tape and sprayed the wheels with 2 more coats of SPI Universal Clear. I've got a lot of hours in these wheels. I wasn't sure what was the best way to attack painting them and questioned myself a few times on the way I finally chose. Putting them in the blasting cabinet after spraying them with clear I'm sure seemed a bit odd. I did it that way because I was afraid of getting tape residue on bare base coat and what it might do to it in getting it off. Anyway, it worked out great and I'm very pleased.
Last edited:
Dean Jenkins
Promoted Users
Those look great! I'm equally guilty of putting ridiculous hours into a "minor" part of the overall project. Fun hobby, right?
roger1
Member
Thanks everyone!!! I am quite proud of them. A lot of hours but worth it to me. Followers of my build thread over on the PY forum raved about how these wheels came out more than anything else I've posted.
Yes Barry, anything repro are notorious for bad quality paint. 3 of my wheels (15X7) came from an early '70s Firebird and 2 of them (15X8 were new from Wheel Vintiques. They didn't disappoint for the bad paint quality on the darker portion. Color was way off and the adhesion was terrible. 14s were all you could get on a '69 GTO and I wanted 15" with 8" for the rear. No factory Pontiacs had 8" wide Rallye IIs so I had to go aftermarket for those.
I have a new set of center caps and have new trim rings ordered but like so many things, are delayed.
Yes Barry, anything repro are notorious for bad quality paint. 3 of my wheels (15X7) came from an early '70s Firebird and 2 of them (15X8 were new from Wheel Vintiques. They didn't disappoint for the bad paint quality on the darker portion. Color was way off and the adhesion was terrible. 14s were all you could get on a '69 GTO and I wanted 15" with 8" for the rear. No factory Pontiacs had 8" wide Rallye IIs so I had to go aftermarket for those.
I have a new set of center caps and have new trim rings ordered but like so many things, are delayed.
Chris_Hamilton
Trying to be the best me, I can be
Awesome work Roger. That is going to be an amazing car.
roger1
Member
Thanks guys. Off topic but here's another testament for SPI epoxy.
I just installed the grille, and front lights and completed that yesterday. The grilles and headlight bezels are original parts and sprayed with black epoxy. Since the grilles also have some Argent Silver base coat (same as the wheels), I sprayed Universal Clear on them. I like the gloss for the egg crate center portions but didn't want that on the headlight bezels so no clear on those. Both the grilles and the bezels were tedious and time consuming to tape just as the wheels were. Getting them to line up perfectly in the car was a pretty good chore too.
I just installed the grille, and front lights and completed that yesterday. The grilles and headlight bezels are original parts and sprayed with black epoxy. Since the grilles also have some Argent Silver base coat (same as the wheels), I sprayed Universal Clear on them. I like the gloss for the egg crate center portions but didn't want that on the headlight bezels so no clear on those. Both the grilles and the bezels were tedious and time consuming to tape just as the wheels were. Getting them to line up perfectly in the car was a pretty good chore too.
