Restoring steel wheels with tyres on

[dougie212]

Hi there

My Grand Vitara steel wheels are looking pretty tired and shoddy and I'd like to give them a new lease of life.. From the looks of things they have had quite a few coats of paint.. Some even brushed on, and now rust spots are becoming pretty wide spread. I'd like to give it a go and restore them myself.

I was hoping to be able to deflate the tyre and mask the tyre off. I'm just a little concerned that the tyre won't reseal when I'm done..... Any reason why it shouldn't seal again?

Secondly does anyone have any recommendations other than wire brushing to treat the rust spots and remove some of the excess paint before I prime and paint. I'd be really interested to hear from people that have taken on this task and what paints and treatments they have used.

Thanks
Dougie

[donkeychomp]

I've done hundreds, mainly with the tyres still on.

Don't use a wire brush you'll leave scratches on the metal and it'll look horrible when finished. If the paint is that thick use paint stripper and keep at it till most of the paint is off. A dremmel is a good tool to get rid of any other flakes left over, if you don't have one then coarse wet and dry...150 finishing with 230. Kill the rust with rust killer. Mask off the tyre and the valve, prime it and paint it. What colour are you going for? If silver use grey primer and a big tin of silver wheel paint should do all 4. I tend to use other paint but it does an ok job. Lacquer if you want them to last a while!

[Fwb2700]

I'm doing a set right now I have deflated all mine even Marked where the wheel weights go and removed them.

I have a small hand held sand blaster I using for the annoying bits but most of it I'm sanding by hand with wet and dry.

Instead of masking the tyre you can cut a4 paper into quarters and yuk it i between the rim and tyre. Will post a pic of what I am talking about found that a lot easier then masking.

I'm paining mine black they have been sold to a friend so he is helping. Done one so far came out pretty well. Just needs a coat of clear

[dougie212]

That's awesome.. Thanks both..!!

Im painting them silver yes, they are currently silver but have been dreadfully painted and in need of a big old freshen up.

Should the tyres seal against the run again when I reinflate them? I'm only concerned as I had an MGZS (my bad) that had real issues with the tyre sealing on the rim..

[donkeychomp]

the A4 paper trick is handy but if you don't want to deflate them then mask them off. Takes a few mins but an easy job.

[andyrew]

I was going to suggest the card trick.
Seen a few people using cheap packs of playing cards.

If you have a local Sand blaster ask them for a price.
Some are not to bad so it's always worth inquiring.
I had four chrome wheels blasted and zinc primed for £40.

[88SJ]

I have done loads of wheels over the years. Best thing by far is to remove tyres. It's handy to have a friend or someone who knows someone who has access to a tyre machine. It is much quicker and easier to prep wheels without tyres on!!.. As above...blasting and prime does not cost that much and is obviously the easiest way to get paint and rust gone!!