Often old whitewall or pinstriped wheels have faded over time leaving the wheels looking tired and worn out. But don’t throw those old wheels away just yet – a few dollars in supplies from the local craft store and you’ll not only be back in business, but also able to keep age correct original parts on your grill.
Required Materials:
– Small (1/4″) flat hobby paintbrush
– Some Flat White Enamel Paint (I used Model Master)
– Paint thinner
– Q-Tips
Here is a set of wheels that are particularly worn and faded so they will be perfect for this demo. It’s always a good idea to clean the wheels up as best as possible and then let them dry completely before painting.
Note that the area that we want to re-paint white has raised lips on either side making a channel of sorts at the outside edge of the wheel.
Tip: Flat paint can make brush marks stand out so use long, straight strokes with the paintbrush for the best results.
Essentially all you want to do is press your flat tip paintbrush so that it fans out slightly and fills the whitewall channel. I went with 2 coats to get a real strong white. If you go outside the lines don’t worry, it can be cleanup up easily in the next step. These were purposely painted poorly to demonstrate:
Fill a small container with paint thinner and keep your Q-Tips handy:
Simply dip one end of the Q-Tip into the thinner then use it to clean up all the areas where you over painted. The Q-Tip fits perfectly in another small channel just outside the circle and allows you to restore a nice sharp line:
For the inside edge of the channel just hold the Q-Tip flat and rest it on the inner raised lip of the wheel as a guide. Once again just work your way around until you’re left with a nice clean line. Allow to dry for 24 hours and then re-install… Simple as that!
R – R – R
Matt
Alternate methods:
– Some folks like to use something to hold the wheel and allow you to spin it while painting. This could be made easily by driving a large nail (Diameter to suit!) up through a 2″x4″, or some people have even used record player as the base!