Gentlemen,
I am about ready to embark on my first painting procedure. I have several parts that I am going to primer but I am planning on starting with my wheels. I figured that the wheels are simple enough to spray with primer that I don’t have to be an expert at painting to get it right. Also, if I have some minor flaws, it won’t be as noticeable as a flaw on the body panel. Do you think that spraying the primer on the wheels is a bad part to begin with? I also have the front fenders ready to spray as well.
My wheels have been sandblasted. I blew off all the remaining dust and wiped them off with a cloth. Should I do anything else? Maybe acetone wipe down?
The materials I was recommend to use are:
PPG DP50 Epoxy primer with PPG DP 401LF catalyst. NO REDUCER
On top of the PPG DP50 will be:
Featherfill G2
Does anyone have any experience working with these two materials together? My friend recommended them and said he uses these two together all the time. Are these compatible materials?
How long should I wait before I spray the G2 primer? Do I need to do any surface preparation before I spray it on top of the DP50? The tech data sheet on the PPG primer(link below) says 60 minutes before the Top coat, is my Featherfill G2 considered the Topcoat?
I do not have the recommended(from the tech sheet) degreaser or cleaner. What are some readily available products I can use as a substitute?
Has anyone used this primer before? Have you used it on car wheels?
Do you suggest I use a reducer? How will I know if I need a reducer?
If the wheels do not have any greasy hand prints or oil on them, they may be ready to spray. I don't like wiping down sandblasted items as the lint from the rags I use sticks.
The DP90 is good stuff, I would use a reducer, as without it may not flow well at all out of our spray gun.
The featherfill would be considered a top coat, just make sure that DP90 has flashed, as the temperature is critical to the time frame as well. I usually add a bit more time because I spray at cooler temperatures.
If you must clean the wheels before priming/painting, then any degreaser like simple green or a detergent mixed with water will be fine. In that case, I would dry with a torch in order to make sure there is no water sitting in a crack/crevasse.
The wheels were sandblasted, and sprayed with PPG 1790/1791. Then DPLF/ DP402, then Dupont Centari/793S.
I did not use the Featherfill.
Each time I did a painting step, I would paint the backside first. and then the front side. That way the over spray ends in on the back side of the wheels.
I laid the wheels flat on a masked off board, on three broken pieces of a paint stir stick, to minimise contact spots.
The problem with painting wheels and parts is sanding the primers...so wouldnt it make sence to spray a primer that left no texture (orange peel) so you could paint without sanding in between..You would need a primer that stuck well to bare metal and provided some protection against rust and it would also have to be reduced to a paint like viscosity to be used as a sealer.
Epoxy is the only way to go but if the epoxy your using dosent do all this AND build AND sand well then look into SPI epoxy it does it all,so if you have pitts you can fill them then sand then seal and paint ...60.00 for a qt and that should be plenty....
The wheels were sandblasted, and sprayed with PPG 1790/1791. Then DPLF/ DP402, then Dupont Centari/793S.
I did not use the Featherfill.
Each time I did a painting step, I would paint the backside first. and then the front side. That way the over spray ends in on the back side of the wheels.
I laid the wheels flat on a masked off board, on three broken pieces of a paint stir stick, to minimise contact spots.
I was planning on hanging my wheels with welding wire. I wrapped the welding wire through the wheel stud hole and the center cap hole in a way that the wire spots won't show?
The problem with painting wheels and parts is sanding the primers...so wouldnt it make sence to spray a primer that left no texture (orange peel) so you could paint without sanding in between..You would need a primer that stuck well to bare metal and provided some protection against rust and it would also have to be reduced to a paint like viscosity to be used as a sealer.
Epoxy is the only way to go but if the epoxy your using dosent do all this AND build AND sand well then look into SPI epoxy it does it all,so if you have pitts you can fill them then sand then seal and paint ...60.00 for a qt and that should be plenty....
You can hang stuff to paint it, but if still leaves a "shadow" where the wire was.
Your wheels do have some pretty bad pitting from rust. Are the wheels anything special, or would it be easier to just get some new wheels?
One advantage of laying the wheels flat is you can more easily get a uniform coat around the wheel. Another possible solution is to thin the DP epoxy (2 parts DPLF, 1 part DP402LF. 1/2 part DT reducer), and spray wet, almost to the point you get "visible flow out indicators"
Some people call "visible flow out indicators" runs.
Painting the wheels can be tricky. It is hard to get paint into the narrow slots between the hub, and the wheel, without getting too much paint on to adjacent areas. the spoked wheel were even more troublesome, because I had to paint the edges of the spokes first, and then the flat more visible areas of the spokes, and finally the rim of the wheel.
Maybe some of the professional painters on this board can do a wheel like that quickly, but I resorted to adjusting the fan width, and paint flow down to a small fan. to do some areas, and opening up the controls on the gun to do other areas.
I just did a set of ralley's and used epoxy, then primer, mine were as rough as yours...or worse... I think the feather fill will be too thick..and for rallys, all that needs to be really nice is the front and really not under the center cap as much, which means, on the front lip and center area that shows...you can lay a couple coats of primer ..either epoxy or 2k..and those areas will be easy to sand....
As DBM said, sanding those wheels "surfacing" them is a MUTHA big time. If you must, and yours are pretty badly pitted then the polyester primer (it is an "undercoat" as "Top coat" is something you leave it in) is the way to go. But don't spray it everywhere, epoxy it and just spray the polyester where you NEED it. Sand it out and then epoxy the whole thing again and spray your paint (top coat) right over the epoxy, as no sanding is needed. (if you follow the manufacturers recommendations for "recoat window")
OH MY GOD does this bring back a horror story in my career. One time many years ago I did a set of Model A wires that were badly pitted. Polyster primed all four, spokes and all, inside and out and surfaced them! HOLY CRAP my figures were raw by the time I finished those damn wheels! I had no finger prints! LOL
You may want to "surface" the metal first with a roloc "surface conditioning disc", I know I would. Get the coarsest one, I forget the name of the color, it's a beige looking one, on an angle grinder and smooth out the metal before priming.
I have never used SPI but I understand it will fill and sand well (Shine may speak up, he uses it a lot) and after surfacing it with the Roloc disc the SPI epoxy primer may be enough. I would do anything personally before I broke out the polyester primer. It is bad ars stuff, a real life saver when you MUST use it, but if you don't, don't, it adds a LOT of work to surfacing.
Just epoxy wont stop them from rusting again fairly quickly...What I would do is first wire wheel some Ospho in there ,theres still quite a bit of rust in those pits the Ospho will remove most of whats left and convert any remnents there might be,Then use the SPI epoxy ,it will build but it'll take mabee 5-6 coats...give it a good sanding and shoot it with 2 more coats ..that should do it ...
I have been trying to find the Ospho around here. At Ace hardware, correct? The closest store, does not carry it, but would be happy to order it, if I wanted to buy a whole case (12 bottles) of the stuff.
On another note, I bought this paint stripper.
and did a little messing around with removing paint off a hood for a Datsun pickup.
Jasco....Thats the good stuff ,just a tad better than aircraft stripper...I heard that Lowes and Home dept now sell Ospho and of coarse aircraft stripper and Jasco stripper
If you turn the gun down so the trigger barely moves and not much paint comes out,almost none it's easy to get into all the cracks and hard to reach spots first and carefully once you get the whole thing covered you turn the gun up and put a nice wet coat on you won,t get runs. Also turn the fan closed so it hits small spot at first,then widen for wet coat to about six inces. If you need to fill the pits with the filler primer just turn down the amount again and carefully fill where you need it. Don,t be in a hurry and learn to adjust your gun and it is easy,and won,t get out of hand and cause extra work.
imo. as far as difficulty. I would not use any rust converter at all. sandblasting will take care of all the rust. clean em well with wax and grease remover, and put your 2k dtm epoxy on em. Per spec sheet when the epoxy is ready, shoot just a hi-build 2k primer. a few coats max. Let dry at least 24 hours to allow for shrikage. lightly sand with approx. 400, since your not going for full on body panel type perfection. should be plenty smooth and shoot your color. you don't need sealer on top of 2k primer. I think you will be happy with the results. If you rub through the primer, rescuff the entire wheel again, with 180 clean again and shoot a few more coats on. bottom line is you want a nice even finish throughout to put your top coat on. All sanding will be done by hand of course, and again, make em nice, but you won't be able to get your standard, blocks etc in there, wear gloves to prevent hand oils etc getting in any step of your paint and prep work.
IMO, After looking at those wheels, I would wash them with phosphoric acid, scuff them, then spray your epoxy. I have a bunch of parts that were sandblasted and then powder coated which are spider webbing all over. I don't believe that sandblasting removes the rust, it only removes the loose material. Oxidation is a chemical reaction to the iron. Pitting reveals the problem as an embedded problem to the steel piece.
IMO, After looking at those wheels, I would wash them with phosphoric acid, scuff them, then spray your epoxy. I have a bunch of parts that were sandblasted and then powder coated which are spider webbing all over. I don't believe that sandblasting removes the rust, it only removes the loose material. Oxidation is a chemical reaction to the iron. Pitting reveals the problem as an embedded problem to the steel piece.
as long as there is no rust left. and was dry and covered with a dtm epoxy. the rust cannot come back. if sealed properly. I would not worry about it at this time.
Don't worry, If you look at the spec sheets and MSDS for most DTM primer/sealers, they use phosophuric acid to assist in etching to the metal. I just prefer the extra preperation steps to ensure the rust has been stopped.
I'm pretty sure the Ospho must be the same as the Rustmort by SEM, I had been using for years. Over the past couple years I have been using a few different products yeilding the same to very simular results. I find that the most effective products like the rustmort are approximately 75% phosphoric acid. Recently I've used some stuff at my local tractor supply store as well as POR's metal ready, all with the same results. I have even used concrete etcher with simular results. Now I just try to find the most cost effective product as most the items I am working on are/were rusty. I also like to wipe off pieces that I have welded with something to help neutralize the oxidation left from welding. Plus areas that are welded contain more iron than the mild steel pieces usually welded, therefore more susceptible to corroding faster. Many cars that have been brought to my shop usually are rustier where they were previously repaired!
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