I'm in the middle of the "wheel" stage right now on my restoration of a 1951 Chevy Fire Engine. I don't know if this sounds ridiculous or not, but I had my mechanic make up a rig for our engine stand so I could spin the wheels as I painted them. In my mind, it makes sense to be able to hold the paint gun in one place, moving it very gradually from outer edge in, as I spin the wheel with the other hand.
It makes painting the wheel very simple, and so far, seems to give good results. It does require painting in 2 steps, of course. I did paint the front of one wheel sitting flat on a table - didn't turn out so good. I suppose putting a wheel flat on a spinning dolly, like a lazy suzan (sp?) would also be an improvement, but I'm not a huge fan of spraying down toward the ground, with a rattle can or a paint gun, but especially with a paint gun.
I wonder how the factory painted the wheels? Probably hanging from big hooks on a conveyor? Or maybe electrostatically?
-Michael
