The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Rims and HubCaps

Tried piggy backing this question with my question about chrome emblems without success, though I'm ready to paint the emblems now. Any recommendations on the type of paint to use on the stock rims for my 58 Chevy. I've got some black Por15 that I was going to be using on another project, and I was wondering if that would work well for the truck rims. Based on the Pelucid I used on the wood bed strips, I think that I can rely on their self leveling claim so brush strokes won't be a problem, but how will it look overall? Any advice for other types of paint that I might try? After stripping the hubcaps I plan to use white appliance paint. Will this resist chipping well enough? Any other suggestions?

Lumbergh,

This is of course a personal preference, but I like a satin black for a rim as opposed to a bright, gloss black.

Wouldn't the hubcaps be an ideal candidate for powder coating...durable and chip resistant.

Stuart

Here from personal experience.
You don't want to use the POR-15 for a finish coat on the wheels. POR-15 IS NOT UV resistant and after a short time the finish will break down to a flat finish that you will be able to rub or wash off. If you do POR-15 the wheels they should be prepped and painted over. Original wheel color for monotone paint was gloss black although I, like Stuart, prefer the satin finish. All this being said you may want to consider powder coating the wheels. As for the hubcaps, if you are striving for original, body color will determine the hubcap and other trim piece color. White hubcaps were only found on white trucks. All other body colors used what in 1959 was called Bombay Ivory. The 1958 color escapes me at the moment but was a similar color. Trim pieces painted would besides the hubcap include the bumpers, grill, and headlight bezels. There would be some difference from what is stated here if the truck has the two tone paint scheme.

Thanks for the info regarding Por15. I didn't realize that the standard black stuff is also not UV resistant same as their Pelucid product. The trim color in 1958 was also Bombay Ivory, as far as I know. I just had the truck painted, and I seriously doubt that the painter used the correct shade of white, Bombay Ivory, for the fron bumper, grill, etc., though he did use the correct shade of red that I requested. He has an old C10 himself and loves Chevy's; so, he may have actually used Bombay Ivory. I don't think that I could tell the difference though unless the two colors were side by side. I plan to look into powder coating but I'm anticipating a sticker shock when I see the cost of sand blasting to bare metal and powder coating that will cause me to think repainting the rims and hubcaps every few years to keep them looking nice and prevent rusting is a better idea.

Thanks for the Por15 warning. Any advice on a strong paint that will be chip resistant along the lines of a Por15 but with UV inhibitors?

You could use POR 15, but it will need some sort of topcoat. They do make topcoats that are made for use with the POR 15, and you could also use regular paint if you topcoat with their Tie Coat primer. I did my bedsides with that.
I will also add that unless you plan to either install a tonneau cover or some sort of bedmat to cover the wood, you'll be dissapointed with Pelucid. i did my wood with it, and while it looked great, the finish just doesn't hold up to UV very well. I'm currently in the process of stripping my wood for refinishing as the Pelucid started to peel from UV degradation.

Lum, you should be able to differentiate between white and Bombay Ivory. The Bombay Ivory has a light tan shade to it. You see the color on a lot of the Tri-5 cars.

Longbox 55:

I put three coats of Spar Urethane (clear finish with UV inhibitors) over the Pelucid to prevent the UV degredation. I believe this was the recommended method on MarK?

Bruce K,

Well I guess it's white then. Not a terribly big deal to me, since it looks nice. I prefer restored trucks to hot rods or restorods, but the exact shade of paint isn't that improtant to me. It's more about preserving the old styles, drivetrains, etc. as they once were. The Chevy trucks with the 235 I6, are in my opinion an improtant part of automotive history and really need to be saved as much as possible. I like the 50's in particular because of the exterior styling and the fleetsides are the forerunners of modern truck bed design as well.

Sorry, my post has become a topic for the Greasy Spoon more than here.

MarK did suggest the spar urethane over Pelucid, but later in their test the finish still failed from the UV. Mine was just the Pelucid, no topcoat. Part of my problem might also be that it was sprayed instead of brushed. It didn't seem to penetrate the wood very well. Stiil, you might consider a bedmat for really sunny days to help prolong the finish life. I got one fairly cheap at the local Tractor Supply store. Besides, you never know if you might actually have to haul something.

I do plan on getting a bed mat since, I know that I will have to occasionally use it as a truck not just a cool car to cruise around in. I'm surprised to hear about the failure of the Pelucid/Spar Urethane combo failure in the MarK testing. When I checked a few months ago, it was one of I think three finishes that was still donig well over a year after application. Well I guess I will just see what happens; it's done now, though I could still put more coats of the Spar Urethane on top.