The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Painting tires on or off rims

So what would you typically do to avoid minimal damage to paint with rims and tires mounted or without tires.


Thanks for your help

Welcome to Stovebolt.
I am trying to understand your question.
I doubt that you want to "paint the tires".
I am guessing that you have rims ready for paint and you don't want the new paint damaged by the tire mounting procedure.
I recently went through this dilemma on a set of rims which I spent a small fortune having painted body color.
I had the rims sandblasted, epoxy primed, and painted. I allowed plenty of time for the paint to cure before I had the tires mounted by a guy in which I have extreme confidence to be careful. It went very well.
Carl

Agreed. I had mine powder coated and then stressed about having tires mounted, but the guys were careful and with the modern mounting equipment (if used correctly) no part ever touches the edge of the rim- it slides the tire over without touching anything.

If you are actually wanting to paint your tires, please post pictures as I haven't seen it done since my mother took her Ford Falcon in to Earl Sheib's in 1967- they painted the tires without charging her anything extra.

Painted new rims of course I hope for the best on mounting the tires - most turn out well. Wheels I need to refinish - paint - I usually blast if needed, prime outer, prime and paint inner and inside wheel and edges, have tires then mounted, prep the outside of the wheel, carefully mask and then paint the wheel with tire on the rim.

Just a preference on past experiences. Tape does not like to stick to rubber very well.

If I have older tires, I may sandblast rims with tires on them.

Powder coated rims have a more durable finish for mounting tools.

We all want perfect but sometimes settle for less.

Any Good tire shop will be able to do the mounting with no problems. They use machines that has the mounting arm locked in place so that it doesn't touch the rim. However, I have found several local garages that still use the old machines that ride on the rim. I prefer powder coat, but if you use paint, it Must be Fully Cured. Even though the arm doesn't touch the rim, the tire bead has to slip over it. Wheels that you painted last weekend won't be hard enough to keep the paint from rubbing off the sharp outer edge.
Good tire shops can do things carefully. One shop I use have mounted 20" 3 piece rims with everything powder coated and barely left a smudge.

On the old machines, the install bar came with a plastic add on cover just for this purpose. Over time, however, the covers get lost.

Didn't realize I needed to brush up on my grammar prior to posting.

You're fine. If your grammar had been perfect, someone would have picked on you for your yankee accent.
Carl
Former Michigander

Thanks Carl, really not a new guy to restoration, just to this site and to vintage chevy.

I have not tried it but someone told me of a trick when trying to paint rims with the tires mounted. Get a cheap deck of cards and fan them out around the edge of the rim between the back of the rim and the front of the tire. You could then easily cover the rest of the tire.

I wonder how many deck of cards is needed for this painting process? I would love to see a pic of the pre-painted "deck of cards" wheel!

I've painted tires on by first washing very good. Then using masking tape going under the lip as carefully as possible with 3/4" tape. Can't use much longer than 6-8 inches at a time. Once that is done then another masking using paper to cover all the tire. Takes a while for sure but worked for me. Tire off and a good tire changer is much easier.

Dennis

From the interwebs: http://www.fagerquist.com/miata/jeep/build/wheel-2.jpg

install the new tire on the rim but dont seat the beads. Put a piece of rope between the tire and the rim to hold the tire away from the rim. Paint the rim. When dry remove the rope and blow up the tire.