A quicker (I think) way to mask tires for painting

P

Paul_NJ

501 Club
Undoubtedly, for me the activity in restoration I dislike most is painting the rims. Front or rear, size doesn’t matter. All of the meticulous taping around the circumference of the bead up against the rim, and then the newspaper . . What a nightmare. I know I could dismount the tires, but that’s another hassle and potential can of worms. Been putting off painting the rims on my 340U, but worked out a technique today that I think is easier and thought I’d share it here.

I traced out the outline of the (tire mounted) rim on a square piece of 6 mil poly with a marker, and then drew a second concentric circle and inch or so inside of the first circle. Cutting out the smaller circle, save the resultant “square with a hole”. Then I slit one side to the edge, opening the circle. Starting at the middle of the poly square, I began sliding/pushing 1/4 inch or so of the cutout circle edge between the rim and the tire’s bead, using an old putty knife with rounded edges, securing the outside edge of the poly to the tire tread every six inches or so with short pieces of masking tape. It helps to have let the air out of the tire. I was able to mask each side of a tire in a matter of minutes. My HVLP gun doesn’t have a lot of overspray so I didn’t bother wrapping the tire entirely. I think this is a quicker way. Only problem with poly is that the paint flakes off the slick surface so you have to be careful blow off any loose flakes between primer and topcoat, etc.

IMGP0010-vi.jpg
 
Hey Paul...NICE IDEA ! We're lookin' forward to visitin' with you & Sue on our vacation. Hope we'll have time to see your house and barn, Cub & IH 340 too !
 
Paul that is a bright :idea: . Thanks for sharing this tip, my rims are red and wanted to change the color and now this will make it an easier task.
 
Hi Paul,

I have been doing bodywork for many years, professionally, and have owned my own shop for (eegads!) 7 years.

I paint quite a bit of machinery and commercial stuff. they make rim maskers from metal for smaller wheels, like the front tires, but for big tires, like yours, if I don't dismount the tire, I use this stuff. http://www.sjdiscounttools.com/nor03344.html

The blue sheeting is available in 16 foot widths as well, which is what I use. with 16 feet of width, you can cover an entire wheel with just one sheet of plastic. The plastic never lets paint flake off, and is relatively cheap and good for a lot of purposes. IF you are painting in a garage with a lot of stuff that you don't want overspray on, you can quickly cover everything over, without fears of scratching the paint.

The other product I use, whihc I can't seem to find online, is called "slime." I keep it in a garden sprayer, and "slime the entire wheel, rim and all, and then let it dry. once it is dry, I scrub off the slime from the rim, and use wax and grease remover on it. Once you paint the tire, and the paint is completely dry, a quick blast withthe pressure washer will knock all of ht eoverspray off the tire, and the slime absorbs a lot of the clay and dirt from the tire, and lifts it out, too. It leaves a deep dark black shiney tire with no overspray.

good idea about letting the air out of the tire. That's something I never thought about. :idea:
 
John,

http://www.autobodytoolmart.com/pc-1041 ... 06847.aspx

That's not the same stuff I use, and it's a lot more expensive than what I buy, but the premise is the same. When my brother-in-law used to work at a coke plant(coke, as in cooked coal, not the beverage) he used to keep this stuff on his truck all the time, to protect teh paint from the fly-ash, and acid that spewed out all over the employee parking lot. it works great, but if you leave it on too long, it will discolor the paint. also not a good idea to leave it on something in direct sunlight for a few days. Ask me how I know. :oops:
 
Hi John

Thanks for the tips . . . never heard of the blue sheeting, but sounds like a good improvement to avoid the flaking off problem. I was also thinking it may be helpful with another problem I have. For some reason I don't recall, last year I decided to totally refinish only the front half of my tractor. Now I've got the back half totally stripped, and need to prime and paint without ruining the front half with overspray. Perhaps I should wrap each section in this blue stuff. Because the front is so irregularly shaped (engine, dash, steering column, loader frame, etc) I was afraid that just wrapping it all in one Home Depot blue tarp may not be safe enough. What do you think?

Paul
 
Paul,

Blue sheeting is a great idea for wrapping the front of your tractor. That is it's intended purpose. the plastic is very strong, but soft and thin, so it won't scratch your paint. Although, using it as a long term outdoor storage tarp is not reccomended. IF you leave it out in the sun, on a paint job, it will adhere tot eh paint adn when you try to remove it, it will take the paint with it, or leave marks.

Of course, that doesn't happen overnight, but rather requires it to be in direct sunlight for a few days.


If you have a local auto paint store, they should carry norton blue sheeting or a similar type of film covering. Home Depot sells something very similar, but it is only available in 12 foot widths, and doesn't keep paint from flaking off, like the good norton stuff.

By the way, your rims look great! What is that paint color you used?
 
I've been berated for this practice before, but I don't mind...this works for me:

I paint the rims. There is overspray on the wheels. I take a rag w/paint thinner on it. I wipe off the overspray with the rag. End of overspray.

I've been doing this for years with tractor-trailers, tractors, you name it. I've never had a problem with any tire after the fact. :shock: :lol:
 
By the way, your rims look great! What is that paint color you used?
Click to expand...

Thanks John

It is PPG Omni MTK 3822 (Bright Silver). Its a 2K urethane metallic paint and looks great when done right . . . I'm sure you'll have no problem with it. However not being an experienced painter myself, I find it relatively easy to get runs, compared to other MTK colors. . .
 
Paul,

I LIKE IT! I LIKE IT! I LIKE IT! Thank you for the idea.

I used your idea today and it worked better than the cut curved newspaper I've been using. (I've been cutting a stack of newspaper to the curve of the rim and inserting it between the tire and rim). I modified the idea a bit because I was having trouble with the plastic cutting and bunching. I broke the beads.

Lacking any sheet plastic I opened up some insulation bags I had set aside to use for trash bags. Once I had the method figured out it was easy to do the masking and I'm sure the spraying will go well tomorrow. Before I inflate the tires I plan to paint the rubber with some of Millertire's black tire paint. I may just flop the plastic the other way and do the tire paint before removing it.

The beauty of leaving the tire mounted... there's no danger of marking the fresh paint and the visible edge of the rim will be painted too.

rims%20005.jpg
 
Looks as if the dog might just provide the ultimate test of paint quality !! Craig
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top