Touchup tips

General Discussion
1

In responding to another thread about wheels, I was tempted to post a tip for touching them up, but then I thought “touch up tips” might even be a good thread subject.

For the wheels, I could not get brake dust off the surface, so I primed and painted the wheels using regular primer and “Chrome” paint. The “chrome” paint actually produces a surface looking amazingly like polished aluminum with a tad more brightness to it. I stuffed some rags behind the rims to cover the calipers and discs, ran some masking tape at the edge of the tires, and put some plastic caps over the chrome lugnuts… and sprayed away. I did this a few years ago, and it’s held up absolutely without any problem, through countless washings and abuse. The rims look brand new, making a big difference in the overall look of the car.

Anybody else got any ideas that have worked well for them?

2

I have a car with aftermarket aluminum wheels with black painted centers and clear-coated polished outer rims. A bit of corrosion got under the clear and spoiled the appearance a bit. I sanded off the clear-coat, polished the metal and resprayed just the polished area with paint made just for that purpose from the auto parts store. Worked really well and has held up for a couple of years now.

Did the same thing to my OEM Mustang wheels to spruce them up when I sold them. (I replaced them with bigger and wider wheels and tires)

I plan to completely repaint all my painted-silver truck wheels as the finish is trashed. These will be primed first, however, since the paint is not clear.