Mustang Wheel Repair & Restoration

[Blown88GT]

Will that clear be durable, being it's not a 2-part clear? It might also yellow on you.

They all seem to yellow. no matter who makes it.
We did my upper intake with Plastikote Engine Enamel.
Fully resistant to oil and gasoline, it will not weaken, crack, lift, or peel
Repeated exposure to engine heat up to 350°F will fuse engine enamel to the surface to increase bonding strength.

They make wheel paint, too.
https://www.plastikote.com/products/Specialty/Wheel-Paint.html

 

[r4sedan]

Ok, I'll be watching. I like the jb weld on the curb rash.

 

[JKWilson61]

I've been following since your thread first went up. I recently purchased a pair of pony wheels to replace a damaged one on my '91 LX. I had to buy the pair but got them for a good deal by pointing out the curb rash on each (though it's pretty minor on both). My plan was....repair them with JB Weld. To say your post peaked my interest would be an understatement!

Since I was unmotivated today to work on the LX (I've spent the past 5 days on body work and blocking), I decided to jump in and REALLY follow along with your progress. Since the curb rash on mine appeared a little more extensive than yours I had decided to tackle it with a slightly different approach.

I cleaned the curb rash area out on one rim using a stainless wire brush in a Dremel followed by light sanding to bare aluminum just beyond the damage. I created a dam around the inner and outer edges of the lip by back masking with aluminum tape (sticky side towards the repair). I kept the tape line slightly higher than the edge of the rim so I could force the JB Weld down into the scratches. Then I layered it to build it slightly higher than needed. This will give some extra material for shaping. Once the JB Weld got solid but still tacky (about 10 minutes), I pulled the tape off. Just gonna let mine set now for a day or two.

Not trying to hijack your thread, just wanted to compare notes. I thought it was too weird to see your post when i did, I had just bought my JB Weld the day before in order to start the repair! BTW, how did the Ford Argent compare to the center cap color? Any possibility of a shot with it installed on the painted pony rim? I'd also have to concur with the other replies, clear coat. It'll definitely help preserve the color and adds some nice depth IMHO.

Standing by for the next installment!

 

[Mustang5L5]

Not trying to hijack your thread, just wanted to compare notes. I thought it was too weird to see your post when i did, I had just bought my JB Weld the day before in order to start the repair! BTW, how did the Ford Argent compare to the center cap color? Any possibility of a shot with it installed on the painted pony rim? I'd also have to concur with the other replies, clear coat. It'll definitely help preserve the color and adds some nice depth IMHO.

I'll take a finished shot. I thought the color matched quite well. If I could criticize something about it I would say I wouldn't have gone with the high gloss clear coat. The level of shine is much greater than the center cap, so i'd either need to clear the cap, or go with a matte clearcoat.

But the wheel came out good overall. Unsure what i'll do with it now, but it looks great.

I've started sanded the JB weld down, but didn't make enough meaningful progress to post an update yet. It sands well, but is fairly durable. I've leveled the touchups on the spokes, and started working the curb rash area to match the contour of the rim all the way around. There are a couple low spots, so looks like I might have to do a minor round 2. I might have some time tonight to actually try and contour it a bit and get it close to final shape.

I'll update when I get it pretty well sanded down. I need to pick up a tool to clean/sand the inside of the lug nut holes as they are exposed and I want to make sure I remove all traces of brake dust. After that, a good soap/water cleaning and time for some primer.

 

[Mustang5L5]

Here's some pics of the finished pony wheel in basement LED lighting

Keep in mind I did zero prep on this wheel other than an initial cleaning with degreaser. Fortunately it's in pretty good shape physically.

Now what to do with it?

 

[Mustang5L5]

Ok, spent some time sanding the Cobra wheel. A sanding sponge was an excellent choice to get a good contour


Hard to really photograph due to the different shades. Will need to pick up some sandable primer and give it a light coat and finish taking down the high spots. I'm sure once painted and on a car your never notice. But compared to the curb rash pic on page 1...huge difference.

Still need to get a drill bit wire brush down into the lug holes. Stay tuned. Getting close to paint

 

[JKWilson61]

Thanks for the pics of the finished pony wheel. Several months back I had found an article online from the now defunct Fox Mustang Magazine in which they had restored a set of pony wheels. One thing they had noted when repainting and clear coating addressed your observation of a straight clear coat being too shiny. Since they sprayed everything from a gun they had the "luxury" of adding a flattener to the clear to reduce the gloss. I'll be spraying the color coat with a rattle can but I'll have clear coat left over from the LX's paint job and intend to use some of it out of a gun.

Your work looks great. Have you thought about a small cup style wire brush for a Dremel tool in order to clean the lug nut holes?

 

[Mustang5L5]

Part of it is my fault as there were a few different CCs to pick from and I took the glossiest. I think it might be ok because there isn't a center cap like the pony wheel has on the Cobra wheel, so a shiny wheel might be ok in this case.

I have some wire brushes to mount in a drill chuck. I just haven't dug it out yet.

Tonight I'll do a bit more hand sanding to get close to primer. I think 10 more mins of work and it's ready to paint

Of course I still have another rim to do after this one

 

[Mustang5L5]

Finished most of my sanding. Picked up a self etching primer and decided to spray it to see any spots I missed.

Happily, there isn't much more to do. A couple high spots to knock down, but short of running my finger over the rim, I can't tell where the filled spots are. You certainly won't be able to tell standing next to car.

Will let this dry overnight, sand down the high spots, and reprime. I will be spacing out my coats here to let them fully dry

 

[Davedacarpainter]

That looks great Mike

 

[Mustang5L5]

I really did impress myself as well. After the primer, it's really hard to tell where I made the repair until I get up close and run a finger over the lip. A few uneven spots, but standing next to the car you'll never be able to tell. I just need to knock down a few obvious high spots and blend that area in.

I'll do that tonight, wash the wheel, and maybe spray some more primer, but this should be the home stretch for this wheel

 

[Mustang5L5]

Primed.

First coat of Argent paint

 

[JKWilson61]

Looking sweet!

 

[a91what]

looking really good, a major improvement.

 

[Mustang5L5]

Final pics. Didn't pop the center cap in yet until the final coat has had some time to really dry.

Compared to one of the other wheels I haven't started yet

Of course the real test is mounting up a set of tires without scratching the hell out of them. I would definitely give it a few days to let the paint fully dry before doing that.

Also, I must amend my paint qty. I believe one can will do two wheels. But it will be close. I painted the backside of the wheel as well. If you only do the front, you can possibly do three wheels per can.

 

[DSB88GT]

Great job...seriously! I'll get 2 can's because I only plan on doing the fronts of 4 Pony's.

 

[JKWilson61]

Maybe I missed it somewhere but did you decide to clear coat the Cobra rims? They came out awesome. I applied primer surfacer to my test rim yesterday (just the area that had the JB Weld applied). It came out nice and slick. After two days cure time I worked my repair area with some 220 grit both on a block and just by hand for the inside/outside curves. The block helped keep the rim lip level, without the block helped match the contours easier. I then used a red scotch brite pad before I primed. Since I consider this an experiment for the time being I decided to try VHT's Ford Argent wheel paint to see how the color match is. I'll let ya know how it matches. If it's a good match, that's a pretty good cost saving. The VHT is $8 a can versus $20+ for a single can of Ford paint! If it doesn't match, well, I have a new silver shade to add to my collection!

 

[Mustang5L5]

I did clear coat the wheel after. Wanted the protection.

I was actually happy with the way the pony wheel came out, but less so with the Cobra wheel. I feel the oem Cobra wheel is more of a blast white vs a silver which this Argent paint os.

It still looks good, but after 20 years of seeing 98 cobra wheels in one particular shade, it looks odd to me.

Need to mount it on car. Maybe I'll toss it on

 

[r4sedan]

Looks Great

 

[JKWilson61]

That rim came out REALLY nice! I hope my results are equally good. I'd be happy then.

Just wanted to throw this out for a reference shot regarding clear coats. The rim I'm working on a has a really nice original finish area on it. It''l be gone of course once I start working the rest of the rim for paint. Here it is (under fluorescent shop lights):