What did you do to your truck today?

[CRGRS 66]

Finally finished the process of painting the wheels that I bought. The wheels are from a late 70's early 80's 4x4, they were originally white, and had center caps only (mine didn't have them when I got them mind you). I had a 71 Cuda with factory rally wheels a long time ago. They were a similar design to these, except the center section was inverse. I think the similarity in design
is what attracted me to these wheels.

First I had a buddy machine the center hole in each rim out to 3.625. Don't recall the exact beginning dimension, but the dimension was about 0.020 too small, and they would not fit over the hub front or rear.

Second off to the sandblaster. At first I was a little upset as the finish after blasting was very, very rough, and all of the rust was not gone. While I used rust converter (applied liberally), I put on my thinking cap as to how to deal with the rough finish.

Medium steel wool is what I tried first, and I was very pleased with the result. The rust converter seemed to do it's job... so I did mine, man I am sore... steel wool + 5 wheels (all surfaces) = one day of hard labour. I was also left feeling a little unsure as to how the paint would end up looking.

So, off to the laundry tub for a good scrub with soap and water, towel dry, a liberal application of One Choice wax and grease remover. Two coats of primer, and three coats of semi gloss black, and I am very happy with the result.

Tomorrow, ordering the rubber, hoping to have them on by the weekend. I am a hot rodder at heart, so big ones back there, and littler ones up front.

Next up, beauty rings, and center caps!