JurassicJeep.com
About  |  Jeep #12  |  Jeep #18  |  Jeep #29  |  Reference  |  Shop  |  Forums

Posts Tagged ‘Tires’

Jeep #18: Red Wheels – Redux

As my wheels have been accumulating grime and brake dust since 2007, I’ve been meaning to get around to touching them up. Eventually I’d like to have them mediablasted and powdercoated for a real nice long-lasting color that is easy to clean (scrubby scrubby with no chippy chippy), but for now I figured a quick and dirty repaint would be in order.

The rear wheels are fine, and have never gather much grime. But the front wheels are more (IMO) black than red these days. My first step was to nail all my wheels with Purple Power Wheel Cleaner.

This stuff is pretty brutal for an off-the-shelf cleaner. Spray on, leave on for 30-60 seconds, then rinse off. I hit my wheels with this and then scrubbed the hell out of them (against directions, but since I’m not worried about damaging the existing paint, whatevs). I hit them a few more times, let them dry and I was good to go.

(please excuse the phone pictures)

I slid painters tape into the gap between the wheel and the tire, then used 3×4 notecards to shield the rest of the tire. I honestly thought I’d need more than this to protect the tire, but it worked great. Then, against better judgement, I painted my wheels without sanding them. I used Rustoleum Gloss Cherry, hoping to be a little brighter than the stripes so that when it darkened a little it would match better. I stuffed toilet paper between the spokes to prevent paint from getting on my brakes or any of the bits behind the wheel.

Imagine my surprise at how well it worked out!

So yeah, great poppin-red wheels in about an hour or so. The tires are untouched, too.

Jeep #18: Bringing Sexy Back

NOW it’s a sexy jeep!

Jeep #18: Fender Flares and Tires

I was told early on that painting the plastic fender flares with the same paint I was going to use on the body of the car would be a bad idea because of how inflexible it is; anything bumps into the flares and the paint shatters. With that in mind, I decided to do the flares with a latex paint, priming them with average rattlecan primer.

Wrong-o.

Turns out this isn’t the case. Modern paint hardens to about the consistency of a bouncy ball… or so my new sources have said. So I am going to paint the flares with the extra paint I have ( I seriously have enough red and gray to do another jeep… maybe #10 this time, rip off the windshield and cover it in mud… maybe load an injured chaotician in the back?). Unfortunately, the primer I have on it is too weak for the high-quality paint to adhere to. I have to strip all six fender flares now. Luckily it’s not that hard, a little bit of laquer thinner and some steele wool… comes right off. It’s just a pain in the ass.

Now, on to the main event!

*Image Not Found*

I managed to get the wheels on yesterday. The tires were supposed to be at the store on Saturday, but apparently some driver chipped his tooth and… blah blah blah. The tires I bought were initially WAY too small, they look just goddamn silly. So I shelled out some more cash and got the next size up. They still seem a little small to me, but I figure I’ll wait until I have the flares on to decide if I need to go bigger.

*Image Not Found*

God they look cool!

There it is…

Right-side mirror arrived yesterday, it is so pretty and new, I may just replace the left-hand mirror as well… I mean they are only $34. Rollcage covers arrive tomorrow, so I’ll have the seatbelts and rollbar attached after I get back from Cheyenne.

Thoughts?

© 2010 - 2024 Jurassic Jeep - Created by AJ Quick - Jurassic Park is a Registered Trademark of Universal Studios & Amblin Entertainment, Inc