Painting OEM 20's w/ Machined Face - how to mask properly?
#1
07-16-2010, 12:05 PM
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Painting OEM 20's w/ Machined Face - how to mask properly?
I am going to paint my OEM 20's to match (hopefully) my Dark Shadow Gray '06 FX4. Many thanks to 06FXNorth for the idea! His look fantastic! I have not painted wheels before, but have read many of the how-to's on the site, thanks to you guys as well.
I think I have a good grasp now of how to paint wheels in general, but my question lies in how to paint a wheel, leaving the machined face and lip alone. I will link a pic of 06FXNorth's wheels below for reference, but these '06 FX4 wheels look to be very hard to mask. The spokes are machined, and have those small horizontal "grooves" in them. I can imagine that if not done perfectly, I will get overspray into the small edges on the spokes. Like most of you, I am a bit OCD when it comes to my truck - I don't want to be running around with sloppy wheels and crooked paint lines!
Again, I have no prior experience with wheel painting, but if anyone has tips/advice on how to mask this properly, I would greatly appreciate it! I have seen posts on other sites that mention masking film or "liquid mask" type products that "might" work, but no really useful info.
The machined surface I am masking is completely flat, so masking film seemed like a good idea. The "liquid mask" stuff is mentioned quite a bit for little R/C cars, but I like the idea of painting this on to get in the little machined grooves, painting, then peeling the mask off. Can't seem to find anyone that has used this stuff on a full size wheel, but maybe I am not looking under the right brand name of product.
If I need to simply pull out the masking tape and get it done, that is not a problem, but I thought there may be an easier, cleaner way to accomplish this. Thanks in advance for any responses!!
Here is a pic of 06FXNorth's wheels in the scheme I am looking for:
https://www.f150online.com/forums/me...re30080-3.html
I think I have a good grasp now of how to paint wheels in general, but my question lies in how to paint a wheel, leaving the machined face and lip alone. I will link a pic of 06FXNorth's wheels below for reference, but these '06 FX4 wheels look to be very hard to mask. The spokes are machined, and have those small horizontal "grooves" in them. I can imagine that if not done perfectly, I will get overspray into the small edges on the spokes. Like most of you, I am a bit OCD when it comes to my truck - I don't want to be running around with sloppy wheels and crooked paint lines!
Again, I have no prior experience with wheel painting, but if anyone has tips/advice on how to mask this properly, I would greatly appreciate it! I have seen posts on other sites that mention masking film or "liquid mask" type products that "might" work, but no really useful info.
The machined surface I am masking is completely flat, so masking film seemed like a good idea. The "liquid mask" stuff is mentioned quite a bit for little R/C cars, but I like the idea of painting this on to get in the little machined grooves, painting, then peeling the mask off. Can't seem to find anyone that has used this stuff on a full size wheel, but maybe I am not looking under the right brand name of product.
If I need to simply pull out the masking tape and get it done, that is not a problem, but I thought there may be an easier, cleaner way to accomplish this. Thanks in advance for any responses!!
Here is a pic of 06FXNorth's wheels in the scheme I am looking for:
https://www.f150online.com/forums/me...re30080-3.html
Last edited by GrayFX; 07-16-2010 at 12:07 PM. Reason: couldn't get the pic link to work. I'm a noob.
#2
07-16-2010, 01:09 PM
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It's going to be tedious no matter how you do it. I'd use some thin line tape from 3M on the outer edges to get a crisp line then mask off the inside with 3M masking tape. Make sure you prep the wheel good and use a quality prep spray to get the grease and wax off before spraying or you'll get fisheye in the new paint.