wedgiesaurus

Hey guys, i had a request or two for a walkthrough to doing whitewall tires, so i figured this was a better place to put it:

disclaimer- if it goes wrong, it's not my fault!!!

-Materials:
-Wesley's Bleche cleaner
-Rags/cleaning fabric of some sort
-Whitewall paint (link)
-Brush(es)
-Tires (i used stock rubber)
-Acetone
-Straight edge razor blade (optional but useful for mistakes)
-A file (for sanding- looks like a thick ruler but its grooved)

-A ride for a couple days
-Blocks/jacks/stands to put the car on (please be safe!!)

Alrighty, some pointers before you begin:

-If you go outside the line of the circle, leave it be. it's easier to clean thick dried paint than smeared thin paint.
-Let the tires dry in a clean, dry, and relatively warm environment. The more of these you have in optimal condition, the quicker and easier it is.

Instructions-

Take the tires off the car, either 2 or 4 at a time.

Clean said tires with wesley's bleche. Make sure you get the area where rubber meets rim really good, so there is NO liquid left over

Double check to make sure they are dry. Now do it again. Don't mess up here.

Begin the painting by getting the tires in a comfortable place to paint and near where they will be stored (i put them on a blue recycling bin and sat on a milk crate) and figuring out how wide you want the wall to be. i went all the way to the line at the edge of the ridges behind the tire name (goodyear eagle or whatever it was)

Carefully apply the paint. It's easiest to begin on the outside line (put the brush perpendicular to the line but not touching it, and then slowly push brush towards outer line, trying to get paint all the way to the line but not go over it). Then just fill in the rest.

Try to not leave missed spots, but also don't go super thick, because it may not dry as well.

Let it cure a day, make sure it stays clean, and then clean the paint, MAKE SURE IT IS DRY, and add another coat, doing it the same way as the first coat. This coat should be much easier to do.

Let it dry, and then clean again. Dry them, and clean up the stuff outside the lines with the straight edge razor (just slice along the outside of the line and use the file to sand it off- definitely slice first before you sand, other wise u can pull up paint that u don't want to.) Clean up any paint on the inside of the rim with acetone and a paper towel.

Reattach the tires, put the car back on the ground, and you are good to go.



<i will be editing this for clarity later on, i'm just kinda busy right now>

wedgiesaurus

pics of end result can be found here: https://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=62421

SciFly

all very good stuff. you keep us posted on how well the adhesion lasts. millions of revs are hoped for.

if the white should start to peel the one glue I would not recommend is any sort of "superglue" (cyanoacrylate) adhesive.

perhaps, too a "primer" of sorts will add the white rubber paint's adhesion, if this proves to be a problem.

So far, no problem! good.

good for you, Wayne. Thanks for all this work. I want that look too now.

wedgiesaurus

to along along with the alliteration, it's one wonderful week of white walled wheels as of today

only one spot i have to fix up and i'll likely do that monday

SciFly

I want to note the great idea of your using the Bleche-White

It's not really a '"bleach" per se. It's a powerful, caustic detergent. It melts off the superficial surface of rubber: the dead skin!

It only seems to "bleach" whitewalls, you see?

For instance: My old T once had ALL WHITE tires. Made entirely of white rubber. These tires tend to yellow down.

Westly's melts off the surface yellow and makes the rubber look new. It does not attack rubber, per se!

Westlys -will- damage paints in time. I mean, -spray can paints- in particular. Powdercoat is, of course, immune. And catalyzed polyurethane clear-coat is fairly tough, too.

anywho: I think that you've got a good sense for this kind of work. It takes a natural talent and thoughtfulness. You win.

stickler64

It should be noted that the paint came off. This tech article should probably be removed. Just ask wedgie

wedgiesaurus

yeah i'm trying to get my hands on a new set of stockies, but no luck thus far.

i have left over supplies, and more freedom to take my time with it.

for now...

DON'T TRY THIS (unless you are doing it on secondary tires that you don't care if they get screwed up or not).

crayonBOX

i may soon add a diy on Porta Walls / i'll be taking mine off/replacing them pretty soon