Wurth Paint Update?

[moengel]

I was sifting through the old posts looking for info on refinishing and painting wheels when I stumbled accross this thread, which talks about Wurth paint being worthless because the nozzle clogs:

http://www.mye28.com/viewtopic.php?t=25113

Is this still true? I was just about to order a few cans at close to $20 a piece and would appreciate any input.

Also, I've never painted wheels before. Is it common to paint the whole wheel or just the face. It seems like a waste of time and paint to paint the whole thing, but I want to do it right.

Thanks all.

Mark

[Jon in Richmond]

I, for one, don't believe that I will ever try wurth paint again. I don't believe the color was that close of a match and their clear coat is already cracking after less than 2 years. The Duplicolor silver is, IMO, a better match. Then just get a high quality clear.

[moengel]

The Dude,

Thanks for the tip. Do you have pics of any of your wheels after paint?

Mark

[BRRV]

Call Larry Reynolds at Car Care Specialties http://www.carcareonline.com/ He will likely give you the straight answer. I don't think he'd mind my saying that he had, at last conversation, over 20 CASES of Wurth Silver that was defective due to the nozzle problem and that Wurth refused to accept it as a return of defective goods. He also refused to sell it to me, and, although others have at one time or another (C.R.?) mentioned a work around to the nozzle issue by inverting the can, emptying all the propellant, and then gently puncturing the can and draining the paint out of it into a disposable spray container, I for one am not interested if it's that much work (read that post you referenced completely). Richard Griot at Griots garage sells a wheel paint that he advertises as similar to BMW, Mercedes, etc., but Larry tells me its warmer and a little darker. Lastly, although it may be the same product as what Griots sells, Einszett http://www.1z-usa.com/ makes a wheel paint that is also 'recommended' for german wheels. I'm about ready to just go have some silver mixed and put in a spray can - I can't believe that Dupont doesn't offer a color that's an exact match.

I forgot to answer your other question - I just paint the face, although if you have a real ratty set of wheels, you could have them media blasted and repaint them completely. I did that with a set of Cromodoras and they came out looking great. Clean them thoroughly, prep them just like you would any painted surface, and you should be fine. I've found that painting is temperature sensitive - 70 degrees or better is a good idea. There are lots of posts throughout the 'net about painting wheels - start searching. Good Luck...

[patrick]

Here's another vote for the Duplicolor silver wheel paint. I did all 4 wheels on my dad's '91 300SEL. Pulled the tires, glass bead blasted each wheel, used a file, die grinder, Devcon aluminum epoxy, and a sanding block to clean up some minor curb rash, hit the back sides with Rustoleum professional series light machine grey, then painted the outside faces and center caps with Duplicolor silver wheel paint. I skipped the clear coat. They came out great, looking like brand new wheels. He was super happy with them. A couple coats of their clear wheel paint on the faces and I'm sure they'd be even shinier. Been about 8 months now, they still look fine.

Patrick

[bhz1]

I painted my OEM basketweaves this fall with Wurth paint and it was a royal PITA. The nozzles kept clogging. What I ended up doing was taling the nozzle off another spray can (leftovers from Paintscratch when I painted the hood) Got me throught the job but I won't buy Wurth again.

[johnnye23]

Thanks for your input to this thread guys, I was just getting ready to try to roundup some Wurths. I will have to do some more research now, good info.

[moengel]

Yeah, thanks all for the information. I looked into einszett and will probably go with their silver "silber" wheel paint. I'm not worried about a perfect match, just something that will look good, hopefully last, and won't clog the nozzles when I'm trying to apply it.

Cheers.

Mark

http://www.1z-usa.com/wheel_paint.html

[tn535i]

I read somewhere that even Wurth paint no longer matched like it once did? So I'll add a vote for the Duplicolor paint, especially since it's more like $6 a can and available at local parts store. I found about 3 different silvers and can't remember which one I ended up with. Just a little darker though than the original wheels.

I did my daughter's e30 over a year ago and it still looks very good. I would also recommend(if you can break the wheels down) to sand and refinish the bead area. Those wheels had constant minor rim leaks from 20 years of corrosion, scratches and multiple tire changes, but now finally are holding air.

[ElGuappo]

Here's another vote for the Duplicolor silver wheel paint. I did all 4 wheels on my dad's '91 300SEL. Pulled the tires, glass bead blasted each wheel, used a file, die grinder, Devcon aluminum epoxy , and a sanding block to clean up some minor curb rash, hit the back sides with Rustoleum professional series light machine grey, then painted the outside faces and center caps with Duplicolor silver wheel paint. I skipped the clear coat. They came out great, looking like brand new wheels. He was super happy with them. A couple coats of their clear wheel paint on the faces and I'm sure they'd be even shinier. Been about 8 months now, they still look fine.

Patrick

I had found an online tutorial where he used spot putty, but I questioned the durability of that. I had thought about using some metallized epoxy, glad to hear someone else has used it to good effect. The style 32's I just got each have some amount of curb rash that needs attention, and this spring/summer they will get it.

Jay3

[BRRV]

I have that spot putty link on my hard drive and it does work; problem is with anything more than just a minor curb rash the putty will shrink and crack over time. Some of the polyester fillers would be better, as would an epoxy filler with aluminum (I think Eastwoods has something that would work - I'll look and see). Short of having the wheel professionally repaired, which can get expensive depending on where you are, it's worth a try. I may be trying this repair on a deep gouge later this spring, as I have a style 44 I screwed up on a curb.