I need a quick answer . More details will come later.

I resprayed my hubcaps argent. I have red vinyl FORD letters I bought from Denny Dahle, First Ride, about 18 years ago I will put on.

#1. Shall I spray clear enamel now and letters after that or put letters on first then spray the clear?

#2. How soon should the clear be applied after painting?

#3. I forget my 3rd question.

 

Oh, here it is.
#3. I used Duplicolor silver. Of course the can says to use Duplicolor Clear. I have a partial can of Rusteoleum clear enamel. Should I go and buy Duplicolor Clear or save a few bucks and use the Rusteoleum that was in the cabinet in my garage?


The one on the far left has some dings but it's better than it was.

 

Rule of thumb: if the decal is representing something painted, clear over. If it is representing factory sticker/decal, clear under.

As for questions two and three, I'd follow Duplicolor's instructions, including buying the same brand clear.

 

I would use Duplicolor clear over Duplicolor color. You don't know if the Rustoleum formula is compatible and I'd hate to see your pretty fresh paint wrinkle up into a prune. From my experience, I like the Duplicolor paints better, anyway. My 2c.

On the label of rattle can enamels they will typically say recoat within 30 minutes or after 48 hours. (or some such time frame) There's a window of opportunity in which uncatalyzed enamels need to be either kept wet, or allowed to dry fully before applying new solvents. Wrinkling like you just applied paint stripper will be the result if you recoat too soon.

 

Thanks, bmoran and Wayne, for the advice.

And now, as Paul Harvey used to say, here is the rest of the story.

I am sprucing up my 54 for my upcoming Vintage Truck photoshoot. I've been cleaning and touching things up. Two days ago I decided to repaint my hubcaps.

When I fixed up and painted my truck in 1999, not knowing any better I bought a set of repopped stainless steel hubcaps. After more research about what was original I started buying good used steel hubcaps. Around 2004 when I had four good ones (kinda good ones) I had my body man knock out the dents and paint them. Then I had someone with a steadier hand then me paint the FORD letters red. They looked good but not perfect. Then after the fact I bought a set of red vinyl FORD letters. And those letters were in my basement workshop all these years.

So yesterday I bought a can of Duplicolor silver spray paint. On the way home I stopped at my friend's body shop to ask advice on what grit sandpaper to use. He told me of a guy in the next town over that runs a powder coat business. I called him, told him my situation. I said it's a long shot but can I have them coated by Sunday. He said he can do it. I drove right over there. Fortunately I gave him my number. This morning he called and said he started to blast one and underneath he found Bondo. Under the Bondo was dents and pits. Powder coating would not cover that up.

So I went and picked them up. Fortunately I had an extra hubcap. I sanded them with 500 grit and painted them today. Tomorrow I or my wife will put the letters on and then spray clear on them.


Cap with hand painted letters. Two of my caps had dings or scuff marks.


Half blasted cap with Bondo


My spare hubcap. It's solid with very little rust but has some dings.


It's a little better after some ball peen work.




I should have known my 4 hubcaps had Bondo by looking at the underside.

 

My thoughts exactly. I just wanted some confirmation. My 30 minute window is gone. I'll buy Duplicolor clear tomorrow and spray them Sunday.

Talk about wrinkling paint, last summer when I was working on my F350 bed I painted the new bed strips with the oil base Meadow Green that I painted the boards with to make them match perfectly. Then I sprayed them with clear
Wow. What a wrinkled mess.

Then I had to scrape all 9 strips clean. My buddy let me use his compressor, mask and spray gun. I sprayed them with the same paint we sprayed on the bed. And I just had enough to paint the 9 strips.

 

If you need to hurry up the recoat time, and if you had a small heat lamp, you could bake the caps for an hour or two at 120 degrees, let them cool completely and then clear them. That would speed up the drying/curing process and allow you to recoat sooner. Alternatively, if the wife isn't looking, they could go in the oven. (If you're not afraid to make Bald Eagle State Park your permanent residence)

 

LOL LOL!

The Duplicolor can says you can spray their clear after 30 minutes. It doesn't say at 30 minutes or after 48 hours. So I think anytime after 30 minutes is good. I bought a can of Duplicolor Clear this morning.

After my wife will helps me put the letters on , her hand is steadier than mine, I will spray the clear.

 

Excellent!

 

​​​​​​My wife put the red letters on. She has some really sharp tweezers she uses at her makeup desk. They were very helpful in placing the letters in place. Then I went out and sprayed the clear. I sprayed two light coats with 10 minutes between. I placed them on our picnic table with plans to spray a heavy 3rd coats as the directions said. The wind started to pick up. I didn't want any tree dirt falling on the wet hubcaps. I moved them to the workbench in my garage.

I sprayed the 3rd on the first and second hubcap. I was wearing a loose fitting clear plastic food service type glove on my left hand. As I sat the second one down the glove on my little finger which stuck out touched the first hubcap. So I had to touch it up later.





When I picked up the hubcaps on Friday I told the powder coater that they don't reproduce original style steel hub caps. I said they reproduce stainless steel hubcaps. Then be says he can powder coat stainless steel. So you know what I'll be buying sometime later.

​​​​​

 

nice job Abe! Good idea I think I’ll do that as well; powder coat a set.

 

Thanks 52. The editor of Vintage Truck is coming tomorrow around noon. I had planned on washing Old Betsy today (Sunday) but we got rain all day which wasn't forecasted. So I will have to wash her tomorrow morning.

I saw someone on eBay selling a set of hubcaps for $99. I wonder if they are good quality. That was a price I would have paid 20 years ago.

What kind of hubcaps do you have on your truck now?

 

good luck with your meeting!

I have the chrome repros that I hand painted with a red I mixed up. There was some debate about whether or not they were argent silver or not. I know Wagner says they were, but a lot of the micro details like that and the all plastic tail lights I willingly ignore. I’m a rebel; I even have a 51 magic air heater control on my 52 cause it was illuminated.

Plus there’s plausible deniability in the hubcap case. I have a little photo evidence. December 52 .

just in case i change my mind though I’ll prepare a set like yours. 😆

 

There is a product called "Lab Metal" that is a filler, and the hi-temp version can be powdercoated. It is a one-part paste that is applied like bondo but is heat cured and then sanded to a finish that appears very much like metal. Kinda like JB Weld on steroids.

 

My mom lets me use both the oven and the dishwasher to clean and heat up stuff as long as i run it for a second cycle with nothing in it to clean the grime out so it wont get on the dishes.