I wanted to share the latest chapter in my major FZJ80 project rebuild which involved re-finishing the wheels and center caps.
Unfortunately, I don't have before pics of the wheels but suffice to say, they were in bad shape: scratches, dings, divots, general neglect from 17 years of work !
This project also coinsided with the purchase of my fifth set of Michelin LTX M/S's so if the tires look new, they are !
OK, the details.
Wheels were sand blasted and powder coated by a buddy of mine who runs a comercial powder coating facility in Madera, CA. The paint chip I gave him was a piece of steel painted with the Dupli-Color Platinum MC color, often mentioned here as a direct match for the center wheel caps. He called and said he couldn't match it exactly with 'standard powder' so I gave him the option of going a little darker if he needed. I figured the contrast would not look bad. He also 'cleared' the powder coat so it's both gloss and smoooooooooooth !
The center caps I did. I tried to apply the Dupli Color over the caps after a good cleaning but the paint would not adhere. I ended up sanding all the original paint off, going back to the original plastic and then using a primer and an 'adhesion promoter' to get the final color to stick. 3 ultra thin layers of color were applied with a wet 1500 sanding between each coat.
My final touch was to pick up the Toyota touch-up paint that matches my dark green. I painted the Totota symbol with this color snd then the caps were 'cleared' with three untra thin layers.
I'll let you all judge for yourself but I think the final product is stunning !
Rgds...jonathan
Unfortunately, I don't have before pics of the wheels but suffice to say, they were in bad shape: scratches, dings, divots, general neglect from 17 years of work !
This project also coinsided with the purchase of my fifth set of Michelin LTX M/S's so if the tires look new, they are !
OK, the details.
Wheels were sand blasted and powder coated by a buddy of mine who runs a comercial powder coating facility in Madera, CA. The paint chip I gave him was a piece of steel painted with the Dupli-Color Platinum MC color, often mentioned here as a direct match for the center wheel caps. He called and said he couldn't match it exactly with 'standard powder' so I gave him the option of going a little darker if he needed. I figured the contrast would not look bad. He also 'cleared' the powder coat so it's both gloss and smoooooooooooth !
The center caps I did. I tried to apply the Dupli Color over the caps after a good cleaning but the paint would not adhere. I ended up sanding all the original paint off, going back to the original plastic and then using a primer and an 'adhesion promoter' to get the final color to stick. 3 ultra thin layers of color were applied with a wet 1500 sanding between each coat.
My final touch was to pick up the Toyota touch-up paint that matches my dark green. I painted the Totota symbol with this color snd then the caps were 'cleared' with three untra thin layers.
I'll let you all judge for yourself but I think the final product is stunning !
Rgds...jonathan
