I have plain old steel wheels and shiny hubcaps/rings on my '84 242, and I would love to paint them and shine up the chrome. Should I have them all sandblased or just clean them up first? If I just clean them up, what is a really great primer/surfacer to use? And of course I'd like to find some wheel paint that will make them look new. Oh yeah, I should say that it's four spare wheels I'll be having new tires put on to, so time is not a factor as my current wheels will end up as rear snows and two full size spares. Thanks!
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*Jakob Lunden* 1984 242 DL, transitioning from beater to classic, 1979 242 GT improving with age, 1968 Saab 96, impulse purchase

If your steels are rusty, and you're planning to replace tires,you may consider having them sandblasted prior to priming and painting or the rust will come back quickly. You could repaint with any quality automotive paint either in the original colour(Canadian spelling) or perhaps the same as your car's body colour. Polish up your centercaps with chrome polish.
As suggested you may find a set of alloys from a wreck yard or private sale. These can be repainted but not sandblasted. At least not with sand.

Erich
Ottawa Ontario

Hey here is someone else's post for the corona rims but it sounds like good advice. Scroll down to find text

Wheels and Tires 200 posted by Kane on Sat Jan 8 09:11 UTC 2005
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Meh. After my experience, I can't say Goodyear is quality.

Best advice - go to TireRack and check up on the reviews. There are tires out there that are low priced, yet excellent, and ones that are expensive and suck like crap.

Back to the original poster ... if you want to freshen up the look, clean up the rims. Shiny Corona rims almost always look good on a 240. The finish is really bad, scrub clean as best possible, give it a 2 coats each of primer, followed by Rustoleum 7715, then clear. Makes 'em look just like new.

-- Kane
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Blossom II -'91 745Ti/M46 ... Bubbles -'74 144GL/BW35 ... Buttercup -'86 245GL/AW70
The Wayback Machine -'64 P220/M40 ... The ParaBox -'90 745GL/AW70

I have had great luck with Dupli-color paints and primers, found at any auto parts store, K-mart, Wal-mart, etc. I believe they are lacquer based, quick drying and easy to use. Wheel prep is easy: wash thoroughly, wet sand with 22O grit, then wet sand with 400. That should make the wheels fairly smooth. Prime with a good quality primer (use light gray primer, not dark red). Color coat is your choice, some folks like black against the chrome trim ring and hubcap, others like color matched to body. Duplicolor has some nice silver/anthracite gray colors that look nice on wheels. My Virgos are painted Anthracite, which looks nice. Use multiple, light coats for best coverage. I do not believe it is necessary to clearcoat.

Jay
84 245 GLTi 228k
88 740 GLE 189k