My white SS wheels need repainted. They were poorly repainted by a previous owner and the paint is thick and discolored and needs redone.

Is it possible to glass bead (not sand) the wheels with the tires on the wheels? Obviously I wouldn't train the nozzle on the rubber, but would some contact eat up the tire. I am trying not to remove the tires if possible, but will if necessary.

 

You should be able to refinish them with the tires on the wheels. I would put a layer of duct tape on the tires by the rims and take time to mask the tires well. You could then put use a heavy rag over the rest of the tire if you wanted and tape that down to the duct tape. I don't think glass bead will hurt the tire but it could make it dull looking where the glass bead hit it. If there is a lot of paint on the wheels, it may take some time to bead blast it off but give it a try and see what happens.

 

The abrasive will not hurt the rubber. The sand will just bounce off. I would remove the tires and have the rims blasted with aluminum oxide (80-120 grit).

 

Beaded mine (SSIIs) with the tires off. Hardest part was digging all the beads out of the crevice 'tween the hubs & barrels....

 

I'm w/ Hairy Olds - Dismount the tires to sandblast them, you generally need pretty aggressive media or it takes forever, especially around the 5 trim holes. You don't have to do the whole inside but I would do the bead so that you have continuous paint on the surface & around the edge. I consider doing the back side an option but I always do the whole wheel. After blasting they should be sanded w/ 220-320 sandpaper & you will have nice, new looking steel. Sanding them is a PITA but worth the extra effort IMO. Now you can always fill any pits with All metal filler.....

IMO opinion the time you take to mask & protect the tires (twice) makes it worth breaking them down & balancing anew, heck they're already detrimmed & it will make all the other work much easier.

 

I wasn't thinking about the masking time. In the end it might be better to take the tires off.

 

I would take the tires off, then apply chemical stripper first.

Then, a light glass beading to prepare the surface.

A good primer and paint follow.

 

just a thought, could yoy take a 15" trim ring upside down instead of masking the tires? and bead blast?

 

Lots of blue painter's tape, an Xacto knife, and some patience.

 

I would recommend removing the tires, blasting and then powdercoating.
I did mine and it was all worth it. Of course I needed new tires anyway...
Here is the tread on it:
https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...finishing.html
If you want to leave the tires on, then you can still sand blast them - will not hurt the tires.
I do not think you can powdercoat them with the tires on (maybe) but paint you can.
An easy way to keep paint off the tires is to take some posterboard and make like a cone that has the small end over the wheel's edge and the wide end up and out.
As a bonus, keep the cone and you can use it to put over the wheel again should you want to spray the tires with that glossy stuff - the cone will keep it off the wheel.