tires and wheels wurth silver lacquer for wheels? eastwood?

[golf73]

i laid some krylon dull aluminum paint on 2 steel wheels as recommended by several users here, but i'm not satisfied with the finish. the color is too bright and i want a darker/warmer silver to match the 2 NOS wheels i'll be using with these.

has anyone used wurth silver lacquer on steelies recently? if so, what kind of clear did you use over it? i want a satin finish and i'm not sure what type of finish the wurth clear is. i have some krylon clear, but i don't want it reacting badly with the wurth causing bubbling or yellowing.

my other option is going with eastwood's "detail silver" or "rally wheel silver" (never seen these colors sprayed side by side) and using their "diamond clear" over it.

[SteveJ]

I tried some 'generic' silver paint when I did my E30 steels. I promptly repainted then with my remaining Wurth silver and clear paints to get the factory look. The Wurth clear gave me more of a satin finish rather than a gloss. It could just be the grainy application of the rattle can that does it. It has held up suprisingly good for the amount of abuse/neglect these wheels have recieved.

I wonder how the silver on the VW steels compares to the Wurth silver? I believe the VW's have a satin finish. Possibly, their paint is more readily available than the Wurth products?

[schwarz75]

I think the Wurth is going to provide the slightly darker silver you're after. The clear is not very glossy, so I think you'll like that too. I have used both of these lately for the steel wheels of my E21 and they worked well. I have experimented with a lot of different silver, such as Griot's (NLA). The Griot's silver was considerably brighter than the Wurth. I have not tried any of the Eastwood wheel paints, but other paints and rust "encapsulators" are good products.

[eurotrash]

We used "light argent silver" on the old ma'mopar stuff. Its very similar IIRC..?

EDIT:

A quick search shows that Eastwood offer something similar as well.. maybe its what you are referring to.

[mrgesq]

I used the Wurth silver and Wurth clear on a set of Bottle Caps. Worked well. Not too glossy at all.

[MatthewCSmith]

I sprayed a set of aluminum X5 wheels last year for another car. I thought the Wurth silver was very nice. Not too bright, a little darker and rich looking. I thought the clear was relatively glossy, but not too much so. I did spray 3 coats of clear on them. I'd probably go for 2 next time.

[JohnS]

Another option is 1Z Einszett Silver followed by Wurth clear. Don't know how the 1Z product compares in "brightness" to the others. I'm going to be spraying that combo soon if the weather ever cooperates...

I have used Krylon dull aluminum followed by Krylon clear in the past and the clear has seemed to yellow over time.

[golf73]

well i looked at my bottelkappen, and compared to an original spongebob steelie they look too glossy and bright. i'm going to assume that's what the wurth/einszett will look like in the end. i tried some leftover eastwood "detail silver" which i used on the air cleaner housing and wheels on my TR6. sprayed some on the opel wheel and it's lookin a little too warm...heheh.

ordered some eastwood "argent silver/rally wheel silver" and diamond satin clear and we'll see how that goes...whenever the sun decides to come out i'll spray part of the wheel and compare...almost there i hope!!!

[edgefinder]

I've tried a lot of rattlecan silver's and by far the best i've used is Massey Ferguson Silver Mist Grey. Its tough, dries slick so no clear needed. doesn't look metalic, slows rust. They have a flint grey that really cool if you like a darker grey.

[Conserv]

The further I delve into my "authentic" wheel refinishing project, the more I suspect that the answer is as elusive, as varied, and as unsatisfying as, for instance, the issue of underhood decals.  I currently believe that "it depends" may be the answer to the question "How were 2002 steel wheels finished at the factory?"

First, as to the issue of color application, I don't disagree with others, many of whom have looked at this issue long and hard: black wheels came from both Lemmerz and, less often, Kronprinz, and had their faces sprayed silver, without benefit of masking to prevent overspray.  This describes the wheels on the 1967 1600-2 I sold ca. 1976 as well as the wheels on the 1969 2002 I totaled in 1974.  And I still see plenty of these black with silver wheels.  But my 1976 2002 came with Lemmerz wheels that were silver everywhere.

Simple answer: black with silver on early cars, all silver on late cars?  I don't know.  I found an original finish May 1972 5x13 tii wheel in my basement (from a tii salvage I purchased and parted in 1974-75).  It's clearly never been re-painted and is silver all over.  800 miles away, in my mother's garage, I believe I have 5 or 6 more wheels, stashed away in the early 1970's and never re-painted.  I suspect they're mostly black with silver, but I should check them.

Curiously, I have a set of 5x13 Opel wheels (you know, the "poor man's Borrani" with the oval cut-outs), at least 3 of which appear to retain their original, albeit badly deteriorated, finishes.  Two of these, a Lemmerz dated July 1978 and a Kronprinz dated February 1978, are all silver.  But the third, a Lemmerz dated October 1981, is black with silver, with silver overspray in the best "BMW" fashion.  Yes, this is an Opel wheel, but it brings into question my theory that early 2002 wheels were black with silver and late wheels were all silver.  Maybe there isn't a cut-off date or a systematic approach to wheel color application.  Perhaps some batches came from the manufacturer in black and other batches came in silver.  Perhaps some wheels were painted silver by the manufacturer and others were painted silver by BMW.

Second, as to color, I don't disagree with previous claims that Polaris (either the early 057 or the later 060 paint code) may be a good approximation of the silver used on 1600-2s and 2002s.  As an aside, however, Alfa Romeo enthusiasts seem to often look to Polaris (060 paint code generally but, sometimes, because it's older, 057) as the correct color for 1950s and 1960s Alfa wheels (by Fergat and Borrani).  But I also can say, as someone who has owned a Polaris 1976 2002 from new, that I was originally bothered by the color mis-match between my wheels and my car body.  The original silver on my 1976 wheels was duller (in terms of both paint sheen and metallic flake content) than my 060 paint, and ever-so-slightly golder and greener.  With time, the silver wheels became even more goldish and greenish, and then the paint slowly disintegrated, leaving an additional "rust tone" to the wheels.

So how will I paint my wheels?  I'll paint them silver all over because that is how my car came from the factory.  Did the 2002s produced before and after mine have black with silver wheels?  I have no idea.  As to color, Polaris would solve my original annoyance with the mis-match but I won't use it because I now wish to preserve the mis-match.  Since I want to either powdercoat the wheels or have them professionally sprayed, I'll probably see how close a match I can find to the Wurth wheel paint.  But, failing the factory's discovery and/or publication of the "Original 2002 Wheel Paint Formula," I don't know if a custom-blended duplicate of a 2012 rattle-can color gets me closer to the "original finish" than simply using Polaris.  I saw an NOS late Lemmerz wheel but it certainly looked darker, duller, and golder than I recalled, so I suspect that any original finish, at this point in history, is tainted by color degradation.  I simply know that, at least in 2012, I want to "preserve" the original mis-match between the wheels and the car body!

Conclusion: do what you think is right for your car.  The truth is probably neither simple nor knowable.

If you've read this entire rambling, you may be nuttier than I!

Steven

[Emyers]

If you will follow up with some clear (I prefer to use a satin clear) it will tone down the brightness to nearly the level of the original. That is how I have always applied. Dull Aluminum base followed by a couple of coats of clear.

Earl

74 02Lux

02M Roadster

72 Volvo 1800ES

[HBChris]

The backside of the early wheels aren't black but a dark grey with a blue/green shade to them.

[Conserv]

Quote

The backside of the early wheels aren't black but a dark grey with a blue/green shade to them.

 

And I will assume that you are 100% correct for the sampling of rims you've examined, because you couldn't make this up, and/or you wouldn't make this up!

 

My one point, however, is that it may be impossible to say, for example, that all cars from VIN xxx to VIN yyy had rims that were painted z color on the reverse. Assuming that you are a credible source -- and I have no reason to doubt that someone with such a specific take on wheel color is anything less -- and you say the reverse side of early rims were dark grey with a blue/green shade, I suspect we could find another no-less-credible source that says they were black, based on his/her sampling and experience. Why? There are lots of possibilities: differences in color perception, differences in people's "memory" of colors, differences between colors as they were originally applied and their appearance today and, maybe, just maybe, BMW or the wheel manufacturer actually used different colors. For example, perhaps this Lemmerz plant used different paint from that Lemmerz plant; this week's batch of paint looked dark gray, last week's looked black. There are many possibilities for inconsistency, as we saw in the many underhood sticker discussions.

 

Unless someone does a statistically valid sampling of such matters across a broad spectrum of cars that proves that BMW, or Lemmerz, or Kronprinz, used exactly z color, I'm inclined to believe that we are all correct. If you are after originality, and many of us pursue it although each person's interpretation of "originality" is different, document your findings and go with it!

 

Steve

Edited April 17, 2018 by Conserv

[golf73]

On 3/30/2012 at 9:28 AM, HBChris said:

The backside of the early wheels aren't black but a dark grey with a blue/green shade to them.

How early is "early"? Up to Modell 71 or through Modell 73? I have some Kronprinz tii steelies with 5/72 date codes that look like they've always been all silver. Of course, they could have been stripped to metal at some point, but I don't think people cared much about correctly restoring steel wheels until more recently.

Edited April 16, 2018 by golf73

[Conserv]

11 hours ago, golf73 said:

How early is "early"? Up to Modell 71 or through Modell 73? I have some Kronprinz tii steelies with 5/72 date codes that look like they've always been all silver. Of course, they could have been stripped to metal at some point, but I don't think people cared much about correctly restoring steel wheels until more recently.

 

The Lemmerz round taillight rims appear to generally have silver faces only.  But the Kronprinz round taillight rims I’ve seen — including those on my ‘73 tii — appear to generally be silver all over.  I haven’t seen enough Solrad (“SRD”) round taillight rims to develop an opinion.

 

Lemmerz must make up 95% of the round taillight rims.  I’d guess — with an emphasis on “guess” — that Kronprinz represents another 4% and Solrad maybe 1%.

 

I say Lemmerz round taillight rims “generally” had silver faces because there were certainly exceptions.  The three Lemmerz “tii” rims shown below came off of VIN 2762204 (1972 model, manufactured July 10, 1972).  One rim is dated October 1971 and two rims are dated May 1972.  All three have what must be their original finishes.  Why do I say “must”.  Because VIN 2762204 was totaled in 1974, with 20-some thousand miles on it — I purchased the salvage.  I parted it and these rims were sitting in my parents and, later, my basement for 44 years.  Silver all over.

 

Regards,

 

Steve

 

Edited April 17, 2018 by Conserv