Who paints hubcaps?

[itsa52]

Last year when I bought the Merc, among the things I received from the PO was a very nice set of dog dish hub caps.
In my excitement at the time I did not fully inspect them or maybe I just passed over the fact that one is red (correct) and three are white (Correct for 55 Mercs and maybe others)

I would like to find someone to repaint the white ones.. Every time I have tried something like that they really look repainted especially on the details like around Lord Mercury's head.


Looking for someone that can do a great job, or possibly a trade.

[smitty city]

i would say that any signpainter (not a vinyl slapper) in your area, could paint your caps with a brush. if you can't find anyone, send em to me, ill hand paint them for you.
mike smith

[Vic Piano]

What is the trick to get the paint to adhere to the stainless

[TagMan]

Originally Posted by Vic Piano

What is the trick to get the paint to adhere to the stainless

Vic,
No secret ! I painted the script on my '37 (non-Ford ) car I use for touring all over the country, about 20-years ago with a red enamel from a Testor's model paint bottle. I very lightly scuffed the stainless with a small piece of 320 grit emery cloth where I wanted to paint and just brushed it on. The paint on those hubcaps still look presentable after all these years and about 50k miles on the old girl.

[Vic Piano]

TagMan, I did the same thing to our '39 LZ and to the '40 Standard caps I have on our '51 F-1 several years ago however, the paint on both is coming off. Maybe I'll try it again, this time I'll use the Testor’s paint. Thanks. Vic

[TStiles]

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Itsa52: Recently did the stock caps on the F1 by taping over the lettering area w/ 3M tan fineline tape, sealing the rest of the cap from overspray, trimming out the letters (10 min or so/cap) with a fresh Xacto knife, scuffing with 220 grit, then shooting with Duplicolor engine paint (tough as nails) of the color of your choice (I use Ford medium blue). Pull the masking tape off right away, before the paint hardens or you'll have a difficult time later (don't ask me how I know). Cleanup any errors with your Xacto or a small amount of lacquer thinner. Acetone also works for cleanup, too. I've tried Testors (both bottle ans paint stick) in the past and can't seem to get near the same quality end result as with spraying the Duplicolor.

[itsa52]

The Lord Mercury head is a bit more detailed than text.. I've got a couple of caps someone tried to freehand and they look like.........well lets just say I don't like them..
For now the caps I need painted are already painted white so adhesion should not be a major problem.

They tell me Bull dog adhesion promoter is good on materials that don't etch well.. aka SS and chrome.

I am going to give it a try on my windshield garnish.. With a little luck it will out live me.

[expavr]

Attached are photos of the painting process I used on the bullnose of my 40 truck. I also used the same process on my hubcaps which have the large V8 logo in black surrounded by a black ring. To do this I used painter's blue masking tape to mask off the larger areas. Oversprayed the area to be colored with either black or blue Duplicolor Engine paint. Allowed the paint to dry overnight. Then very gently using a Q Tip or soft cloth lightly coated with lacquer thinner wiped off the excess paint in the oversprayed areas. If done within 24 hours the paint will come off without much effort. It takes time and patience but the end result is worth it. The hubcaps were masked off close to the high point of the stamping which left very little removal of overspray.