My car has been without wheel covers for a long time. As mentioned in an earlier post, I installed aluminum wheels but my wheel covers wouldn't fit them. A friend sent me some of the special stainless steel wheel covers that fit the aluminum wheels. I removed the dents the best I could and sanded the scuffs. I used oven cleaner to get off all the baked-on brake dust and grime. Paint stripper removed the old paint with little effort.


I used a stencil that my roommate bought me, which helped a lot, but I had to use paint thinner on a rag to wipe off areas of overspray and had to carefully wipe paint off of the outer rim so it would make a crisp line.


I wasn't sure whether or not to prime them before painting them as it made it a lot more difficult and the factory didn't use primer. I used primer and it was a lot of extra work.


I painted five wheel covers so I have a spare. Painting them was a first for me, but they came out acceptably. There was a lot of overspray, and it was nerve-wracking to use paint thinner on a rag, but it works like an eraser for paint.


I think that letting the primer dry overnight was a mistake, because when I sprayed on the paint, it didn't lay down very smoothly, though it is smoothing out with time. I might wet sand and then polish the paint so it looks better.

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1967 W110 Universal Wagon, Euro, Turbo Diesel, Tail Fins, 4 Speed Manual Column Shift, A/C
1980 W116 300SD Turbo Diesel, DB479 Walnut Brown, Sunroof, Highly Optioned, 350,000+ Miles