I know of a few guys who pick up old ovens at yard and garage sales JUST for this purpose. They get installed in the garage/shop.
Here’s where I’m at…
That’s a wheel before removing the rivets and scotchbriting it up.
And here’s one after:
So far I’ve got all the wheels off and all the rivets removed, 3 wheels left for scotching.
This is the first time I’ve looked really closely at the wheels removed. Things I have learned:
Rims are 14x7
Made In USA
No manufacturer indicated anywhere. I don’t know if it’s on the part of the rims that are hidden by the tires or what, but I was kinda surprised they’d go through the trouble of indicating they’re made in the US but not bother putting the manufacturer name anywhere.
Only thing I could find that seemed anything close was on one of the four rims only, there is a series of four tool marks that to me look like a maker’s mark.
It’s possible it’s just some random tool mark but it looks too deliberate. Do those markings mean anything to anyone?
Ok back to work!
Those just look like casting imperfections to me.
Question for you… were the rivets just decorative items and are you planning to re-install them or some alternative?
Yeah rivets are just for show. These are one-piece solid cast aluminum rims. I expect to reinstall the rivets after the rims are painted but will wait and see. When they’re painted I’m gonna reinstall the rivets on one wheel and unless it looks bad compared to the other rivet-free rims, then I’ll put the rivets back in all of em.
Any idea what kind of rims these are? With all the searching I’ve done the closest thing I’ve found are American Racing Outlaw rims, but those have a lot more rivets. These are only 15 per wheel, a little further spaced out than the Outlaws.
I didn’t think I would like the fact that you were about to “ruin” those beautiful wheel, but that looks GREAT!
If the Coca Cola doesn’t work like you want, try Evapo-Rust. I started a thread on it a few weeks ago if you want to see what it can do.
Hmmm, what’s your plan for the balance weights and valve stems? Might end up with bare spots behind the stems, and if you try getting behind them with the spray…I’m foreseeing runs there…??
The weights are a non-issue since I’m not painting that part of the rim. The valve stems are gonna be fun for sure. They’ll be masked off and I’ll try and spray under them from an angle. I’m hoping if I keep the can moving and spray in quick bursts from each side I can get good coverage but not spray so much paint that it’ll run. The wheels will be laying flat on the ground.
Probably I’ll just hit that area with a Sharpie. 
DOH! Forgot you’re not doing the outer rings…so, are they screw-in stems(looks like it in the pic)? If so, why not pull them out? Air is pretty easy to come by, and they’d be out of your way.
That sounds brilliant!!! Is there anything on the other side though? Or am I alright to just let the air out and then use a socket wrench to remove the whole assembly from the outside of the rim? Man that would make it easier and make the paint come out better.
If they are screw-in, the rim should be threaded, so I wouldn’t think there’d be anything on the backside.
Of course, I could be all wet, and it’s just made to LOOK screw-in…
Took a nut off and from the looks of it the nuts on the outside are holding the stems in place, I think the stem is inserted from the other side of the rim (the part inside the tire) and then the nut on this side holds it. So to get em off means separating the tire from the rim which I’d rather avoid. The hold air great currently. I just have this uneasy feeling that if I separate em they won’t seal up perfect like they are now. Probably just being a wuss here.
Bummer, well, it was worth a shot.
Wheel #1 ready for prime…
Last I checked the humidity was at like 85%. So no idea when I’ll actually get to priming. Hopefully the humidity is dropping as it warms up a bit. I’ll wait until it’s below 60% like the guy who wrote them words on the rattle can says to.
a woodstove in the garage helps… 
Humidity has been slowly dropping all day. Down to 65% now. Hopefully I’ll still be awake by the time it hits 59%. I’m doing this so by-the-book.
Dot the i’s and cross the t’s. One mistake I have made is on the recoat time. Some rattle cans say recoat any time and others say within an hour or after two days. I missed that once on the two day and recoated the next day, the paint wrinkled. I had to wait till the paint fully cured and sand it back down then repaint 
. What a pain and waste of time that was. So read that fine print on the can and follow it close.
Steven
I read each can probably 5 times while I was doing the test run on the soda can, so I’m sure I’ll read them 10 times as I’m actually doing the wheels.
I learned something today… When the temperature drops 20 degrees the humidity goes up a lot. Last I checked it was up to 85%. I have a really nasty feeling it’s not going to drop low enough for days.
I’ve already started prep work toward replacing the fuel tank and lines, and adding the smash bar on my Bronco-- came as part of the deal, just wasn’t installed. I’m also about to start watching lotsa videos and reading up on what rotors to buy and how to replace them.
I wish I was painting the wheels right now. But mother nature is giving me the thumbs down at the moment.
I am only a few hundred miles from you and the humidity has been friggin ridiculous today! 
Humidity has been playing in the 80-90% range this whole time. Sucks!!!
On the bright side, I did manage not only to get the smash bar on my Bronco as I hoped, I also got the rear window working without replacing a single part. It ain’t perfect, but it does indeed open and close now, with a little hesitation at the spot when the two arms are at the totally horizontal position. Maybe a little more grease in a couple spots and it’ll be smooth as silk. Lol probably not, but having it working and actually being able to open and close the tailgate as a one-man job is really great. And it looks like the cat’s gonna be out of commission for who knows how long, with this damn humidity.