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Kirkham Motorsports

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  • 7 Post By moore_rb
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  #1 (permalink)  
Old 10-14-2016, 11:07 AM
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Default Replicating Dow7 gold color on aluminum wheels

I was recently scratching my head about how to blend my car's chrome lug nuts in with the wheels a little better. I decided to try re-coloring the wheel centers to look like magnesium wheels that had been treated with Dow7

I searched numerous topics here, and on the HAMB, and I found that most guys simply paint the wheel centers gold, and then let a few years of brake dust build up to dull the finish down.

At first, I was planning to go whole-hog and blast, etch, and dip my entire wheels in Alodine (Alodine is a dichromate coating which leaves aluminum a very similar gold color to what Dow7 does to Magnesium): but, I decided to try rattle-canning them first, just to make sure I liked the gold look, before I decided on something more permanent. The beauty of spray paint is that if it turns out like crap, a little paint stripper, and the sand blaster work like a magic eraser to return everything back to the way it was. But, as it turns out, I was very pleased with the final results.

After scouring the rattle-can aisle at my local hardware store, I decided on a 2 color approach. I used two off the shelf rattle cans- Krylon Dual Superbond Gold (8845) and Valspar Metallic brushed nickel (66005)

After scrubbing the wheels with degreaser (the yellow stuff from HarborFreight), I sprayed each one down with brake cleaner, and then masked off the polished lips and the valve stems.

The first spray was a full coat (front and rear) of the Gold color. After letting that set for about 15 minutes, I went back and did a dusting coat on the fronts of each wheel with the Nickel color, followed by a dusting coat of gold, followed by another 15 minute sit.

I repeated the dusting process (gold, followed by nickel) about 5 more times on each wheel front, until both cans were nearly empty. The final coat was a very light dusting of the nickel color.

On the backside of each wheel, I just left the pure gold color, and in the pic below you can see the difference between the two finishes- The gold color alone did not give that signature greyish coloration of aged Dow7 on magnesium. but I think that combining the two colors gave the wheels a really close approximation of magnesium wheels...

Once they get some brake dust and road grime built up on them, I think they will start to look even more old-school...

For the lug nuts, I let them go overnight in my vibrating tumbler with the coursest stones I had, and painted them to match, just so they would blend in a little bit better

The first pic below is one of the best I found of an actual magnesium wheel with Dow7 on it. The second pic shows my wheels, front and back, to show the difference between pure gold paint, versus the 2-color process.

the last pics are before and after.



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the difference between using just gold paint alone (right) versus the 2-step process I used (left)

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Before- bare aluminum centers:



After- with the gold tinted centers. The difference is very subtle, and will pass right over the casual onlooker, which is exactly what I wanted.

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Last edited by moore_rb; 10-14-2016 at 11:13 AM.. Reason: typos
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Old 10-14-2016, 11:24 AM
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Very nice, might have to give that one a try
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Old 10-14-2016, 11:33 AM
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Great job, moore_rb.
Looks better.
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Old 10-14-2016, 12:10 PM
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Looks great!
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Old 10-14-2016, 07:05 PM
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Robert: I think you nailed it!
Mine; too much gold, I'm going to try to tone them down a bit.
With the lighter/brighter centers you loose some of the "deep-dish"
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Old 10-14-2016, 07:41 PM
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Excellent job. I also repainted my centers but used a medium Bronze . I like the gold better.

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Last edited by Bill D; 10-14-2016 at 07:45 PM..
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Old 10-14-2016, 07:56 PM
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Quote:
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Excellent job. I also repainted my centers but used a medium Bronze . I like the gold better.

I like it. Did you mount them? Pics?
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Old 10-14-2016, 08:07 PM
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Old 10-14-2016, 09:46 PM
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They look great. Nice job.
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Old 10-16-2016, 06:54 AM
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moore_rb, you did a really nice job. Definitely one of the better Dow7 replications I have seen.
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Old 10-16-2016, 07:25 AM
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Nice Rob, you're always on the leading edge for trying new thing's. I mocked up my Sunbrust's this week, glad I went with the extra 3/4" offset in the rear's, with angled knockoff's, and flat knockoff's for the front. Look's right
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Old 10-16-2016, 08:15 AM
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Remember the original gold was Dow7 on magnesium.
In my gallery there is a gold on my old wheels.
It's Rustoleum Gold Rush 7270
Spray light coats and pan back as the last coat you want texture.
Easy....
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Old 10-16-2016, 08:30 AM
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Quote:
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Robert: I think you nailed it!
Mine; too much gold, I'm going to try to tone them down a bit.
You could probably tone them down just by using the brushed nickel Valspar paint that I used. Just lightly dust some of it over your existing gold.

The brushed nickel paint adds that greyish tint, and it also dries flat (no gloss in it at all)
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Old 10-16-2016, 09:53 AM
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RB is THE Rattle Can KING!
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Old 10-16-2016, 09:00 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Alfa02 View Post
Nice Rob, you're always on the leading edge for trying new thing's. I mocked up my Sunbrust's this week, glad I went with the extra 3/4" offset in the rear's, with angled knockoff's, and flat knockoff's for the front. Look's right

Ummm...Pictures...????????

PICTURES !
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Old 10-16-2016, 09:40 PM
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RB is THE Rattle Can KING!
I once painted an entire Jeep CJ5, using 10 cans of gloss black rustoleum...
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Old 10-17-2016, 07:04 AM
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Robert; do you remember where you got the Valspar ? I think I saw some at Lowes ? HD?
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Old 10-17-2016, 08:14 AM
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Yes, I got the brushed nickel Valspar paint from Lowes...

The Gold Krylon was from Ace Hardware
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Last edited by moore_rb; 10-17-2016 at 01:27 PM..
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Old 10-17-2016, 12:37 PM
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That looks fantastic!
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