hubcap painting topic, again...............

[john.mancini]

Can anyone recommend a good painter in the New England area who would be willing to paint some hubcaps? I have read all of the past hubcap topics by our members, but I just don't have the patience, or time, to mask off 4 230SL hubcaps. I also can't find the paint (162H, blue/grey). Thanks,
John

[jsaylor]

John,

I have the silicon stencils.  I'd be happy to share them w/ you.  They are for the early smaller hub caps.

jsaylor@aloha.net

[john.mancini]

Thank you jsaylor,
I may take you up on that. The other problem I have is finding the 162H in a small spray can. I will let you know. Do the rubber stencils work well? Thank you again.
John

[Benz Dr.]

Not to put down an offer of help but if those stencils are the soft rubber type they're not that great to use. They leave a fuzzy line and a PIA to use. You get much better results from fine line tape.

[J. Huber]

Hi John. If you looked over the past posts, you may have seen my experiences. In a nutshell, I tried to tape and paint them myself with very mediocre results. (I know others have done better -- so part of it was me for sure)... I then took them to a local body and paint guy who did them for 30 a piece and he matched the paint to the MB Glasurit code. They look much much better. I suggest you keep searching for a shop you can trust and let a pro do it...

[john.mancini]

I think that's my best bet. I know that if I paint them myself they will probably look pretty bad. I'm good at painting flat walls. That's about the extent of my painting ability.
John

[Jonny B]

Just in case you get to feeling a bit ambitious. www.paintscratch.com offers almost all the paint colors in a rattle can.

I had never done anything like the masking before, but tried one hubcap as a test, and then jumped right in to doing several sets. It took me about 30 minutes to carefully mask off the necessary areas.

[rb6667]

How about the part/stencil  that Mercedes made that allowed you paint the caps on the 280 SL's.   Is this part still available?   I think I  remember seeing one on an earlier post several months ago?

RB6667

[sjiatrou]

I picked up some 050 (white) from Microfinish, it was a perfect match for doing some touchup, I'm waiting for some Astral Silver to shoot the hubcaps for my 450SLC. I'm going to mask/paint these myself. I'll let you know how it comes out.

http://www.automotivetouchup.com/

[john.mancini]

For me to do it myself, the problem is finding someone who can get the color 162, blue/grey, in a small aerosol spray can. None of the internet "touch-up" companies can find the color. I went to my MB dealer, gave my data card to the service rep, he contacted MB but MB no longer shows that 162 Blue/grey ever was, let alone is, available. My best bet will be to have a local painter match the color and let them shoot the hubcaps.

[jsaylor]

For small touch up I've used a product called "Prevail" (Ace Hardware sells it) it is a small baby bottle size bottle with a screw on spray top cartridge,  You can put any paint you wish inside.  It sprays like a spay can.  Any good auto paint supplier should be able to find your paint code.

[john.mancini]

Thanks Jim

[Rick]

It is too hard to try to place tape correctly over the star.  I use the plastic tape and lay it over the entire star and beyond it by a bit.  I then use a straight edge and cut the tape down with a razer blade to match the star correctly. This results in a nice clean job.

[Jonny B]

I have done a few of these caps, and the method I used for taping the star is just as Rick mentioned. The lines are clean and smooth. Just tread lightly with the razor knife to not score the metal.