Wheel painting/prep/masking

[MagicWagon]

I have just bought some new shiny hubcaps and intend to paint my wheels body colour (Pastel white) as I think the van in the photo below looks great. I wont be going the whole way with the white walls as I can't justify the cost of professional white walling (unless anyone knows a DIY method ?).
I'm going to use rustoleum. The wheels are painted silver with a fair bit of surface rust. I know rustoleum can go on bare metal, so am I best off stripping with paint stripper first, or is it OK to just wire brush and/or wet and dry to get rid of surface rust ?
Although it can go on bare metal, is it better to prime first as it wouldn't take much for such a small area ?
Should I thin the first coat ?
Finally are there any neat tips for masking off ? I imagine it's difficult to effectively mask a round wheel with straight masking tape. Perhaps I should just not bother masking but white-spirit any off the tyres ?

[AlandAnn]

I'm looking at doing my wheels soon.

I have been told that you should take care when paint the area around where the nuts / wheel bolts go through, if you paint that part then you may not be able to torque the wheel bolts up to
their correct setting.

Good Luck

[Titus A Duxass]

For masking off I cut a doughnut of paper that fits over the rims, cleaning paint off the tyre is an a*** of a job.

[ELVIS]

Bottle of cheap washing up liquid, cut the top off, paint it onto tyres, spray/rattle can wheels, pressure wash it off once wheels have dried.

OR

Let a bit of air out, get a (or 2) cheap tshirts from jumble sale,seperate the front from back if you have two tshirts (then you can do all four in one hit), slit down the middle of the material with a stanly blade, stretch them over rim, push material under rim lip with trim tool or a plastic kitchen implement you stole when Doris wasnt looking.

No masking or wasting time you wont ever get back again

[chris7ian]

You can use vaseline on the the tyres then jsut wash it off with hot water afterwards... I've never tried it myself as I'm quite happy using painters tape and newpaper

[MagicWagon]

Thanks a lot for the tips. I will try out on my spare wheel.
Any tips on ideal prep for rustoleum on the wheels ?

[what2do]

Thanks a lot for the tips. I will try out on my spare wheel.
Any tips on ideal prep for rustoleum on the wheels ?

Get them blasted, £5 - £10 per wheel. You can spend ages rubbing down wheels if time is on your hands but you can't beat the ease of someone else blasting them.

[boatbuilder]

Run a bead of tigerseal around the seam of the rim, let it cure for a few days before over painting.
Don't paint the areas where the wheel nuts/bolts seat.

[MagicWagon]

I finished the wheels, see before after pics below.
In the end, I did the insides with 2 coats etch primer, 2 coats white primer, 2 coats halfords pastel white spray.
Couldn't decide whether to prime the outsides, so in the end I etched primed two, and went straight in with Rustoleum with the other two. Time will tell (hopefully lots of time) whether it was better to etch prime or not.
For masking, I let plenty of air out, then used Harris curved masking tape, plus sheets with holes cut in the middle, which worked a treat. Very pleased with the result.