Over on the P15-D24.com and Pilot-house.com I was looking at @ggdad1951‘s FEF truck and see Mark is using what appears to be the original “yellow”. I recall him discussing it here and there. I think he referred to it as Armour Yellow.
When I learned that Les Schwab Tires would media blast and powder coat wheels for about 36 bucks each I pulled ’em off Roxanne and trucked over to the local franchise. The yellows they showed me were pretty lemon or orange, and none that looked like what Mark has on FEF.
I have remnants of the original yellow color; the pin stripes on my grill bars. When I measure with my colorimeter I get RGB 217 201 140. Yes, faded and sun tinted. What is the original color really, or more important, what color is it in today’s paints?
I came to a crossroads. The new plan was to media blast them and paint them myself, but not sure how to proceed. I’ve heard rustoleum has a color that is very close, or I can get a can mixed up and spray it myself, or ??? Since I’m was not planning a show quality restore, more of a general cleanup and preservation I found myself needing some counseling and advice to that end. The boys on the forum didn’t let me down.
Even with the experience of the Pilothouse Truck forum members such as @ggdad1951, I don’t think we’ll ever know re original color. I thought one of my front wheels still had a good sample of orig color under the hubcap but on closer inspection I can see it was repainted, and where it has chipped off it is showing a very faded buff color – almost light gray. I’d be happy with @Merle Coggins, Mark’s or @David A.‘s color. That notwithstanding, forging ahead was the only solution. A trip to Harbor Freight in nearby Greeley I picked up all the necessary equipment and most of the supplies, sans paint, I’d need to paint the wheel on my own (Fort Collins wouldn’t sell me the big compressor – they only had the floor model in stock).
A trip to Finish Masters in Fort Collins, armed with paint codes and a photograph supplied by forum member David A. I managed to get everything I would need to paint the wheel in my new paint booth, aka “garage”. I had already had the tires unmounted and the wheel sand blasted by a specialty shop twenty miles nearby in Loveland Colorado – They looked fantastic. Bright metallic silver. Who knew that was hiding under there.
OMG I Suck at Painting
Or the paint Store ripped me off! I was suspicious when I poured the recommended epoxy primer into the mixing cup then added the catalyst as directed by the paint Store and it was RUNNY – like water color. Am I missing something here or do I need professional help. Turns out I actually suck at painting. When stirred and mixed correctly the paint goes on pretty nice. Of course I had to wait until I sanded out all the drips, sags and runs to find that out. Epoxy primer is a bitch to sand, just so you know.
Making the decision to have the tires unmounted and the wheels sent out to be blasted was the commitment that would send me on this path of becoming halfway decent at laying down the epoxy primer and single stage urethane enamel. Starting on the back of the wheel at each stage set me up for having the front of the wheel look damn good.
The wheel paint job was shopped around at several Fort Collins auto body shops. The average price quoted was around $450.00! WTF?! I thought I could buy a compressor, spray gun and necessary supplies for less than that; I was wrong. It cost about a hundred dollars more than that and hours of my time.
Holy crap did I learn a lot about paint and painting. Turned out to be way more effort than I had anticipated. The boys on the P15-D24 forum really saved my bacon. Their advice there was spot on and I was able to use it and in the end be rewarded with five great looking wheels – even the color was exactly what I had in my minds eye.
