So I've got a set of wheels I have prepped and have ready for paint. Ill be using an Azko Nobel base and clear i picked up from a local paints supplier. Im extremely new to this and here's a few questions ive got:

1. I have an 0.8mm touch up gun ill be using for this. any additional reducer needed outside of the TDS? it does not specify other than 4:1 for the clear and paint i don't have handy.

2. I assume ill just have to spray some sort of test panel to figure out what the gun likes. How will i know if its too high or too low on the inlet pressure.

3. My plan was to base the inside barrel, then hit the face. Clear coat in the same order. Any tips to help reduce the overspray? i care mostly about the finish on the front of the wheel.

For your tip i would test it out as you said, try it on something. for wheels the touch up gun should work good as far as spraying. for pressure you gun should have a recommended pressure on it. this is a starting point it may be better up or down from that. usually low air pressure creates an orange peel or rough texture. to much air pressure will cause excessive overspray and loss of material. it would be nice if we had a picture, sometimes when i'm doing oem style wheels (solid style) i'll mix the clear a little on the hot side then you can put it on wet without such a chance of runs (can be typical with wheels due to the shape). most of the time i'll shoot the complete wheel with epoxy (black) then prep just the outside and color and clear the outside only. i don't worry about any overspray, depends some on the color or if its an open wheel.
i made this to paint some Harley wheels that the customer wanted satin black all over i shot the inside of the rim (tire area) then when dry put it in the stand for the rest of the wheel.
Jay D.

I went out to the garage and did some playing around with the gun an air settings. I got a pretty good pattern going so I'll try that and see how it does with the paint. Think I got the photo uploaded mid primer.

I watched a guy on YouTube recommended spraying the base on the inside then flipping it to do the face immediately. I'm going from silver oem color to a black so the inside of the wheel needs something to not look bad. Thank you for your help though. I definitely didn't know that about the low pressure and orange peel!

Is it important on an application like this to try and carry a wet edge as best I can? Or just make sure I get the complete coverage?

Yep so many variables, there going to be a little more difficult than old school oem steel wheels. you shouldn't have any problems keeping the clear wet. depends on temps, it might be too wet.
Jay D.

Doing wheels is not hard, but can be difficult.

First you need to get primer, base and clear on very evenly and make sure that you have complete coverage. The more spokes that a wheel has the more difficult this can be.

To get coverage I set up like this, so I can spin the wheel around and make sure each facet is painted the same, plus access both front and rear.



Most 2K clears, especially the high solids ones won't work very well with a 0.8mm gun. I use a midi-gun, either 1.2mm Iwata AZ4 or 1.3mm Star. Both have fans that are half the width of a full sized gun, but soft and even and apply without needing to go over the top on air pressure so overspray when doubling up won't cause overthick application.



Clear needs to be wet and smooth, but without runs.

Missed a couple of OP's questions in previous post.

apsmith4992 wrote: any additional reducer needed outside of the TDS? it does not specify other than 4:1 for the clear and paint

Most clears can be reduced an extra 10% with a suitable reducer. This may or may not reduce the viscosity enough for a 0.8mm gun. It wouldn't work for mine where I need to go 15-20% over-reduced and that can impact longevity and gloss of the clear.

apsmith4992 wrote:How will i know if its too high or too low on the inlet pressure.

Look at the Manual for your gun. It will give you a suggested inlet pressure. For RP guns this is commonly around 2 bar or 28psi. For HVLP it's usually a bit lower but varies from gun to gun, 17-24psi is common. Test spray pattern on some paper until you get correct atomisation and even dispersion.

badsix wrote:For your tip i would test it out as you said, try it on something. for wheels the touch up gun should work good as far as spraying. for pressure you gun should have a recommended pressure on it. this is a starting point it may be better up or down from that. usually low air pressure creates an orange peel or rough texture. to much air pressure will cause excessive overspray and loss of material. it would be nice if we had a picture, sometimes when i'm doing oem style wheels (solid style) i'll mix the clear a little on the hot side then you can put it on wet without such a chance of runs (can be typical with wheels due to the shape). most of the time i'll shoot the complete wheel with epoxy (black) then prep just the outside and color and clear the outside only. i don't worry about any overspray, depends some on the color or if its an open wheel.
i made this to paint some Harley wheels that the customer wanted satin black all over i shot the inside of the rim (tire area) then when dry put it in the stand for the rest of the wheel.

ebay 1 775 - Copy.jpg

Jay D.

Ill be using a wanda 8100 2k clear. Its listed as a medium solids clear coat according to some stuff i dug up. seems like that might be a little better than the HS for spraying through this smaller tip.

I did forget to point out i do have a larger gun an older 1.4 siphon feed. I have a qt plus hardener so i would think i could cover both wheels with that much clear even using a larger gun, i was just worried about maneuverability.

you say both wheels as in 2, a pint of clear should be plenty. i would mix a pint then IF you need more you can mix it.
Jay D.

correct it would be 2 wheels nota full set.