Morris Minor Owners Club

The BOSS has expressed a desire for white wheels on SHY.

Ours, being a fairly late car, are silver. The white rims I've seen in pictures seem to be a creamy colour.

What colour and what type of paint is this ? I had a look at smoothright (hammeright) but this is startlingly white and isn't what we want.

Jim

old english white looks good

I've just found this post
http://www.morrisminoroc.co.uk/index.ph ... pic&t=3564 and will be off for some Arun White (Old English) this week

If you take a look at my wheels, they were painted with smooth hammerite. So was the grill.
I've always been a hammerite fan, although it can be like treacle at times, it dries very quickly. I suppose the main reason for my choosing it is the quick drying properties

Joe.

The silver wheels are the correct colour for cars built after 1967.

Mind you, I can't talk - my 1969 car came with dull white wheels. I ignored authenticity and re-sprayed them Old English white....

Yes, my old wheels were Old English White, which I think looks really good on an Almond Green car. Not correct ('69 too), but look good.

how about on a '55 black saloon?

Mine are black currently, which i think is correct, but the paint is a bit flaky, so they could do with a repaint.

Im thinking black is best.

Should they be sprayed or brush painted? Can they be sand blasted without removing the tyres?

Mine are black currently, which i think is correct

Yep, and the early cars look far better with body coloured wheels.

Should they be sprayed or brush painted?

Up to you, it depends on what finish you want compared to hassle. Brush painting is easiest, but spraying produces the best finish (if done properly!).

Can they be sand blasted without removing the tyres

No.

My 71 saloon should hae silver. Last year I painted some wheels in white as I prefer the look. Unfortunately the unused tyres were past their sell-by date so they came off the car very sharpish and I'm back on silver wheels at the moment as a temporary measure.
To me, the silver wheels remind me of the BMC loss of direction (rubber bumper mg, minis with black painted trim instead of chrome etc.. etc..)

I've seen a lot of people spray piant the wheels and it just looks a mess (and a few cars where they did a great job). Spraypainting is fine if the wheel is in good condition to start with and it is carefully prepared. Unless the car is concours then brushpainting can be pefectly adequate. I use DIY centre magnolia paint as a £5 tin will do about 15 wheels and a few grilles as well - The colour looks like 30 year old old english white
To get very close to old english white, it needs a mix of approx 70% white and 30% magnolia.
Brushpaint is also thicker (it hides more stuff) so this can save a lot of time trying to achive a perfect flat finish during preparation. If you have lots of other jobs to do then spending a weekend trying to get the wheels perfect isn't an effiient use of time, when you can get 90% there in just a few hours by brushpainting.

If you have lots of other jobs to do then spending a weekend trying to get the wheels perfect isn't an effiient use of time, when you can get 90% there in just a few hours by brushpainting.

Agreed!

DIY magnolia ??? Do you mean gloss ??????

yeah - tin of gloss paint, 500ml or 750ml costs about a fiver if you get the DIY centre own brand. Unlike Hammerite gloss (smoothrite or whatever it's called) it takes at least a day to dry in decent weather but on a warm day you can have them back on the car whilst they are still tacky in the evening (in winter you need to keep the wheels somewhere warmish otherwise it wont dry)- Hammerite dries 10 times quicker but costs a lot more money.

If you wish to use spray cans and can gain entrance to your local Maccess trade centre, they do the larger cans 400mil, primer & silver around £1:20 and old English White around £1:40, which is about a quarter of Halfords ect.

You gotta watch the drying times on hammerite -if you miss the time "window "you cant add a second coat for 6 wks,I think

Yep, that's true! The times I have been painting in the early hours of the morning so as I don't miss the 'window'

I forgot recently when I painted the inside of my bonnet ,Now waiting another 2 weeks to add the second coat.! I tried once when i missed the "window" it reacted badly,and pulled up the first coat .