home made white walls

i while ago i googled home made white walls and was directed to a forum that is full of $*&%.... anyways, the method they explained was to use "Fusion" rattle spray can paint. well, after degreasing with simple green and going over the tire with laquer thinner and then simply wiping it down well i went ahead and taped and sprayed the driver tires and remounted and started truck to roll out of the garage to see the end result from a distance. the paint started to crack and flake off. any suggestions on what happened and what i sould do now?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkcm3rh60p0


this way is the best way to make homemade whites......the paint always falls off

If you don't want to grind them or even if you do and just want to touch them up, use gesso not paint. Get it at an art supply store and apply it with a foam brush. If it looks a little homemade, hey!

i have seen that video and it wouldnt work for me because i purchased black wall tires. at the time i didnt think i would want www tires. what about that guy on ebay that sells the paint for www?

It seems that everyone that I have seen try the paint technique(inc. the Ebay stuff)said it did'nt hold up. Flaked and peeled in most cases. If you have black walls, just find some porto-walls and install them. Use rubber cement on outer edges to keep them from "flapping" at speeds. Not as effective but they look nice.

I have tried the fusion paint and have had mixed results. I've found that it works best on older tires that are dried out a little. It seems like newer tires have more oils in the rubber and this keeps the paint from adhering properly and also the oils will bleed through the white paint over time and turn the white to a coffee brown color. If you dont want to but actual white walls and grind them down, I'd go with the Portawalls like suggested. Just read the installation instructions and follow them closely.

I've never seen any homemade white walls that looked like the real thing. It is very hard to grind down the surface evenly all over without gouges and uneven edges. As for paint, it is horrible. Even back in the old days when you could buy paint from JC Whitney and others that was supposedly designed to be used on tires, it still cracked and fell off.

Portawalls are also a pain.............we used them a lot back in the day, and they had two problems. First was getting them to seat evenly all the way around, and secondly, they would fly into pieces going down the road or if you curbed them. They also would end up not laying flat against the tire and would wrinkle up.

I honestly think the only way to get good whitewalls it to buy them that way.

Don

okay, here is the kicker. cheap!!! i have a family of 5 boys and i have already put out enough money for the set i have now and dont have spare money just floating around. i have heard nothing but negative out of the porta walls and would like to steer clear of those. what kind of price have you guys experienced with the www? my problem i think with the paint on the tires i have now is there is only about 600 miles on them. they are that new and probably still have all that oil still in them even though i thought i cleaned the ****ens out of them.

IMO you would be better off to run blackwalls than to modify them. I know rat rods are supposed to be a little ragged around the edges, but cracked white sidewalls are just cheesy in my opinion.

Even Skanky, my friend's rat, has nice whitewalls and rims.

Don

I read somewhere that white shoe polish, the kind in the bottle, could be used. I remember decorating a wedding car and someone used that kind of shoe polish on the tires and it took a long time to wear off....grouchy

Yeah, I was wondering myself if somthing like white shoe pollish would work......

well, after trying to remove as much of the paint off of the tires, i cleaned them up and applied white shoe polish. i will let you guys know how it works.

okay.... and for the shoe polish.... it sucks!! already 2 coats on it and still doesnt look like its going to be completely covered for another 5 coats. now take for granted if you dont use it on brand new tires it may work as i have about 700 miles on them now. next step.... ebay guy.

Sorry to send you on a wild goose chase! Let us know how the ebay guy's stuff works.....grouchy

no problem. if one can go through a little pain to gain knowledge to a few, then so be it. i did not go through the guy over seas but i bought the Callie's Kustoms paint which sounded to be about the same. i seen where there were some pro's and con's but i think i am going to run into that with whatever i get. obviously because if i wanted www in the first place i would have bought them. go figure, i'm always changing my mind about this thing and what i want. more difficult than a woman sometimes.

still waiting on the arrival of the paint to test out and let you guys know. quick question.... i have seen alot of the gassers with both www on front and some on the back... back in the day, what was more of the norm and why? or was it just a matter of what there was laying around?

This is your tire. This is your tire with paint.Any Questions?
C.C. try the paint on the tires on one side and gesso on the other side. If you are not happy with the gesso let me know and i will refund your money

Grind!!!

Got a good set of used raised white letter Cobras for $200, bought a 36 grit flap wheel for the grinder for $6, decided to skip the sand paper and palm sander...and this is what I got. Took an hour total for all 4 tires. Just bleached them today, but atleast there's a whitewall to get to if you use the grinder.

Unless you find some flexible pigment, as the weather changes from hot/cold/mild whatever, and the tires are shrinking and expanding, paint or shoe polish will never stay! Think about how shoe polish (on your shoes) reacts from the shoes bending...or in cold weather. You have to shine your shoes pretty often, right? Or maybe your shoes don't look as good as mine do

that seems to take one very steady hand. one nervous twitch and your tire is done. but its out of the question for myself because of the black walls i have.

slate... got a pic of the rest of the car?