I have been collecting a few 16" Ford '40-'48 wheels and I have a question, how do you think the original pinstriping was applied to the wheel centers so perfectly? I have some wheels with the original paint still visible, and some have two stripes, some have three stripes, some are all one color, and some have multiple colors. Any thoughts?
they are a ***** to stripe! need a turn table that turns nice & sloooooow! i dont know how it was done originally? i have looked real close at some original old stripes & they are about perfect! maybe the big o'lady they had striping them just got real good at it??! i never tried putting them on a car & raising the car on a hoist & spinnin the wheel ............... ???????????????
thats a great picture. there must of been lots of stripers brushin at the same time as each set up has its own pallet, paint & thinner cup.
Here's my friend, Alex Olivera, striping the wheels on my AV8. Alex is fromerly from SoCal, But he's enjoying the car culture of the Northeast, especially Eastern M***. His '37 sedan del is a real eye catcher at the local cruise's.
I do them on the car all the time, just jacking up one wheel at a time . It's a real treat to get to a guy's place that's got a hoist, it's a lot easier on the back & knees. In the pic those model T wheels were done by brush but I think by the late 30's ,early 40's, they were done by those Buegler style bottle/wheel stripers.
That's a great shot of the old striper. O/T but related, the new Harley Davidson museum in Milwaukee has a section dedicated to the original painters and stripers, showing templates, design sketches, early decals and in-progress work, plus a whole wall of tanks through the ages. Really cool to see, and interesting listening to non-stripers talking about the brushes, paints etc.
The guy who does my wheels uses a rotating bar stool to put the wheel on while he drags the brush..........he's pretty damn close to perfect...... CB
I use a tire from a kids bike, and a homemade axle table. The tire fits in the back of 15'' and 16'' wheels and the rubber tire keeps them from sliding around. then I spin the wheel and go to town. I have been thinking of setting up a slow turning motor to move it so that I can rest my hand on the wheel and drag it a bit. However I don't do enough of them (thank god) to actually spend the time to make the motor table. Oh I fogot a step you have to cry about it for a least 10 minutes first because no matter how you do it the job just kind of ****s!, and i think the tears help lubricate your fingers so they slide easier along the outside of the rim.
I've got an old pottery wheel thats is useful for pinstriping, still hard to get them perfect though....its also for cleaning up moon discs
..forgot to mention that if they are off the car i just grease up the cup on a floor jack, raise it up as high as it will go and they spin nice. And to agree with P & N , they really are a pain in the *** ...
Leave them on the car, use the hub cap edge as a guide for the Beugler roller striper.Slowly roll the wheel while holding the striper steady. Don't go too slow. Have a screw up? keep a rag and palnt thinner at hand and wipe it off and do it again. Done it lots of times not too hard at all.
I have not done any pinstriping, but I have done some painting on rotating objects where I wanted a precise edge. If wheel is rotatable AND you have something set up to rest your hand on, serious precision becomes much easier. On the mechanical front, there is a guy at Carlisle every year selling a Beugler-holding jig just for striping wheels. Cannot remember desigh details.
One side of an old Ford banjo rear standing on the floor makes a dandy wheel stand. You can bolt it down if you want too. Put the hub on it,(I removed the drum on mine) and you can spin the wheel. Good for polishing wheels, striping, etc. Set it at an angle and you can slowly turn wheels while you spray them. And it looks cool to have old Ford junk in your shop! Corkins Restorations in PA makes/sells the striping tool.
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