Technical Painting wire wheels

I think you will find that the over thinned color will run easily. Spoked wheels are difficult enough to watch paint flow.
I suggest proper reducing and one coat to hiding. One coat will shrink thin enough as it dries. I also suggest 1 coat of black epoxy primer reduced for sealer use (PPG data sheet for DP90LF explains how to do it) on the bare steel under the black enamel. Understand that using 1 coat of each you are somewhat compromising the protective qualities of the paint finish.
The choice between protection and looks is your's

 

Well I own a auto painting company so for me since iv been painting all my life I would shoot it and just rub out the rim section if need be.i would leave the wires alone. When you paint round things the paint lays down really nice. Like tubing bike frames wires ect there are no flat areas so you will not get any orange peel. It will gl*** off. Also you can lay lacquer down like gl*** too. Just take your time and if it's real good lacquer you can thin it as much as 200%. Yes that's 200%. It will be thin and take a lot of coats to cover but more coats =s deepness. It will look like you can fall into the paint. You can always just shoot a ton of color on and wet sand smooth then top coat with lacquer clear too. I love lacquer.

 

Enamel takes to long to dry. That's why I love lacquers. You can still buy it as it's legal for furniture and guitar makers. So you just need a chair to refinish.

 

I'm not sure what enamel you refer to but properly reduced and catalyzed Acrylic Enamel for automotive use is tack free in minutes. Even the dry time for Alkyd Enamel can be sped way up.

 

I use a piece of conduit between two saw horse and rotate wheels after each coat.

 

Rust-oleum appliance epoxy in a rattle can is as tough as it gets from a can, is easy and looks so good I even did my firewall and dash with it. It is cheap at Walmart. Get a can, try it on something. I also did my entire floor under the car with it. I even got a can of white after doing the 34, did up the freezer and the thing looks brand new, (we keep it in the garage where it has a tendency to get a little scratched up from p***ing car parts, bicycles, lawn mores and garden tools,)

 

Weren't a lot of parts 'dipped' back in the day? I would think that wire wheels would have been a prime candidate for that, given the difficulty of coverage with other methods...

 

I think some parts were but I can't find verification.

 

Well, I know Ford was dip-painting parts at least into the early 70s because I bought parts that were obviously painted that way. Granted. these newer parts weren't 'finish' items, but fit/finish standards weren't all that high when wire wheels were OEM....