White lettering on tyres - progress

[REDAUXR6II]

Hello All,

Today I had a play with my enamel paints and paint fixer additive

I painted the brand names on my tyres and here are the results
do not use acrylics they just come off at speed, 3 coates of enamel seems to be ok, i will let you know how it goes over the next few days.

[NeishaXR8_347]

Looks ok for a late model car even tho im not a fan of white on tyres but looks ok.

looks like your giving your brakes a good press, there's a bit of heat build up.

[poolkeeper]

nice.

[The Monty]

Ive always thought about doind it, just never actualy done it. Looks nice though.

[REDAUXR6II]

yer its a very long task and you have to experiment a lot.

The first time i did it i drove around and half the lettering fell off.

But this time i have put on enamel paints and a fixer to protect the paint.

[AUXRVIII]

I think the rims help, I don't think you could get away with it if it had stockies on.

[REDAUXR6II]

Yer the rims help a heap i will do the calipers red on wed or thurs then it will look better again.

[HLC]

Originally Posted by AUXRVIII

I think the rims help, I don't think you could get away with it if it had stockies on.

we'll see :P im due for rubber. gonna see if i can get some with a white wall or lettering :P

[poolkeeper]

Originally Posted by HLC

we'll see :P im due for rubber. gonna see if i can get some with a white wall or lettering :P

Thick white wall will look cool :sm_headba

[HLC]

Originally Posted by D1XR2C

Thick white wall will look cool :sm_headba

probably expensive though. oh well ill have a look.

[AUIII XR8 MAN]

Originally Posted by HLC

probably expensive though. oh well ill have a look.

I don't think that make tyres with white writing on them anymore. I use to have tyres with white writing on my old XR6 ute back in 96.

Anyway the white writing has come up a treat & looks good.

[Orbit]

that looks really good mate.

[xr8 007]

Looks great, any chance of a "How to" write up??

[Sapper]

How do you expect the enamel paint to cope with sidewall flex? When I put the Dunlops on the rear of mine I'm going to paint the lettering if it will last. Waiting to see how DOC's tyre markers work.

[REDAUXR6II]

Well I don't really expect it to cope with the conditions yet, still testing to find out the best product.

[Mechan1k]

I have been following a similar thread in the Tyre Technical section ... a few people have been experimenting there as well.

[Whoosha]

Back in the good old days you could just go to the speed shop and pick up a tyer lettering stick in a choice of 3 colours . white,gold ,or red haven"t seen them for years .. : wanders off into shed to check old boxes of junk car bits

[REDAUXR6II]

Well this morning i drove to work 40k's away and only a little bit came off.

It cracked and chipped but nothing serious, I will be trying an oil stick this week, they are oil paint in a stick and then using an art sealer to stop the smudging.

Will let you know who it goes.

[Uncle_Ken]

Originally Posted by Whoosha

Back in the good old days you could just go to the speed shop and pick up a tyer lettering stick in a choice of 3 colours . white,gold ,or red haven"t seen them for years .. : wanders off into shed to check old boxes of junk car bits

LOL. Me too last time I did this was 1975 :disco:
Uncle Ken

[S3SR]

i dont think any paint will be 100%..... heres an example

going to cairns to find some chicks place (long story it was schoolies) car in front of us swerved and we thought WTF (we were in a 87? model cruiser anyways) so i see this big huge thing in the middle of the road (about 10pm) and go stuff it ill run over it, then POP, pull over the whole right side of the cruiser was painted white...watyl (sp) exterior paint the good stuff...try and clean the tyre and its already dry kero and turps didnt touch this stuff...going back home the paint on the treads were gone...3 weeks from that day there was no paint at all...except for on the ute (lucky it was white already)

[jimt3te50]

The tyre marker pens last about 4 hard corners before they look crap.

Slime make one of the tyre lettering/whitewall touch-up markers which are like a chalk- I had a look at them at Repco yesterday- for $4 they're probably worth a go but couldn't see them lasting very long.

DOC tried painting them but they just peeled straight off the tyre on it's first trip. Maybe a different type of paint or better preparation is the answer.......

Alternatively I reckon get a rubber shop to cut out the logo from a sheet of thin coloured rubber and vulcanise/rubber cement them to the tyre and have them rebalanced. Lot of effort though..........

I'm still trying some things as I was very happy with the overall look.

[Sapper]

Would it be possible to use a dye or bleach type substance on the lettering?

[janek]

What about roughing the tyre up with some coarse sandpaper (in the lettering), force the pairnt to have something to stick to?

[Sapper]

Yeah, but the problem with paint is that when it dries it becomes brittle and really cohesive (sticks to itself more than it sticks to rubber). Even if it sticks to the tyre okay, it cracks when the tyre sidewall flexes. Unless you can find a freakish paint compound, painting probably won't work (would love to be proven wrong though). If you can actually change the colour of the rubber of the lettering then it will stay in good condition.

It might even be worth speaking to someone from a tyre manufacturer and seeing what they recommend.

[FS5]

i used to race thundercats and we'd paint our boats with some type of paint .i cant remember exactly what its called.it used to stand up to the inflating and defalting and all the stress we put on them . it never peeled or blistered .being a tyre goses under simalar stresses ,it might work .its not cheap though around $100 a litre,but then again you won't need much to paint a tyre.

[REDAUXR6II]

An interesting development people, i have been playing about with some different things,
1.Clean the rubber extremely well with hot soapy water to remove all the dirt and grease\oil.
2.Use an oil based enamel paint
3.Use an Artist fixer it is in a spray can and people use it to protect art works.

After 2 days the writing is stil on and is only cracked a little bit.
I am going to try an oil paint stick tomorrow arvo.

Will post up pics when its done.

[Tickford GT]

LOL same here 1979 in the old HQ VAN IT HAD A SET OF T/A
the good old white chalk stick from the local parts shop

[superroo]

Random thought i just had, what about white silcon? don't know how'd it would look, but it would stand up to all the movement of the tyre. Just a thought though......

[eXi7w0unD]

the paint u might consider using has to be flexible. try a vynal/carpet spraypaint, i sprayed my sisters steelies pink, and some got on the tyre, being me i didnt cover the actually tyre so most the tyre got covered and its been 5 weeks the paint is still stuck on.

this paint i used on her interior rubbers and plastics, tested them by bending them, no crackle, splits or anything, this is the type of paint u need, it is a enamal based paint to, which helps.

try 1 wheel with a clear topcoat and 1 without. the topcoat dries a little hard so it might split, crack etc.

[StAndArdAU]

how about trying one of those white textas they use for writing on Steel at metal yards and places like that? or would it end up too dark?