Painting Steel Bongo Wheels?

[Bongo Brain]

Hi everyone,

Sorry if this has been asked before - but I couldn't see it on here anywhere...
My Bongo has the standard Mazda steel wheels - and they're rather filthy looking. I tried some special wheel cleaner spray, and a lot of elbow grease, but it didn't work well at all.

Now I know you can get alloy wheel paint, but is there a special paint for steel wheels, that anyone else on here has used?
I don't really want the expense of buying refurbished or new wheels, I'm looking to see whether I can tidy up the ones I have
Years back, on my first ever car, I re-painted the alloy wheels on that, and it ended up looking pretty good

Cheers all

[jimmo62]

I used Hammerite Smooth spray after wire brushing and it's been on for 5 years now.

[Bongo Brain]

I used Hammerite Smooth spray after wire brushing and it's been on for 5 years now.

Cheers for that Jimmo62. Was it a Hammerite specifically made for painting steel, do you know?
I've seen a few brands of wheel paint out there, but they don't always state whether they're for Alloy or steel...
Come to that - does it actually matter?

The brake dust is so heavily ingrained onto the surface of my wheels, I just can't shift it

[mikeonb4c]

I used Hammerite Smooth spray after wire brushing and it's been on for 5 years now.

Agree about Hammerite Smooth. And if you stipple it on with a piece of sponge it gives an interesting even effect (the sponge from an old kitchen scourer would do). And then I'd treat them to some nice wheel trims, so the paintwork is not the main feature. Need to consider in that case what contrast you want between paint colour and wheel trim colour.

[jimmo62]

I used this one - https://www.hammerite.co.uk/product/dir ... th-finish/

[Bongo Brain]

I used this one - https://www.hammerite.co.uk/product/dir ... th-finish/

Thanks for your replies and thoughts folks
I hadn't really thought about trims yet - that's something I will consider
jimmo62 - thanks for posting that link - that's the sort of option I was hoping for
I like the thought of a paint that will also act as a primer
Here's hoping it will cover the ground-in years & years worth of brake dust and general muck

Cheers all

[mikeonb4c]

I used this one - https://www.hammerite.co.uk/product/dir ... th-finish/

Thanks for your replies and thoughts folks
I hadn't really thought about trims yet - that's something I will consider
jimmo62 - thanks for posting that link - that's the sort of option I was hoping for
I like the thought of a paint that will also act as a primer
Here's hoping it will cover the ground-in years & years worth of brake dust and general muck

Cheers all

Good preparation is what pays dividends obviously but hammerite covers v well and needs no undercoat/primer etc - i use it all the time on mine

[Bongo Brain]

Update. Despite the damp weather, I managed to get my wheels done this weekend.
A good wire-brushing before painting did remove quite a bit more of the ground-in brake dust and general muck
But there was still quite a bit left on the surface, that even the wire brush, and several applications of wheel cleaner couldn't shift

No problems for the Hammerite though - it covered everything nicely. I ended up doing two coats, which I spread as thinly as I could.
Re the central Wheel hubs - I painted those with some White Hammerite I had left over from painting some railings. Not a complete contrast of colour / tone - but I think I prefer it to all over silver.

Thanks again for your replies & help here folks. I probably would have used something like Hammerite anyway - but wasn't aware of the newer version of the paint, and that you can now apply it straight over rust (not that there was any rust on the wheels)

Thanks again fellow Bongo people

[mikeonb4c]

Glad you got it sorted ok