1966 deluxe wheel cover color

[losendos]

Has anyone found a good (accurate) paint for the center section of the 1966 deluxe wheel covers? I'm referring to the medium-dark gray that is under the "spinners". It seems to be a flat or maybe satin finish. Thanks.

[Rt.146]

There is a Ford product paint called, Argent, Amazon has it, I used it, they look good, though if thinking concourse, maybe not. Argent is the same paint that was used on the grill of the 66 T-Bird.

[Alan H. Tast]

Not Argent. I seem to recall term "Charcoal Gray" but need to confirm Ford's color name and paint specification/M-#. Same color used on 1st-2nd Generation Mustang styled steel wheels and other trim. A search of Larry's Thunderbird & Mustang Parts (a supporter of VTCI and this Forum), Mustang parts suppliers such as National Parts Depot, CJ Pony Parts, Dallas Mustang and others should yield a spray can of it. Scott Drake/Accumatch Products has it in a rattle can, Styled Steel Gray # L-17540 - it's carried by most of the Mustang vendors, while Larry's Thunderbird & Mustang also has it as GT Wheel Paint, Charcoal, # A 1007C (formerly M 1007C). It should be a semi-gloss/satin finish, almost flat in terms of gloss level.

[Scott6T6]

Sorry, but Argent is definitely far too silver in color. That is not the correct paint.

Charcoal metallic or Charcoal Gray is what it's usually referred to as. I agree with Alan, it was the same paint used in the recesses of the Styled Steel Wheels on the first- & second-generation Mustangs. Yes, check with one of those sources Alan has mentioned, and you will find the paint.

My only complaint with the Charcoal metallic aerosols sold by these vendors is that I found it too glossy. I tried some of this paint many years ago (don't recall the brand it was or where I got it) and discovered it was too shiny once dry when compared to the original paint used on the wheel covers which had a very low sheen to it, nearly flat.

To get a more accurate match I removed one of the center risers (the painted die-cast piece under the 5-blade spinner) from a '66 deluxe wheel cover and sent it in to Finish Masters to custom mix some paint to match. I also advised them to use an adequate amount of flattening agent in the paint as the original finish had such a low sheen or gloss to it - which they could observe on the part I sent them. They provided me with several aerosol cans filled with their custom matched Charcoal metallic paint and I was quite pleased with the end result. The color match was really good, and it had a very low sheen to it that was quite close to the original paint. Just depends on how particular you are about achieving a highly accurate match to the factory paint used on those wheel covers.

I'm including this photo of one of my NOS wheel covers to illustrate just how flat the original Charcoal metallic paint really was. I think it's quite evident in this photo.

Scott <><

[Rt.146]

I did mention that the Argent may not be Concourse, such as it is, painting that area where the emblem sits on, does dress them up, I did not use the Argent on the other part of the hubcap, yours looks darker than mine, could it be a shadow? While we are at it how did Ford put the black accent on, I heard the some vendors sell stick on tabs, though I believe that would be the answer marginally if there is not a better way of doing it.

[Scott6T6]

Rt146, If I understand your question, the center area on my wheel cover in the photo is notably darker not due to any shadows, but because the Charcoal metallic paint that Ford used on them is considerably darker than Argent Silver. Ford did NOT use Argent paint on these wheel covers. As I mentioned above, the wheel cover in my photo is NOS, there is no re-painting on it. What you see is just as Ford produced it. Ford used the darker Charcoal paint as a backdrop behind the 5-blade chromed spinner assembly to make it stand out as well as visually adding interest. I personally think the '66 Thunderbird deluxe wheel covers are among the most striking compared to those used on any other year Thunderbird. Just a beautiful design IMO.

The semi-gloss black painted "accents" or vanes at the perimeter of the wheel cover were originally spray - painted on. In a production process such as this where probably hundreds of wheel covers per day needed to have those accents painted, a method for efficiently applying the paint onto the wheel covers was needed that produced good results and could be transferred from one wheel cover to the next. Ford devised a reuseable, rigid pre-formed mask or frisket that was designed to fit over the wheel covers that had (in this case) open rectangular slots in it which corresponded with those rectangular recesses stamped into the wheel cover itself. With the mask in place on the wheel cover the black paint could be sprayed on producing a smooth uniform finish. When the paint application was completed, the mask was lifted off and viola - the wheel cover had black painted accents/vanes. The process was repeated all day long on likely hundreds of new Thunderbird wheel covers.

Yes, somebody has produced precise, laser cut vinyl appliques in a low gloss black intended to be used on the wheel covers in place of the original satin black paint. If the factory black paint on your wheel covers is chipped or flaking off, one can simply apply these black vinyl pieces onto the wheel cover as opposed to masking off those areas and re-painting them. Using vinyl appliques would undoubtedly be much easier, but it's a convenient substitute for the factory black paint and upon close inspection it is fairly easy to see those perfectly straight, laser cut edges are obviously black vinyl inlays and not spray-painted on like the original method.

I have re-painted those black vanes/accents on at least 3 sets of wheel covers over the years. The masking process is slow and tedious, but the end result if done carefully is very rewarding. I strongly suggest one use a two-part satin-black URETHANE paint for this which will adhere much better to the stainless steel and is far more resistant to chipping or flaking than the original paint Ford used. Trust me, that is a project you only want to do once!

Scott <><

[Terry64HT]

I can second Scott's comment on masking the wheel disks. I did mine on my 64 some years ago and it was indeed tedious with the results less than I had hoped for. Since I have never strived for concours correct, at a later date I redid them using the black vinyl decals from John Draxler. If you don't get down on your knees and look closely, they are a good finish.
Since my car is a good 10 foot car, it worked for me. Two photos, one shows the masking job and the other is one done with the vinyl inlay.

Terry
64HT

[Scott6T6]

Hey Terry,

Masking those black painted accents on the '64 wheel covers is even more difficult than those 'vanes' found on the '65 & '66 parts. I can just imagine what a chore that was. I've blended in some small spots of chipping on those satin black painted areas on the '64 wheel covers in the past using an air brush and minimal masking, but I've never masked off the entire black painted areas as you did. Wow.

You know until now, I have never seen the black vinyl appliques on a '64 wheel cover. I must admit those look really good and the vinyl shouldn't chip or flake off like the factory satin black paint was somewhat prone to over time. Plus, the vinyl pieces are far easier to apply!

By the way, are you aware that recessed ring around the outer perimeter of the '64 wheel cover was painted Argent Silver? It looks to me in your photo like the original factory Argent paint is missing here. If true, you might want to consider adding this paint feature. Those rings are reasonably easy to mask off (I've done this on several sets of '64 wheel covers myself over the years) and this definitely adds an attractive low-gloss silver highlight to the wheel covers - as they were when new. Just a thought...

Thanks for chiming in on the black vinyl wheel cover appliques.

Scott <><

[Rt.146]

Scott6T6 the mask/frisket you wrote of is interesting, I wonder how hard it would be to duplicate one using a 3D printed?

[Scott6T6]

3D printing huh? Never occurred to me. Hmmmmmm. That's a technology that is foreign to this 'old school ' guy!

If somebody could design an accurate, 3-dimensional plastic mask for these wheel covers, it would be a real boone to those wanting to re-paint the painted features on them. Masking them off by hand is a time consuming, nit-picky undertaking. It would be fantastic if one could simply position a 3D mask (much like what Ford used to paint these wheel covers when new) onto the wheel cover, spray on the paint, lift the mask off and have beautifully painted accents that would look to all the world like factory painted ones. How great would that be?

I think it's a super idea Rt146! Anyone here think they're up to the task? Don't look at me!

Scott <><

[Terry64HT]

Scott, I feel badly about hijacking this thread. but I think we're done with vinyl and back to painting anyway.
The outer ring was done with silver argent paint, it just doesn't show well in that photo. You can see on the right hand side that the paint line did not turn out cleanly when I removed the masking tape. I had to sand down the paint, re-mask and repaint. The second time turned out well. That was the only disk with that problem and, of course, the one I happened to take a photo of.
As far as a mask/frisket idea goes, with the availability of computerized cutters for vinyls (think Micheal's Cricut cutting machine), it should be easy to do a strippable mask on suitable material. I just think that the effort to translate a 3-D form to a flat pattern for cutting is probably more work than masking with tape, but I don't have much experience in that stuff.
When I get home in April, I think I can borrow a machine (I'm sure she never uses it any more) and play with it.

Terry
64HT

[Scott6T6]

Hi Terry,

I don't think you highjacked this thread at all. We started out talking about '66 Deluxe wheel covers, but this is the '64 - '66 section of the forums, so I think discussing any aspect of the original wheel covers for all three years would be fair game! Those black vinyl appliques are certainly appropriate to this discussion as they've been available for many years and I'm betting quite a few members have used them or may be considering it. Perhaps somebody else will want to talk about the '65 wheel covers next. How about those '65 Special Landau wheel covers with the Emberglo painted perimeter vanes? Stunning!

Now that you said you did paint the outer ring on your wheel cover, I went back and looked more closely at the full size image and I do see the Argent paint now. Sorry. Glad to hear you achieved better results after going back and painting the ring a second time. Been there, done that. I also think those '64 deluxe wheel covers are really a nice looking design too. If I owned a '64, I would absolutely have a set of those optional wheel covers on the car. The one in my photo above is found on my friend's 23,000 actual mile, '64 Hardtop from California. All four of the deluxe wheel covers on her car are original and look nearly like NOS assemblies! Really impressive.

Scott <><

[Rt.146]

I myself do not know how 3D printing works, other than people turning out different products, instead of buying.