DIY wheel pant refinishing for less than $50

[JKunz]

I have two sets of wheel pants, which seems to work out perfectly since as soon as one set gets beat up I can swap them out.

I fly my airplane quite a bit, so spending the big $ to have wheel pants professionally done just doesn’t make sense for me.

I have always been pretty handy with a rattle can, but these turned out, in my opinion, exceptionally well.

Steps

1. Sand old paint with rotary palm sander 120grit

2. Sand again with 220 grit by hand to smooth everything out

2. Degrease pant with dawn dish soap, rinse and let dry.

3. Shoot 2 coats of primer. I used krylon MAX cover

4. Sand again using 220 grit, focusing on rough spots if any exist. The primer helps show these areas.

5. Degrease and rinse

6. Spray 3 light coats of kylon fusion for plastic, GLOSS white. This paint is way more white than Matterhorn, we will address this later.

7. Spray final coat. I used a gloss white tractor paint I found at rural king for $4.99. It’s a little closer to the Matterhorn color. It appears very durable This paint takes longer to cure, so be very careful to spray a heavy coat without any drips.

8. Let dry for 48 hours

9. Cut and apply decals as necessary to match your look.

I wish I would have taken photos of the process, but all in all it was easy!

Let me know what you think!

J

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[RickS]

 

[JKunz]

 

[philiplane]

 

[JKunz]

 

[philiplane]

 

[JKunz]

 

[Rbowen]

 

[Orest @ CYFD]

 

[djpfinancial]