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Bare wood or paint where wheel touches car?

Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2016 2:26 pm
by DaringRacer
I tried searching for this answer to no avail. In the photos area I've seen cars where the entire block of wood is painted. In the past few years of working with my son on his car, we've always taped where the wheel meets the block. Is is better to just paint it? I plan to coat with automotive clear-coat.

Bare wood or paint where wheel touches car?

Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2016 3:07 pm
by whodathunkit
HI DaringRacer.
I think a lot of it has to do with what lube type you'll be using.

For graphite lubes that area could be painted
Or the wood could be rubbed with graphite.

Oil type lubes is a different story.
Some will paint that area.
And then some like the pros like using
Slide glides or Teflon washers.

It all depends on what your race rules are.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Re: Bare wood or paint where wheel touches car?

Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2016 4:02 pm
by DaringRacer
We have to use graphite, can't bend the axels, no slide guides or washers, change any of the wheel at all - strict rules. They do allow however only 3 wheels touching.

Re: Bare wood or paint where wheel touches car?

Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2016 4:03 pm
by LightninBoy
If allowed use some type of slide guide made of teflon or delrin.

If that's not allowed, then coat the area with CA glue and after it dries sand it very very smooth.

Re: Bare wood or paint where wheel touches car?

Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2016 4:19 pm
by DaringRacer
I'll pick up some CA glue and do that, thanks! Any tips on putting it on without getting any in the axel slot?

Re: Bare wood or paint where wheel touches car?

Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2016 4:39 pm
by whodathunkit
Here's the thing you'll want the axle notch's or drill hole areas as smooth as you can get them with the bare wood or a paint
or with the CA glue .

You're using a graphite lube in the wheel bores so rub some on those areas where the wheel hubs touch the car body.

For the oil type lubes.. graphite in those areas will not mix so good with the oil off the axle and wheel bores..
Some packs may be letting the kids use the oil lubes because it's cleaner then graphite lubes
so that's why you might be seeing a lot of builders just painting the hole body now or days.

Re: Bare wood or paint where wheel touches car?

Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2016 5:34 pm
by Noskills
After paint and clear coat I use "Teflon Tuff" brand nail polish and coat a dime sized area around each axle hole. Like 5-6 coats. Light sand, then 2 coats of Turtle wax. Buff then burnish with graphite. But as others say, to each his own.
Noskills

Re: Bare wood or paint where wheel touches car?

Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2016 10:12 pm
by LightninBoy
DaringRacer wrote:I'll pick up some CA glue and do that, thanks! Any tips on putting it on without getting any in the axel slot?
Sure. I'd just put a junk axle in the slot then "paint" the glue around it. Use a small paint brush that you aren't afraid to toss (or soak in acetone later to remove the crusted CA from it). Thin CA or medium would work best.

Thin CA will dry in about 10 seconds then take some pliers and remove the junk axle. To break the glue on the axle, give it a twist first before pulling and then it should pull out easy.

Re: Bare wood or paint where wheel touches car?

Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2016 8:30 am
by race#67
I got a bottle of this as a participation gift at an indoor R/C flying event, and we have been using it on this years cars. Seems like a good application of it. It has a brush applicator built in.
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Re: Bare wood or paint where wheel touches car?

Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2016 5:21 am
by Speedster
I like graphite on the bare wood. Probably the only hub that will ever touch the wood will be your DFW. If you put a product on that area, is that area still flat and parallel to the car? Could any of the product come off during a race? I like to keep "Murphy's Law" hanging on my wall over the computer.

Re: Bare wood or paint where wheel touches car?

Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2016 6:34 am
by race#67
We have considered the flatness and parallelism of the body are to the wheel. Truthfully with the positive camber, the negative camber, and toe in are any of the body surfaces true and parallel?
We have been pondering making a sanding fixture that would allow me to sand that area of the body by making a false wheel out of soft wood that we could rotate by hand on the installed axle to true and then polish the area to be aligned with the axle.

Re: Bare wood or paint where wheel touches car?

Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2016 11:39 am
by whodathunkit
race#67 wrote:We have considered the flatness and parallelism of the body are to the wheel.
We have been pondering making a sanding fixture that would allow me to sand that area of the body by making a false wheel out of soft wood that we could rotate by hand on the installed axle to true and then polish the area to be aligned with the axle.
For your sanding fixture you could use an older style wheel with out the coned hub note you'll want cut away some the wheel
for holding on to the sand paper.
lay the sand paper with the grit side down place the hub side of wheel to the paper and poke and axle threw the paper.
fold the paper around the hub.. Install to the car body and smooth away.

Then some of you on here may note the tool for centering the new wheel wights.. works good for this as well.
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Re: Bare wood or paint where wheel touches car?

Posted: Mon Jan 11, 2016 3:18 pm
by birddog
I use the same method as NoSkills, but without the turtle wax step.

Re: Bare wood or paint where wheel touches car?

Posted: Tue Jan 12, 2016 4:04 pm
by Noskills
"I use the same method as NoSkills, but without the turtle wax step."

I like the turtle wax to help the car shine and around the hub I think it helps the graphite cling to that spot as I burnish it in.
Noskils

Re: Bare wood or paint where wheel touches car?

Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2017 7:36 am
by ciodude
Like Speedster, we keep the wood by the wheel bare and then make it shiny gray with graphite, rubbing it in.