Question: I know the answer, but I have to ask . . .

[Elliott]

I'm curious. When you painted the wheels did you dismount the tires from the wheels? Just wondering if it would be easier not to have to work around the tires. It does create other challenges because my shop/garage is not set up for a project like this and would have to run them back and forth to a service garage for dismounting/remounting. Could only do them one at a time. May have to purchase a floor jack too. Dave

 

[White75]

I'm curious. When you painted the wheels did you dismount the tires from the wheels? Just wondering if it would be easier not to have to work around the tires. It does create other challenges because my shop/garage is not set up for a project like this and would have to run them back and forth to a service garage for dismounting/remounting. Could only do them one at a time. May have to purchase a floor jack too. Dave

I had dryrotted tires that were going to be tossed so I wasn't worried about overspray on them. Since you are only painting the insides versus the whole rim, there is no need to remove the tires. If you are worried about overspray on the tires, just use newspaper and tape (or if you really want to be cool, use cardboard with a 15" circle cut out that you can tape to the wheel and reuse it for each wheel)
I didn't get any overspray on the old tires anyways.

I would recommend getting a floorjack and at least 2 jack stands when working on any car versus the emergency jack that came with the car. It's a good investment if you do any work on your car. I got my setup at walmart for under 80 bucks. First of all, they are easier to use. Best of all, they are stronger than most emergency jacks and safer to use (my old Audi jack was notoriously unstable it was nicknamed "the Widowmaker" by many owners. NEVER leave a car up on just the jack (floor or emergency) without a support underneath (jack stand preferably or a wheel, and NEVER, EVER, EVER get underneath an unsupported car.

 

[Vette79]

I'd just take the wheels off and do it right. If the wheels have been polished and/or aren't clearcoated, use some regular paint stripper on the slots. Keep it off the black centers, tho, unless you want to refinish that, too.
Somebody in the past painted your slots as original 79 wheels would have raw aluminum finish in the slots.

Original 79 wheels have raw aluminum finish for slots? I thought the black was the original look. In any case, I re-finished mine as well and did them right the first time. It took a while but was well worth the effort.

 

[Vette79]

Don't crawl under it on my account. If they are Monroe's they may be stock replacements. I did get an email this morning that the car products were being shipped today. I won't have time to use any of the cleaners or to work on the wheels until this weekend, but I'm anxious to see the difference it will make. Thanks again for your help! Dave

KYB or Bilstein shocks work well also.