The OEM finish is a tough, baked-on paint that
acts like powdercoat, but it can still be damaged,
as can the soft aluminum it’s covering.
othing makes your tuxedo look bad like ratty
shoes. The same goes for your Mustang’s
wheels. After a lot of year and miles, they can’t help but
accumulate their fair share of trauma. Stone chips, debris,
sand, mystery chemicals, and of course, the neighborhood
dogs that use your wheels as their social media site.
The 16x7-inch five-spoke cast-aluminum wheels,
standard on ’91-’93 Mustang GTs and 5.0 LXs, are painted,
unlike the 10-hole and earlier turbine wheels. Restoring
them to their like-new appearance isn’t difficult, but it does
take time and a bit of painting technique. The time, as in
most every other job involving painting, is in the prep,
fixing pry marks, wheel-weight scars, curb damage, etc.
Peter Geisler of Orlando Mustang did the heavy lifting
on this job, and tells us that unless you’re doing the job
yourself, you’re almost always money ahead to just replace
the wheels. Restoration soaks up lots of chargeable shop
time, and you still have to replace the wheel centers which
are around $50 apiece. Late Model Restoration has new
wheels and center cap for $139.99 with free shipping. You
see what we mean. The only thing is that you’re giving up
your wheels’ original date codes forever. You decide what’s
best for you.
If you go the DIY route, you’ll save a few hundred
dollars. The biggest catch is that you’ll have to work
around the replacement center caps. The wheels will have
to be painted to match the new, reproduction centers. Any
difference in color tone between the cap and wheel will
stand out like a sore thumb.
The color is Ford Silver Argent, commonly available in
spray cans from restoration suppliers and auto parts stores
for around $10 per can, or as special mixed paint for the
more advanced among us.
Peter walks us through the steps for doing it yourself.