A couple of years ago I bought a set of MXT tires on Vanagon rims from a
listmember who was upgrading to 15 inch wheels/tires.  The wheels had
been cleaned, prepped, and painted silver using "Rustoleum Professional
High Performance Enamel."

No they do not look perfect, but they looked good enough to me when used
in the Winter without hubcaps on my former 87 Syncro.  They now reside on
my 84 Westy and I think that they look better through the stock
wheelcovers painted silver than the other wheels I have which are dirty
black.

I have a couple of extra MXT's mounted on black colored rims that I would
like to rotate in with a six tire rotation (thanks Joel!) and would like
to paint them silver to match those on the van.  Could I do this with the
tires in place, adequately masking the tires so I'm painting only the
wheels?  Alternately, can I deflate the tires, allowing a better masking
job, mark position of tire relative to rim, and reinflate after painting
successfully without
messing up the wheel balance?

Thanks,

Tony

Anthony L. Mourkas
Hampden, Maine, USA
1984   Vanagon Westfalia    "Gertrude"
1986.5 Quantum Syncro Wagon "Wolfgang"
1991   Jetta Eco Diesel     "Liesel"