I would also advocate not polishing your wheels. if you do, you are inevitably going to have to put clear lacquer on to get any chance of a durable finish - which then means you could have just painted the wheel again in a much shorter time.
I assume when you are talking about using hammerite, we are talking rattle cans, and not painting it on with a brush. to paint on with a brush and get a good finish you will need to colour sand etc which takes time, effort, and finesse.
Yes, there is a difference between satin and gloss. gloss is really shiny(after lacquer, which it has been designed to be used with) like the paint on the tank, so its satin you want. Some people will tell you that you can use gloss, but dont laquer it which cuts down the shine. This is true, but again, you will affect durability. satin paint is generally the same price, so go for that.
if you just want a reasonably quick job, that will look OK (it will look good if your patient and willing to spend the time on it) you should first sand back the wheel using an intermediate grade sandpaper (at least ~400 grade, work up to at least ~800 for a better, smoother finish).
then put 2-3 thin coats of something like this (let dry thoroughly between coats, and a light sanding between coats with fine grade paper helps too):
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/store...yId_165625
then 2-3 coats of this (again, a quick light sand between coats, give plenty of time between drying - and try and spray somewhere out of wind etc if you can):
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/store...65505#tab2
put your last coat on extra thin, and dont sand afterwards, leave to dry and thats you done.
Having said ALL that. if you add up the costs above (~£20 for the materials you will need I reckon, including sandpapers if you dont have them), I have a place local to me that will powdercoat my wheel in a day for about £35-40, so its generally not worth all that effort if your not going to be really thorough and do good job, I would rather hand over the extra few quid and have someone put some really durable powdercoat on, then there is some comeback for you if the job happens to be substandard.
HTH
Mick
I assume when you are talking about using hammerite, we are talking rattle cans, and not painting it on with a brush. to paint on with a brush and get a good finish you will need to colour sand etc which takes time, effort, and finesse.
Yes, there is a difference between satin and gloss. gloss is really shiny(after lacquer, which it has been designed to be used with) like the paint on the tank, so its satin you want. Some people will tell you that you can use gloss, but dont laquer it which cuts down the shine. This is true, but again, you will affect durability. satin paint is generally the same price, so go for that.
if you just want a reasonably quick job, that will look OK (it will look good if your patient and willing to spend the time on it) you should first sand back the wheel using an intermediate grade sandpaper (at least ~400 grade, work up to at least ~800 for a better, smoother finish).
then put 2-3 thin coats of something like this (let dry thoroughly between coats, and a light sanding between coats with fine grade paper helps too):
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/store...yId_165625
then 2-3 coats of this (again, a quick light sand between coats, give plenty of time between drying - and try and spray somewhere out of wind etc if you can):
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/store...65505#tab2
put your last coat on extra thin, and dont sand afterwards, leave to dry and thats you done.
Having said ALL that. if you add up the costs above (~£20 for the materials you will need I reckon, including sandpapers if you dont have them), I have a place local to me that will powdercoat my wheel in a day for about £35-40, so its generally not worth all that effort if your not going to be really thorough and do good job, I would rather hand over the extra few quid and have someone put some really durable powdercoat on, then there is some comeback for you if the job happens to be substandard.
HTH
Mick