Protective kit for use when applying a coating to a vehicle wheel

A protective kit for a vehicle wheel, the vehicle wheel including a wheel rim and having a tire mounted thereon, wherein the tire is pressurized, such that an outboard flange of the wheel rim and an outboard side of the tire are resiliently engaged with one another and are separable, the protective kit comprising:

• a wheel cover member that includes a cover sheet and an elastic member, the cover sheet has an outer edge and an inner edge, and has a through-opening passing therethrough that is defined by the inner edge, wherein the elastic member is connected to the cover sheet at the inner edge, the through-opening and the elastic member being sized to be openable to encircle the outboard flange of the wheel rim;
• and
• a plurality of driving cards, each of the plurality of cards having a selected rigidity and a selected thickness so as to be pushable against the wheel cover member in between the outboard side of the tire and the outboard flange of the wheel rim, so as to drive the wheel cover member radially inwardly between the outboard side of the tire and the outboard flange of the wheel rim, thereby separating at least a radially outer portion of the outboard flange of the wheel rim from the outboard side of the tire with the wheel cover member.