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Wheel Painting... just need some encouragement

9K views 19 replies 8 participants last post by  gunk007 
#1 ·
Ok, so I have researched rim painting and think I have a good grasp. Just looking for someone to tell me “yes” you are on the right path. Here is what I am going to do…
1. Wash and dry the rims
2. Scuff up the rims with sandpaper
3. Clean rims again
4. Apply an etching primer - dry (1/2 hour)
5. Apply paint – dry (1/2 hour)
6. Apply paint - dry (1/2 hour)
7. Apply clear – dry (1/2 hour)
8. Apply clear – dry for 2 days
9. Put on car

All paint and primer is going to be done with a rattle-can.
How does this look.
Am I over doing it at any point?
More/less primer or paint?
Also, do I need to paint the inside of my rims? The rims are aftermarket rotas. See pic. (guess not.. cant get it to upload:( pic soon hopefully)
Thanks is advance!
 
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#2 ·
Do it, the worst thing that could happen is that you have to paint them again.
Your on the right track but I let it cure for 15 minutes in between coats, I would do at least 3 coats of clear, 2 coats of color may be enough but i would do 3 there as well. I mounted mine back on the car after the last coat of clear cured for about an hour. just be careful putting the lug nuts back on.
I did mine with a rattle can and they turned out nearly perfect. I used Duplicolor wheel paint, it seems to cover really well.
I didn't paint the insides of the rims, but if you have large spaces in between the spokes of the wheel, then it probably wont be a bad idea.
http://www.wrxtuners.com/wrx_gallery/showimage.php?i=6460&catid=503
 
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#3 ·
I'm very seriously considering painting mine too. For those of you who have painted your wheels, how does the paint hold up during the winter? I'm concerned because this is the only set of wheels I have right now and it would drive me nuts if the paint started chipping/cracking... although, I suppose the paint only works well if you prep the surface properly before applying it.

Also, do you notice many chips/cracks from normal wear and road debris hitting them? It just sounds like it would take a solid day or so to do this job, so I'd prefer to only do it once if I can help it. And I'm pretty sure I'd want to paint the insides of my wheels too so that would probably add some time to the process - maybe another day.

Sorry, one more question: after you paint the wheels, if you have the tires removed and new tires put on, will that damage the edge of the painted surface? I'm not terribly familiar with the unmounting/mounting process - is there any contact with machine equipment on the painted surface?
 
#4 ·
The more clear you put on the better it will protect the paint underneath, i used 3 or 4 coats of clear and they hold up fine. I did mine a year and half ago and there are 2-3 chips in the paint.
I work at a tire and brake shop when i did mine and had no issues mounting the tires back on the wheels, but when i moved to pa and had my winter tires mounted on the retard that did it scratched the hell out of the lip. So it all depends on how good the tire installer is and if they are using a tire machine from this century. So needless to say I will be repainting mine again.

Oh yeah, one thing I forgot to mention is that before you spray your first coat of primer you will need to use an adhesion promoter to help the paint stick to the wheels.
 
#5 ·
What is an adhesion promoter? The primer I have is a self-etching primer. Does this work?
Isn't the purpose of the primer to give the paint something to stick to? Nagy - Do you mean we need an adhesion promoter for the primer to stick to?

Man Show - I live on the Minnesota/North Dakota border and I am lucky enough to have salt spread on the roads. :( I know some people up here with painted rims and they look fine even after going through a winter.
 
#10 ·
What is an adhesion promoter? The primer I have is a self-etching primer. Does this work?
Isn't the purpose of the primer to give the paint something to stick to? Nagy - Do you mean we need an adhesion promoter for the primer to stick to?
I used adhesion promoter Bulldog to make the primer stick to the aluminum, you just spray 2 lights coats on right before you start you first coat of primer. I suppose you could just use self-etching primer, but I have always used the promoter and it works really well.
 
#8 · (Edited)
I disagree with this statement, powdercoat can be damaged and it is much more difficult to fix since you can't* do it on your own. You scrape some paint off no big deal, paint it again.

I say paint them yourself, if you get a bad result you can always paint them again. If it turns out you just suck at painting you can always pay for professional painting or powdercoating later.
 
#12 ·
Now, when you guys casually say "I'll just repaint the wheels" after they become chipped/scratched/whatever... do you mean you'll sand everything off completely from all four wheels and then repeat the entire process:

scuff, adhesion promoter, primer, color, clear

...or just hit the damaged wheels quickly with a bit of color and clear?

I'd imagine over time even with several coats of color and clear, the paint will fade somewhat in the sun, so if you only repaint one wheel, the other one will look slightly different. But will you even notice that since they're not directly next to each other? I guess worst case, you could just repaint two wheels since you shouldn't rotate the wheels from side to side (only front to back on the same side) since most tires are directional. But then if you go through the trouble of painting two, you might as well do all four to make it fresh. Sounds like it could quickly become a headache...

I wonder how colored wheels come from the factory... are they painted or powdercoated or what? Because they seem to hold up pretty well for the most part.
 
#14 ·
I would think that if you HAD to repaint the rims you would have to repeat the whole process. I don’t think you would have to sand down to the rim… but repeat the process. I am guessing I will just do a lot of touch up over the years.
Plus mine are summer rims. (which is only about 5 months up here) :)
 
#15 ·
Rattle can wheels are a PITA to clean and keep clean. They are easy to touch up. Do not sand past like 800grit. It makes the paint harder to stick and easier to chip which I found out the hard way.

With that being said I wouldn't hesitate to do it again vs keeping them the factory color.
 
#18 ·
I just got done washing my car my wheels looks like they could use some love maybe some paint. Nagyhead how did you not paint the back of the wheel? Just taped off behinf the spokes?? It has also crossed my mind to strip my wheels and polish the crap out of em' *bling*
 
#19 ·
I didn't tape off the spokes, some over spray got on the inside of the wheel. You can't really see the inner part of the rim when its mounted on the car. I just made that suggestion for people that are painting aftermarket wheels that may have larger spacing between the spokes compared to the stock wheels.
 
#20 ·
Here is the update. I finshed painting the rims last night and they look great. One problem... nagy was right, should have painted the inside of the rim:( Now i have to tape the the inside of the rim and give it a few coats. I decided to apply three coats of everything (primer, paint, clear). If someone is interested in doing this I can writing up a tutorial (with pics), just let me know and I can get it to you.
PS - make sure your excitment does not get the best of you. I started 10 minutes to early and there was a little water on the rims. water on rims = paint peeling off.. I am an idiot. :)
 
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