So I just ordered 2 cans of Grimm Speed gold from www.grimmspeed.com to paint my silver BBS wheels. I am looking to get suggestions and advice on how I should paint them IE Prep, painting, clear coating. I know it is best to do this without a tire but I really don't want to spend the money having the tires dismounted since I just had them mounted...yeah I know...why didn't I paint them prior to having them mounted. Thanks in advance for the suggestions!
if you cake the tire in tire shine then you dont have to tape it off, lol. you can just spray paint to your hearts desire and wipe off the overspray. but seriously. you need to sand all the pits, chips, etc out of all the wheels, clean them exceptionally well, tape them off, spray at LEAST 3coats of color on each wheel, then at LEAST 2 coats of clear. i think the last time i did my honda wheels black, i did 5 coats of black and 3 coats of clear. those things are still shiny.
I like to deflate the tires then just jamb business cards between the wheel and tire all the way around to protect the tire. Playing Cards from the Dollar store work well too. Wash the wheel really well with a toothbrush and simple green. Use a red scotch brite pad and scuff the whole wheel. Wipe down with Wax and grease remover. Spray. Be patient. Don't try to cover all in one coat!
i used steel wool and a fine grit sandpaper to rough up the clear coat on the wheels. then cleaned it up with windex. i took index cards i had laying around and just shoved them between the tire and wheel. i bought some flat black paint from pep boys or someplace and just went to town. i sprayed 2 cans on 4 wheels. that's probably about 2-3 coats. they look good, it's a flat paint but that's what i wanted. i painted them like 3 years ago i guess and they are now just starting to chip away (great Jane's Addiction song BTW) cheap and easy...
I used some primer on the last set of wheels I did because i sanded them down to bare metal in a few spots. If you aren't down to bare metal, it is a waste of time to use primer on your wheels.
A self etching primer is recommended. It actually adheres to the wheel and helps the paint last longer.
come to think of it i think i used a flat black primer first, like 2 coats. then the 5 coats of color and 3 coats of clear...
Wirelessly posted (From Your Mom's House) I would suggest ordering a few more cans. Before you spray, put the cans in a bucket of warm water for 15 minutes. This will cause the paint to spary out in a finer mist and overall will look better.
its all about prep... i have done my share of wheels for friends, 13 different colors on a buddies car alone, if you take your time and do the prep and wash, sand, primer, paint, and clear then it will come out good... make sure your coats dry good before moving on otherwise when you get the paint thick it will just be a mess and take forever to dry...i have also found the if you paint the wheels standing up it comes out better than if they are laying down, i normally just did the last coat standing up.. best part is if you mess up... sand and restart...
So I sanded the first wheel last night and realized this is going to take much longer than I thought. No worries though I am patient and want them to come out nice. I am not going to remove the tires but will need to have them rebalanced. I was not planning on using primer or ordering another couple of cans of paint but may just take the advice from wagunz now that it will be a bit before I painting them. I will start a new Diy thread with my progress. Thanks again for all the advice and suggestions!
There is this sticky cloth at pep boys that i recommend to rub all over the wheels after you sand them down. This picks up all of the dust and also leaves a sticky base on the wheel to adhere the paint. I have a friend that can remove/ mount/ an rebalance tires for you to, just give me a call.
No but that sounds like a great idea...I may be getting a nice dremel set for Xmas but wold like to have these done and rolling by then
Hey guys, wanted to resurrect this thread since I have a question about painting wheels and I've already learned a lot from reading this. I am also going to retouch my wheels where there have been some scratches and one with curb damamge. I saw a couple DIY's online on how to use Bondo. My question is once I've used the Bondo what is the best route to preping? Should I use some cleaner like greenstuff to clean off the dust? Should I use the self-adhering primer? Just checking if anything is different when Bondo is used? Thanks!
face, come out to my house and we'll paint them, just painted mine again, doesn't take that long... it's all in the prep work...
This is something that I'm planning on doing in the not-too-distant future. How much time do you think I need to set aside to get it all done, and done right? And if it's a long time, anyone got some wheels they wanna let me borrow for a couple days?
Yeah I sanded mine by hand...it was a beeach. After sanding them I hit it with a scoch (spelling) bright pad then cleaned them with a micro fiber cloth and some purple power. Make sure you let then dry well before you spray with paint. I let them set for about 20 min between coats. I would suggest atleast 5 coats of color and atleast 5 coats of clear. At Autozone I saw clear coat specially for wheels but they only had one can. I used 4 cans of Grimm speed gold and 3 cans of clear I would suggest having 4-5 cans of color and 4 cans of clear and set aside a few days to do this...like mike said it's all in the prep!
Face, Integroid and all...do you know the prep needed if I'm going to recondition a couple wheels and fix them up with Bondo? I heard I have to be careful not to use certain chemicals to clean the wheels after using Bondo since it'll weaken or take it off. Thanks!
you want to use laquer thinner, pour it on a lint free rag and just a gentle wipe just remember to flip the rag. if using rattle can, fill your sink with hot water and place the cans in and weigh the tops down. Preheating the paint will help it lay even. On the first coat just shoot it real light and don't worry about trying to get any color on the rim. Let the first coat dry till tacky (3 to 5 minutes) then shoot real light multiple coats building up the color. You want to take the time shooting multiple coats as a rattle can is a high pressure-low volume so you run the chance of creating runs and marbling the metallic trying to get color on the wheel. I put my wheel on a bar stool so I can stay in one place and spin the wheel. try to shoot the little detail and hard to reach areas first then hit the face of the rim last on each coat.