Painting Wheels

Discussion in 'Modifications & DIY how-to' started by Superdude, Dec 5, 2005.

  1. Superdude

    Superdude Active Member

    i want to spray paint a set of wheels. pEd (i think it was pEd) you inspired me at the last mnt. run. any tips? i'll say that i'm not planning on removing tires. any special kind of paint? i kind of want to do it for the shoot this weekend.
     
  2. jt money

    jt money 350hp mmm mmm Good! Supporting Member

    youcan buy rim paint at any auto parts store. all you have to do is clean really good and apply. ive also heard of plenty of people using acrilic *sp spraypaint from walmart. and not having problems with chipping ect... either way its a pretty simple procedure. only thing you have to think about right now is its damn cold out and it willl take a while for the paint to dry so multi coats will take awhile. as far as leaving the tires on, either get a big piece of card board and cut a hole the size of the rime in it, or use a small piece of card board with a cresent moon the sze of the rim cut on longer edge. and move it around the rim as you spray so you dont overspray. i hope this helps. i wanted to do this before i sold my ride so i looked into it pretty heavily. good luck!
     
  3. 1ll-WRX

    1ll-WRX Active Member

    maybe PM "M-Chan"...she painted her's pink!!! i hope she's gonna rock them for the photo shoot....
     
  4. Superdude

    Superdude Active Member

    yeah, i read the thread. no pink for me!
    i bought a set of stockers this weekend with a set of autocross tires. i'm just going for flat black. it'll match the brake dust.
    the large piece of cardboard is a great idea. i was think i was going to have to tape the tires off.
     
  5. Alex

    Alex Community Founder Staff Member

    I painted a set of wheels (on car) a few months ago. I just took my time taping everything off and using newspaper. I even left a lip. I was using rustoleum spray paint (what I had laying around). I dont think it was high temp enough though, naturally, the paint faded somewhat after heating the wheels up. With any painting project, take your time and do it right the first time.
     
  6. Superdude

    Superdude Active Member

    do you think i need to sand the wheels first? or just go at it with the flat black spray paint?
     
  7. pEd

    pEd This ain't no Piccadilly!

    I've always used Krylon. Works great. Get about 3-4 cans of it.
    Technically, you'd be better off to sand them as it'd give them paint more to hold on to. I didn't waste my time with that and haven't had any problems.

    Here's what I did.
    Wash the wheels (duh...) Make sure there's no brake dust, tar, anything.
    Make sure to get all the soap off as well. If you don't the paint will bubble up.
    Let it dry.
    Tape it off (or use cardboard, though I found it easier to use masking tape)
    Paint the wheels with small paint bursts and many layers. If you spray for too long, it'll run.
    Nice thing is, if you mess up, you can scratch it off and re-spray it. :) Let me know if I can help out at all.
     
  8. Meredith

    Meredith Banned

    I sanded my wheels first to get the clear coat off. You'll get better adhesion that way. I had my tires taken off too. I'll be rocking them at the group pic too :)
     
  9. Superdude

    Superdude Active Member

    Sweet! we'll have to make sure we can see them in the photo. :cool:
    i'm going to start tonight.
     
  10. moose

    moose Infina Mooooooose!

    I did some lookin' into this a while ago. If I were to do it, I'd go with the Duplicolor Wheel Paint and clearcoat, making sure to prep the surface nicely first (sand it to promote adherence) and putting down many thin coats of both paint and clearcoat.
     
  11. Alex

    Alex Community Founder Staff Member

    what color do you plan on paiting your wheels super ?
     
  12. BrianGT

    BrianGT Banned

  13. Trey

    Trey Active Member

    What's better than cardboard or masking tape is using note cards and wedging them between the tire and wheel. Go all around the wheel with each card overlapping the previous card. Spray then remove the cards. Works great and is simple to do.
     
  14. Alex

    Alex Community Founder Staff Member

    Great idea trey, never thought of that.
     
  15. Superdude

    Superdude Active Member

    i'm going flat black. i'm really only going to do auto-x's and mnt. runs with them, so flat black to hide the brake dust. i just bought 2 cans (probably need a 3rd) at lunch. Duplicolor, $5.99 a can at pepboys on pleasant hill and PIB. i did read something about the card trick. is that all you use? i guess the cards and maybe some newspaper laying on the tires, too.
     
  16. Trey

    Trey Active Member

    Get high temp paint (BBQ-black or engine block paint) and the wheels will look great for a long time.
     
  17. pEd

    pEd This ain't no Piccadilly!

    Great idea about the index cards.
    I'll have to remember that one.
     

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