Painting Factory Rims

[wishywashy]

With winter coming up and having to take my rims off because of the salt and replace them with my factory ones, I was still wanting to have that custom feel while in the winter. My rims now are black and chrome on my car and I was wanting to paint my factory ones black and leave my center cap with the H logo the regular silver painted finish. What would be the best way to go about painting rims? I've never done anything like this before and I want to have some good knowledge before I go crazy on the painting.

[mc2hill]

I plan to do this to mine in the next month, so I have been doing some research. There is lots of information on the web about doing this. Not sure what type car you have (a Honda?), but you may want to try a forum for it, as others have probably done this for the same wheels.

 

Parts list:

• abrasive pad (green ScotchBrite)
  
• 600 or 800 grit sandpaper (for wet sanding)
  
• green painters tape for the emblem
  
• masking paper to cover tires
  
• etching primer
  
• paint - special wheel paint is available
  
• clearcoat spray
  

 

Abridged version:

• clean wheels
  
• tape off tires and emblems
  
• use abrasive pad to 'key' the surface
  
• spray with primer
  
• wet sand primer, if needed
  
• apply coat of paint
  
• wet sand paint
  
• apply 2nd coat of paint
  
• appy clear
  

[Chris@Adams]

What Michael said! Good luck!

I might add prep is key, make sure your wheels are clean free of any wax or grease. And remember when painting spray light even coats.

[Marylander]

I'd be interested in following your work... I've often toyed with the idea of getting a set of secondhand vw rims and painting them for my dd. If you do try it, please post pics and let us know how it goes.

[Bluezey]

I did this last year on a set of wheels that I got to mount track tires on, so I didn't have to deal with the tires!

 

I sanded them with a 600 grit wet and dry sandpaper, since they were new wheels I skipped the primer:xfingers:

 

Since I didn't get enough base coat I painted the inner barrels black and the front EB, paint the inside first, then taped off the underside and spayed the fronts with blue and clear, I think that they came out pretty good for a rattle can job, but I still haven't even had them on the car let alone the track, so I really don't know how the paint job is going to hold up:willy:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shine On

Bluezey:pc:

[Odds and Ends]

Rich...I've done quite a few sets of Porsche wheels and use the factory finish that Porsche, VW, Audi, Mercedes uses. I've always done multipl coats of base and then multiple coats of the hardest clear available. My paint supplier actually has three types of clear. The wheels come out quite nice and the secret is indeed in the prep! If you find a set cheap that may need some work, let me know!

 

A bit of advice/precaution for others who want to paint wheels...you should never paint the area where the lug nuts mate with the surface. You should also not paint the area on the back side where the wheel mates with the hub.

 

- Darryl