Got a 97 GS-T and was wondering how it would look if I got the wheels painted black w/ maybe a polished lip. Dunno. What do you guys think? Has anyone ever done this before? How much would it approx. cost to paint my wheels and what's the process? Just wondering if you guys did it yourselves or took it to professionals or something. Thanks.

look in the gallery for pics. i know people have done it before. most people just took the easier/smarter approach to this and painted it themselves. the only cost is the materials and that isnt too much

My dad and I did this with his stock miata wheels. They are normally a dull slver color but after using aircraft remover to strip off the paint, we found the machined rim to have a nice polished look. After cleaning them up we taped off the rim(to keep the polished look) then used light coats of duplicolor black spray paint. It really has a much more agressive look and is holding up very well for the street. These were origionally going to be our auto-X set of wheels and tires(azenis) but they look too good so we have been running them on the street. Many people have asked if they are powdercoated, which would be nice, but painting them is a nice DIY project.

I painted mine last weekend, and i think they turned out great.

Duplicolor sells a paint made specifically for painting wheels. The paint has a metal flake sparkle that's rather impressive up close.

Cleaned 'em, used some goof off on 'em, taped off the tires, 2 coats of paint and a clear gloss on top.

The direct sunlight in the pics in my gallery doesn’t do them justice, but it's much better than stock and at 4 bucks a can for 3 can, it was real cost effective for a college student's wallet (hope to have replacement pics soon)