Painting Stock rims

[_95GST_]

I want to paint my stock rims and I was wounding if anybody had any pics of there stock rims painted, and whats the best paint to use. Thanks

 

[DSMcrazy3]

Dont listen to this guy he obvioously doesent know what he is talking about. It took me a couple weeeks of a ciouple hours a day to get my wheels done properly. If you are going to paint them do it right and strip them, sand to bare metal, prime properly, etc etc.

That isn't a fair argument. He said if they're pitted or cracked already they will need extra detailing, but if the original finish is ok, it's easy to just scuff the surface and paint.

As for the time it took you, that's abnormally long. You said you worked a couple hours a day, not many people want to do that, so as it took you a couple of weeks to do the job right, it can take someone under a day to do the same job, the same quality. They did turn out nice though.

 

[luvmygst]

IT took me about 4 hours a wheel to do mine. I used engine paint. It has a good gloss and I havent any problems peeling or chipping. I polished the outside of each spoke too, that took the most time.

 

[spatulahunter1]

That isn't a fair argument. He said if they're pitted or cracked already they will need extra detailing, but if the original finish is ok, it's easy to just scuff the surface and paint.

As for the time it took you, that's abnormally long. You said you worked a couple hours a day, not many people want to do that, so as it took you a couple of weeks to do the job right, it can take someone under a day to do the same job, the same quality. They did turn out nice though.

thank you. I wasnt trying to pick an arguement with anyone i was just trying to add my own personal experience.
As far as me calling Islander the slowest worker ever and insinuating that his wheels werent that great, Im sorry. That was rude of me, your wheels actually look pretty sweet. I was just offended by you telling me i didnt know what i was talking about when i am actually fairly experienced with making spray paint look nice on vehicles. I have spraypainted alot of stuff at the hot rod shop where i work including some smaller parts on the a 32 ford that won best of show from ford at sema. So im really not trying to get on here and spread misinformation. Im trying to share information that was taught to me by an excellent bodyman and painter my boss, Dan Webb (winner of the 1990 riddler award).

 

[president95]

luvmygst, your wheels are very very creative and attractive! NICE. I'd love to see a right up on how you accomplished that.

 

[_95GST_]

IT took me about 4 hours a wheel to do mine. I used engine paint. It has a good gloss and I havent any problems peeling or chipping. I polished the outside of each spoke too, that took the most time.

I just finshed mine I stared last night and finshed at 9pm today, I sand mine all down also, and I used Engine paint to, They look really clean. I post pics tomorrow.

 

[IslanderTsi]

The reason I took so long is becaue my car was away for the winter so I had no real reaon to rush the job. I refinished the lip as well which took several hours of sanding as well per wheel.

The reason I said not to listen to you was that I dont believe painting over a wheels paint to be a good idea. Its a very high wear item and you get back the work you put into it. Just painting over old paint on a wheel would make it more prone to chipping and flaking off in the future IMO.

Sorry if I came out to harsh

 

[Coder24]

Would sandblasting the rim hurt anything? The tire is still on and i would just put a piece of cardboard over them as i do it. Also since i am going to have to have the wheels on the car while they are sandblasted should i put a clearcoat over the metal so that is it doesnt rust?

 

[IslanderTsi]

Do not sandblast the wheels while they are on the car. Unless you want to be getting a new paint job in the near future. Also you will want to take the tires off to do it or they will not survive.

If you have to leave them unpainted for a while then just prime them with a zinc based primer that will bond to aluminium. But if you have time to clear or prime them then you have time to paint them. All the time spent goes into prepping the wheels for paint. the actual painting might take a couple hours tops.

 

[_95GST_]

This is the only one I could get to work,Ill try to get more up. What do you think?

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[_95GST_]

I could not get any more pics to work, But what do you guys think? Sorry the pic is so small.

 

[Coder24]

I wasn't planning on sandblasting them while they are on the car. I was gonna take the rim off the car while the side is jacked up and then going and sandblasting them back to the metal. Prime them then put them back on the car till they dry. Even with something over the tire it would hurt it? What would be my best bet to strip my paint off? They have been painted black once but it wasn't very good at all and they are chipping.

 

[IslanderTsi]

Buy a product called tal-strip like it says to in the walk throughs and just sand by hand after they are stripped. Any aluminum safe aircraft paint stripper will do

 

[luvmygst]

luvmygst, your wheels are very very creative and attractive! NICE. I'd love to see a right up on how you accomplished that.

I did all the cleaning and stuff first. Then I took sandpaper starting with 120 grit and working my way up to 400 grit. Then I took a buffer and some mothers polish and polished the sanded parts. Then I taped off the outside lip and painted the whole rim. While the paint was still wet I took a rag with paint thinner and wiped the parts I wanted polished clean. Let them dry and went back and hand polished the spokes and middle again. THat is why it took so long, but I was REALLY happy with the results. No one believes that they are stock wheels.(they did come off of a 3g car though) I love the look and I have less than 50 bucks in them.