HOW-TO: Painting Wheels



Materials list:

Paint of your choice (ceramic, high heat, caliper paint all work well because they are durable and hard)
Duplicolor wheel coating (clear)
Sandable Primer
Painting mask
Masking tape
plastic bags from Wal-mart or grocery store
1000 grit sandpaper
Scotch-brite pad or 500 grit sandpaper
Acetone or Alcohol
Clean shop rags or towels




First, The rims and center caps must be cleaned up. Get some purple power or some other strong household cleaner and clean the rims. The object of cleaning it with purple power is to strip the wax.







Wipe the rims and caps dry with a towel.

To start the sanding process, grab a scotch-brite pad or some 500 grit sandpaper to scuff up the finish on the rims. You do not have to sand to the bare metal.



Wetsand heavily with 1000 grit sandpaper. Use a water hose and set it at a slow trickle, run it over the surface and sand simultaneously.



When you finish wet sanding, the rims should look something like this:


The next step is to clean the sanding residue and all other contaminates from the surface.

I used acetone, but I don’t recommend it. Rubbing alcohol can be used. Wet the rag or shop towel with acetone or alcohol and rub down the area to be painted. Be careful not to rub the acetone on too long. Depending on how your rims are finished, it may damage.





Begin masking the surface you don’t want painted. Mask the holes or vent-style gaps in the wheel as well. Then wrap the tire in plastic and tape it down to the edge of the rim.
Be sure to use NEW masking tape, not a roll that’s been sitting in the barn since goodness knows when. It makes things a LOT easier.
Mask the center caps as well and set them a few feet away from the rim to minimize overspray.







Shake the can of primer for a minute or two and begin spraying. Coat them just enough to cover the previous color.
Allow to dry 45 minutes to an hour.


[URL=http://i

 

nice write up..but why did you sand the primer and base?

 

WAIT. Did you do this with your hose...which is connected to the municipal water supply pulling from the neuse river? Which is outdoor water use?!




ILLLLLLEGGALLLLL


Or are you using those rain barrels like Sir Easley said..haha...

But seriously, awesome write up, I wanna paint something!

 

I was following another how-to. I put two basecoats and it seemed to work a lot better to wetsand it before adding the second coat. Wheel #1 i just applied two coats without sanding and it didn't turn out quite as smooth. I figured it was better to go ahead and sand it just to make sure it was really smooth. This is the first real base/clear project I've ever done and not just watched.

edit*** Wolfpack,I have a well.

 

Is this going to be made a sticky or moved to the DIY section?

 

I hope so! It's pretty good I think. I've got no idea on any of this paint stuff...especially with the different materials.

Someone should definitely DIY this.

 

Very good write up and pictures. Thank you for a good resource. My only question would be regarding pulling the tape off while the clear coat is still wet. I recently painted the chrome strip on my side moulding, and when I pulled off the tape carefully while the clear coat was still wet, it pulled some of the paint off as well, so now I will have to touch it up. Interestingly the self etching primer stuck to the primer, and it was the paint that came off the primer, very wierd, I did not expect that at all. However I let the other side of the car dry over night, so about 8 hours and pulled it off in the morning, and it came out perfect.

 

I can't explain that... did you wetsand the primer?

 

Very nice! I'm thinking about sanding my rims and repainting them chrome. They're rusting and peeling and really make the wheels look ugly. Those are nice rims though. My factories are pretty ugly. They have the 12 holes. I think if GM put the 10 hole rims instead it would look more sporty.

 

actually, that IS why you pull the paint off while its wet. If you were to pull the tape off while the clear dries and is cured, you have more of a chance pulling the clear off that you put on the part. WHen the clear hardens it bonds together, and when you pull off the tape when its dry, it wants to pull off the other part its bonded to, which is the part you painted. i know it sounds confusing.

i dunno what happened in your case.