Thread: How to Properly Paint/Refinish your Rims

Hey every one this will be my second write up on here trying to do them all with pics so its easier to understand. Im going to show you how to properly paint/refinish your rims without having to take them some where to get powder coated.

Tools Needed
-HVLP Spray Gun with 1.3 to 1.6 Tip IMO
-Blue and Yellow Tack Cloths
-Exacto Knife/Razor blade
-1 1/2" Tape or 2" and 3/4" Tape
-Epoxy Primer and Catalyst
-Clear Coat and Catalyst
-Paint (of your choice) and Reducer
-White or Blue Masking Paper
-Paint Mixing Sticks
-PPS (Paint Prep System) or Paint Strainers
-Red Scuff Pad or Green and yellow (optional)
-Lacquer Thinner
-Sand Paper 220 Grit Wet or Dry IMO
-Wax and Grease Cleaner


Removing Tires Etc.- Fist thing you want to do is take your tire off of the rims and remove the valve steams, and wheel weights.




Cleaning-Then your next step is fully clean the rims, first use soap and water then depending on how dirty the wheel is you can use a RED or GREEN scuff pad with lacquer thinner and get the rest of the brake dust, dirt, and etc. off. If they look like this that should be good.






Sanding-Now moving on, sanding the rims is a very important process. I recommend using 220 wet if you are going to be priming you want your paint to adhere properly without seeing any sanding scratches. Make sure you properly feather edge your sanding out to avoid contour mapping and waviness. If you have any curb rash or anything like that you can use a DA sander with 80 grit and gently smooth out the area. Remember when sanding you don't need to sand all the old paint off all you are doing is trying to roughen up the area and get a uniform scratch pattern.




After sanding clean them with soap and water again to assure there is no sanding sludge left over on the wheel



Taping-Now it is time to start taping, first use your 1 1/2" tape and tape out the back of the rim. Next you want to use your 3/4" tape and tape out a straight even line around your rims, then use white or blue masking paper NOT GREEN! green is primer paper. tuck the access paper under the wheel this will help. Now it the difficult part you need to tape off the lug nut and mounting wholes so you don't mess up torque specs and to avoid flaking.




Now take your 1 1/2" tape and push it down into your lug holes as even as possible, then take your exacto knife and cut it out as i show here. Do the same with your valve steam hole also.




Now your rims are taped up and ready to go.

Preping-Bring them into the booth or painting area and set up a stand or stands and then wax and grease clean them. Then tack with a yellow tack cloth.



Ready?-Now its time to get your paint ready!



Epoxy-First start out with you epoxy primer im using Shop-Line JP375 with JH3770 Hardener now you want to reduce it at about 10% or 1/2 ratio to make it a sealer using DT870. Its a 2:1:1.5 ratio If you don't reduce it you will need to scuff it using a yellow scuff pad, failure to scuff will result in paint cracking once laid on. Im using the PPS system by PPG because it make the job easier your can spray at any angle and clean up is easier then the metal cup.
Set the booth to about 83 deg. F.Set air pressure to 45-50 PSI at the gun. Let primer flash for about 20-30 minutes before your color coat.





Dusting In Holes- Now turn your rims right side up and turn your fan in and dust in the lug holes and valve steam hole. After mixing your color.
My color is olympic frost while
Im using Shop-Line and my Reducer is JR506 its a 1:1 ratio




Base Coat-Now its time to do your base coat. Set air pressure to 45-55 PSI. Tack down with a blue tack cloth between each coat. Do 2-3 coats or until coverage. Let paint flash for 5-10 minutes between each coat. 30 minutes before clear coating.



Clearcoat-Now its time for your finial step! Clear coating!
Im using JC630 Clearcoat with JH630 Hardener Medium. Mixing ratio is 4:1. Set air pressure to 50-60 PSI.
Let flash for 5-10 minutes between coats. Do not tack between clearcoats!
Do 2 coats or clear. Once done set the booth on bake at 140 deg. F for 40 minutes.




Finished-This is how they should look once finished. and untapped.



Now mount and Balance your tires and install them and your ready to go!

Originally Posted by limegreen

Nice job!!

Thanks!

Nice write up.

thanks man!

Originally Posted by Jbruce308

Yeah man thats a sick writeup. Wish i had your expertise on painting haha. You seem to know what your talkin about dude.

thanks dude, you can do anything if you put your mind to it and read up on it and practice!

lol yea im only 17 been at it for a while been painting for like 4 years now

good job.. how much would you charge to do a set

Very nice man.
Thats doing it right.

Originally Posted by GTPSHAWTY

good job.. how much would you charge to do a set

thanks! i would do a set for who ever but the only problem is its not my shop so i probably couldn't take in other jobs you know
but if i ever start painting at my house i could do sets for who ever
plus shipping would probably be pretty costly and the paint it self is around 50 plus primer and clear

Originally Posted by Speedy1973

now, question

you sanded (scuffed the rims)

I've got O.E.M snowflake rims on mine, kinda beatup
would it be possible to have the rims sandblasted??

and i'm with the above posted lol, wanna do mine for me???

you can sand blast them if you have access to a sand blaster
after you sand blast them you will need to clean them with metal cleaner and then conditioner
and like i said to GTPSHAWTY the price for paint and shipping back and forth would probably not be worth it
plus its not my shop to take in work and make money off it you know

First of all rims look sick! Def nice work. Secondly, I had a couple questions....I picked up a set of T-stars from a guy on craigslist and they had a little green over-spray on them from some painting in his shop and the clear coat was pitting. My plan was to just wet sand with 2500 grit until the over-spray and pitting were gone- but I had to go too deep and made it through the clear coat. Now I'm thinking about just working them a little further and then polishing them before clear coating them again, kinda like you've done here but without base paint.

My questions are these: If I want that original shiny polished-aluminum (almost chrome-like) look should I still rough up the surface before clear coating? Secondly, what are your thoughts on using a rattle can for the clear coat? Open to any recommendations- just looking to refurb these rims myself

if you went through the clear while sanding you will want to sand down the rim with anywhere from 1000-1500grit wet IMO because you want the clear to stick (scuffing will work with a red scuff pad also) scuffing will help eliminate the risk of blowing through base coat.
if you are going to clearcoat them don't polish them because you want to eliminate as much contaminate off the rim as possible the clear will make them shine don't worry!
also my thoughts on painting with a rattle can for clear on rims.. its okay for some things i would recommend it however if you use ones they sell for rims that might work a lil better its defiantly worth a shot you will save money doing them yourself! but the clear i recommend if your doing it with a rattle can is jam clear/edging clear it is automotive clearcoat in a can and it can be found at a automotive/collision supplier.
if you need more help or other questions let me know
and thanks for the compliment

Awesome, thank! Good to know about the polishing too....for now the plan is to finish sanding down the rest of the clear and re-clear them. I take it that applying clear coat can be done in the same way with 2-3 coats and 5-10 minutes flash between them?

mostly yes depends on tempature, if you in about an 80 deg. area yes 5-10 mins
if your in like a 60 deg area id say maybe 15-20 mins
try and paint on a day as warm as possible with not alot of humitity you dont want moisture in the air if your not in a booth
80 is about the right temp to paint in

Yea, I'm in MI and it's been rainy so I'm prolly going to paint sometime near the end of next week after I finish prepping them.

im in PA and its been raining alot here too lol