Thread: Rim painting???

lots of ppl paint theres,
i plan on painting mine soon so...sub'ed

easier said that done if you want it to turn out well. prep is the key.

I've painted wheels before.

Got sick of it. Paint will chip. Even with 2 coats of clear. I can't imagine how hard it would be to prep crosslaces. Good luck!

Originally Posted by boosting98

I've painted wheels before.

Got sick of it. Paint will chip. Even with 2 coats of clear. I can't imagine how hard it would be to prep crosslaces. Good luck!

x2

I painted my IROC rims I had on my s10. Although I drove that truck 100 miles a day for school. Painted rims didnt last long. I think I must have painted them like 3-4 times. Sorta of had to do with me wanting to change the look too. hahha

Plasti dip them?

Painting rims 101 with Machinegunsquid.....(since this is like the 152 time doing so)

PREP IS KEY.

-Use a degreaser/cleaner. Simple Green works great...Scrub the hell out of the rims.
-Use 400-600grit sandpaper on ever surface you plan on painting. WETsand, do-not dry sand.
-Rinse the rims off again, making sure they are spotless. Wait for them to dry and see if you missed any spots with the sand-paper.
-Mask off anything you DO NOT want painted. and Always mask the whole tire off if your tires are still on.
-Mark where any wheel balance weights are on the tire, and remove them.
-Use a decent primer. Self etching is awesome, but not required. Do 2-3 light coats, until everything is a solid color.
-If for any reason the primer coat is rough, wetsand with 600grit and rinse.
-Do 1 very light "tack" coat of your color. There will be barely any color, its simply to help the next coats adhere better.
-Do another light coat, but try to cover a little more this time (slightly heavier coat)
-Do a medium coat. The rims should be almost a solid color by now.
-Do a 2nd medium 'wet' coat. The rims will be the solid color, and when it dries, it should look like it's wet.
-Do a light "tack" coat of Clear coat
-Do a medium coat.
-Do a medium, wet coat....Wet coat is key here, to get that nice gloss.

Let dry for 12+hours, or until fully cured, and have fun.

so by wet coat you mean the previous coat of paint is still wet to the touch right?

Nope, you dont move the spray quite as quickly, once you are done with a 'wet' coat, it should look wet.

So it goes on thicker than a medium, but not thick enough it runs

Originally Posted by gpgt04

so by wet coat you mean the previous coat of paint is still wet to the touch right?

Meaning the first coat will be "spotted", the second coat will be enough to have a weird dull haze (because its thin and spread out), the "wet coat" is where you paint it thick enough it has a good thick wet look to it. Give time for each layer to dry and become good and sticky... not cured... just dry and sticky then move to the next layer and wait.

On the wet coat, you want thick enough that it looks wet but not so thick it runs... that is bad and will result in more wet sanding to fix

Thanks guys

i painted the rims on my focus without even cleaning them first...RICE....but they did hold up pretty well just have a few chip spots after a year of driving on them.