Opinions or advice....

[J_Mob]

On what paint (type/brand) I should use to paint my rims. Want black rims, but have decided I do not need to spend too much on my car right now so figured I'd sand down the stock ones and repaint.

My compressor is broken (and I don't have a gun anyways), so I will be working out of spray cans. I've got the stock 15" aluminums that came on 2000 ZX2's. Anybody got input on what types of spraypaint are going to turn out the best.

I know there are a bizillion different types of spraypaints and I don't really use spraypaints with the exception of Cat yellow and it's cousins......

[chasingsafety]

duplicolor makes a wheel paint, and wheel primer, I would suggest using that if you want something that is going last at least a few seasons

[MellowedZX2]

Yeah I think this might work out best too, I have been wanting to do this with the bronze color on my EGT 7 spokes.

Joel

[J_Mob]

Cool I'll check it out. I definitely want it to last and not look tacky or I'll be wasting my time......(I've seen Krylon spraypainted rims before-NOT pretty).

Thanks for the suggestions. I wouldn't have known what to look for other than spraypaint which kept turning up krylon and shite.

[potatoman]

i wanna do this too to my stock 14" 5 spokes.
duplicolor wheel paint looks like the best.
im too much of a chicken to do it tho. im sure if i did it right it would look ok but who knows. and also... i woudnt have any time to let the paint cure as i drive my car everyday. maybe just take a day off and set the wheels in the sun. then at night put a heater by them

[potatoman]

if u do this post pics please

[J_Mob]

Yeah. It may be a few weeks before I get to it but once it's done I'll post some pics.

[chasingsafety]

Iv used it on my winter wheels for past cars. It looks perfectly fine, but will not hold up for long. You will get a year or sometimes two before it starts to chip. If you drive on dirt roads you will get a month or two. If you want it to last, only way is to powdercoat it. You will want to start with the duplicolor primer, do a wetsand, I used about 4 coats of the paint, let it dry for a day, and the about 6 coats of clear. Seem excessive? It is, but I wanted it to last at least the winter

[potatoman]

Iv used it on my winter wheels for past cars. It looks perfectly fine, but will not hold up for long. You will get a year or sometimes two before it starts to chip. If you drive on dirt roads you will get a month or two. If you want it to last, only way is to powdercoat it. You will want to start with the duplicolor primer, do a wetsand, I used about 4 coats of the paint, let it dry for a day, and the about 6 coats of clear. Seem excessive? It is, but I wanted it to last at least the winter

guess i wont be doing it anytime soon then since i live on a tar and chip road lol.

[J_Mob]

OK here's some pics. I'm a little pissed.....I ran out of clearcoat after the front wheels, so I went to Pep Boys (instead of Autozone, where I got the first can). I went there instead because I've been looking for niteshade around here locally, and someone suggested I check there. I don't know if the clearcoat I got there was frozen at one point, or if it is due to the fact that it is like 10 degrees hotter today then yesterday-but it came out all milky looking. SO my rear wheels look grayish and don't match the fronts. F'it-I'm not redoing it anytime soon-:mad:


http://a97.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/104/m_810b475b060d56c9afcac579c2d39e78.jpg

http://a838.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/85/m_1fb39bebbd4cbd66fbe72c5eeb338d1d.jpg
rears
http://a755.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/15/m_906b1f328be3e15d5a2389cf4ff08c22.jpg
fronts

[Buster]

Get a trigger handle if you're going to use spray cans.

It lets you control the paint as if you were using a sprayer with a compressor. They work GREAT. Plus, they're $3-4. :)

http://makezine.com/images/tools/sprayhandle.jpg

[ZX2 Sleeper]

I used the duplicolor paint and it looks nice but chips over time. I blame driving on the shoulder passing tractor trailers on an industrial road...

[J_Mob]

Damn I wish I would have known about those handles yesterday......Oh well, I don't think it would have mattered with the bad clearcoat. Had to have been frozen-that's all I can think that would drastically change the way it was setting vs the previous can (of the same brand).

Now I'm thinking about cutting some vents on the left fender for airflow to intake (Kemanized it). Maybe small cuts, twist them a little, and put a screen behind the fender......maybe paint em black on the inside so they stick out. hehe

[joshalabama]

We painted my buddies wrx wheels with wal mart gold because it looked closest to the STi bbs wheels. 3 coats and clear coat. It still looks great today. You want to do several passes from far away for the first coat. Then light sand again, the best way to do a light sand is to use computer paper. Then follow up with spraying in a closer pattern. The clear coat takes away from some of the luster and beauty but it helps it last for a good while. You want to make sure the wheels are sanded really well in order for the paint to stick correctly. We used a sand blaster.

[J_Mob]

Yeah I was using "lint free" polishing cloths for the clear coat. It worked fine the first set......

And f'k Checker....those were not lint free at all. F'in fuzzies everywhere.....

[jombee]

That looks pretty good, the back are a little off color, but they still don't look bad.
I've been thinking about my wheels lately. I might have to do this.

the basic idea from the above posts is sand, sand and more sand right.
I don't do much painting, or sanding, what grit(s) should I use?

[J_Mob]

I didn't sand.....I washed the wheels off, used a scuff pad and prep spray on the outside of them, put a primer coat, then a couple coats of paint, then a bunch of clearcoat. Then again my rims could have turned out better.

And again-the rear wheels look different because the clearcoat came out all f'in milky/we were thinking it had been frozen before or something. Was totally different from the can I used on the fronts (all the same brand). White and black makes gray.....which is kinda what the rears look like. If I was really worried I guess I would strip them and try again....but since I realized there are huge gouges in my rims from curbing. .....

Oh sorry, I bought 800 wet/dry paper. Something course, scuff pad/scrubber pad (I used one out of the kitchen)/steel wool for the prep. Then if your wanting to sand out imperfections with the primer make sure you get sandable primer, and some 800-1000 wet dry paper should work I think.

[jombee]

sounds like a good project for next weekend.
I'll put pics up as soon as I have it done.

[J_Mob]

Oh yeah, I primered and painted the backside first before doing the side that faces out. I didn't bother with the clearcoat on the inside....but do the backs first or you'll get drippies and runs on the front. Sorry may be common knowledge or whatever but figured I'd share it.