Painting Your Rims

[civic31g]

1. Clean off wheels thoroughly, then lay wheel/tire flat on ground.
2. Scuff wheel with sandpaper, then clean wheel again.
3. Stick index cards around edge of wheel between tire and wheel to keep paint off of tires.
4. Spray several light coats of paint onto wheel. I used DupliColor Wheel Paint, graphite color, available from AutoZone, $4/can.
5. Spray several light coats of clearcoat if desired, depending on how shiny you want the final product to be. Clearcoat will also make the final finish feel smoother.

Now, after doing that, here is what I have observed needs to be done in addition to those steps above:

- Before painting, you should use an aircraft stripper to remove ALL original clearcoat and any paint that is on the wheel to begin with. Take it down to bare aluminum.

- Clean wheel, strip off clearcoat (use gloves, and try to keep the stuff off the tires), clean off residue, clean/wash wheel again, then paint as above.

- As far as primer, I'm not sure if that should be used beforehand or not. I didn't, but you might have better results if you use it

[imported_ItalianQT]

Cool thanks

[imported_biocac]

You can use a "self etching" primer before painting. It "bites" into the metal, smooths out imperfections and holds the paint great.

As far as the aircraft stripper . . I don't recomend wearing rubber or latex gloves because they WILL melt to your skin!!!

I opted for the good waterproof leather gloves for my stint at that.
Everything rubber/latex/fiberglass/plastic will melt and should be protected when using that stuff.
Other than that . . it works great and def. should be used on a job like this.

Sam -

[imported_beau_safken]

I would just go get them powdercoated. It wont peel, crack or fade. A powdercoated rim will hold up to all road conditions and also take a couiple curbs. Only costs you a little more with a little shopping around. Do that to some HX rims and you will have some awesome 50 dollar rims.

[imported_comutek]

Originally posted by biocac+Jan 21 2004, 01:47 PM--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(biocac @ Jan 21 2004, 01:47 PM)</div>

yeah, that's definately good to know.
<!--QuoteBegin-beau_safken@Jan 21 2004, 03:22 PM
Only costs you a little more with a little shopping around.

i agree w/ you on the powdercoating but the cheapest i've seen powdercoating is like $60/wheel.

[imported_MKNTRAXX]

~100 a rims is what powdercoating is costing me.. but should they ever ever mess up the guy will fix them no charge

[imported_beau_safken]

Well if ya want it done right...its gonna cost ya. If you get HX rims for 50 bucks a piece and powdercoat them for 60'ish each...thats 110 bucks for 11 pound wheels. That is a scorching deal. Powdercoating is a lot more professional than just spray painting. If you are building a ghetto build then its fine, but a daily driver needs the added protection from a good sealed powdercoat.