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- 03' Mazda Protege 5
First of all I tried to post this in the how to section but it wouldn't let me for some reason so it would be great if you moderators out there could do that if you like or feel this is a bad place for this thread.
So I have heard alot of people asking on how to do this and saw there were no how to's on this topic yet so here we go. First of here is what you need for the project:
**NOTE**
If you do this mod you will have to balance your wheels afterwards, aspecially if you use any bondo to fix your wheels. Even just the added weight of the paint will make your wheels off balance. Balancing your wheels usually costs around $20-40 and can be done at all tire, mechanic shops, and dealerships.
What you need:
1) I will be doing this on my stock P5 wheels since that is a popular thing to do, but of coarse this will work with any kind of wheel. First off you will need to clean the crap out of your wheels, this is very important. If you miss one spot of greese or dirt the paint is most likely not to stick to that spot. Here is what came off my wheels after already washing them once:
2) Take out your senter caps, unless you want those painted to:
3) If you you have any curb rash, scratchs, corrosion, or chips on your wheels sand them with the 240 grit sandpaper, also give the whole wheel a good sanding. Here is an example of some of the bad spots on my wheels I will be fixing:
4) Now that you got the sanding done now is the time for the bondo spot puddy to fix those bad areas. Before you put the puddy on the damaged areas put masking tape around the edge of the wheel(I didn't do this and got puddy all over the tires, learn from my mistake). You don't want this stuff on your tires. The best method I used was to put a bit of pudy on at a time on my finger and spread a thin coat of the puddy on the damaged areas, if you put to thick of a layer on it will crack:
5) Now you will have to wait 30 minutes for the puddy to dry(if its warm out, longer if its below 60-70 deg. F.). After that take you 400 grit sandpaper and sand the puddy down to a smooth surface.
So I have heard alot of people asking on how to do this and saw there were no how to's on this topic yet so here we go. First of here is what you need for the project:
**NOTE**
If you do this mod you will have to balance your wheels afterwards, aspecially if you use any bondo to fix your wheels. Even just the added weight of the paint will make your wheels off balance. Balancing your wheels usually costs around $20-40 and can be done at all tire, mechanic shops, and dealerships.
What you need:
- Wheel cleaner
- Wheel paint
- Sandable filler primer
- Wheel clear coat
- 240 and 400 grit wet/dry sandpaper
- Bondo spot puddy
- Deck of playing cards
1) I will be doing this on my stock P5 wheels since that is a popular thing to do, but of coarse this will work with any kind of wheel. First off you will need to clean the crap out of your wheels, this is very important. If you miss one spot of greese or dirt the paint is most likely not to stick to that spot. Here is what came off my wheels after already washing them once:
2) Take out your senter caps, unless you want those painted to:
3) If you you have any curb rash, scratchs, corrosion, or chips on your wheels sand them with the 240 grit sandpaper, also give the whole wheel a good sanding. Here is an example of some of the bad spots on my wheels I will be fixing:
4) Now that you got the sanding done now is the time for the bondo spot puddy to fix those bad areas. Before you put the puddy on the damaged areas put masking tape around the edge of the wheel(I didn't do this and got puddy all over the tires, learn from my mistake). You don't want this stuff on your tires. The best method I used was to put a bit of pudy on at a time on my finger and spread a thin coat of the puddy on the damaged areas, if you put to thick of a layer on it will crack:
5) Now you will have to wait 30 minutes for the puddy to dry(if its warm out, longer if its below 60-70 deg. F.). After that take you 400 grit sandpaper and sand the puddy down to a smooth surface.
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