thinking of painting my rims????

[gc3nym06]

I just got a p5 from my brother in law I was contemplating buying new rims for it nothing fancy just the oem's the car came from Connecticut so with all the salt they began bubbling up I figured finding used ones would be easy but that's not true!!!
So I was thinking of just doing it myself and saving some bucks does anyone know if this is hard to do?

 

[canadian357]

No, just time consuming. I painted my stockers Duplicolor graphite grey and they look great. However I cut corners so they are chipping to s***. Moral of the story - your paint is only as good as your prep work. Be patient, get the tires knocked off the wheels first so you can sand the outer lip properly and paint it properly, and they'll turn out awesome. Even with the chipping which I will eventually fix, they look great, and I saved like $600 on buying new wheels.

 

[JiggaBro]

i painted my stockers a few months ago and used graphite too! i have NO chipping and they still look great (didnt take off the tires either)
took me 2 days (i took a lot of breaks)

what i did:
1. pry off wheel weights
2. clean them with a scotch pad and 'simply green'
3. rub down with alcohol
4. sand with 800 sandpaper
5. repeat step 1
6. sand with 1200 sand paper
7. repeat step 1 and 2
8. tape off tire
9. 3 coats of gray primer with 10-15 min. drying time between coats
10. 1 hour dry time before color coat
11. 3 coats of color with 10-15 min. drying time between coats
12. 1 hour of dry time before clear
13. 5 coats of clear with 10-15 min. drying time between coats
14. let cure as long as possible before mounting them
15. take them to get balanced using sticky weights so it wont show as much
16. mount and enjoy beauty

its not hard at all, if you have a few friends that can help with sanding then its really a breeze.

 

[gc3nym06]

Thanks!!!!8

 

[gc3nym06]

Sounds good man thanks for the walk through!!!

 

[JiggaBro]

http://i789.photobucket.com/albums/yy176/freddy-ydderf/yesyes.jpg
http://i789.photobucket.com/albums/yy176/freddy-ydderf/yes.jpg
http://i789.photobucket.com/albums/yy176/freddy-ydderf/yesyesyes.jpg

i also taped off the 'm' on the center caps so they would stay chrome... it really adds a nice touch with the chrome lug nuts

 

[gc3nym06]

wondering if that would look good!!!!

 

[canadian357]

I opted to leave my whole center cap stock color... really nice job with the chrome M though. It crossed my mind... maybe I'll copy you when I go to fix my laziness.

 

[gc3nym06]

Nice job on the wheels!!!

 

[JiggaBro]

thanks, its all in the prep.
also, with a lower grade sandpaper i was able to take off 99% of the previous owner's curb rash... so they basically look brand new

 

[thatoneguysean]

I also painted my stock rims. If i remember correctly we just sanded off the old ugly chrome from the rims then taped off what we wanted to stay chrome (center and outside small rim) then just powder coated them black. I think they look great, beats spending hundreds of bucks on new rims!

 

[RMW Guy]

I did the wheels on my other car a few weekends ago. I used Duplicolor Wheel Paint in silver then used a satin clearcoat to cut down the shine a bit. I wanted a flat look to the color.
(The P5 wheels will get done over the winter if I don't sell if first.)

Again, prep is the key but this is absolutely something you can do at home. Make sure to paint ina well ventilated area and don't pick a humid day if at all possible.

EDIT-sorry about the huuuuuuuuge pic.

 

[EVADE]

i painted my stock wheels black when i didnt have money but save to get your dream wheels or use your credit card =)