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Hi guys,

just wondering if anyone has sanded, prepared and painted their own rims and if so was it difficult and worth it?

i have wheels now that need to be re painted and have been quoted around a $1000 for most places, i love the look of them and dont want to buy new ones as these really suit the car.

any input is appreciated :)

Hi guys,

just wondering if anyone has sanded, prepared and painted their own rims and if so was it difficult and worth it?

i have wheels now that need to be re painted and have been quoted around a $1000 for most places, i love the look of them and dont want to buy new ones as these really suit the car.

any input is appreciated :)

Yes done a few sets

depends on , tools you have like compressor , sandblaster, spray gun, respirator and clean place to do it

if tyres are off ? Valves out much easier

damage to rims like rash

What you want to paint them in ? colour wise

did my 34 rims with a rattle can the night before a show from pearl white to qm1 lol not the best but didnt take off tyres either , going to soda blast and respray when it warms up more tyres and valves out !!

Worth it yes , be easier if i had free tyre removal and remount and a daily driver to use while off

Edited by Carbon 34

ive restored a set of completely gutter f**ked alloys. they look mint.... but was too much work for the money saved. $1000 will buy you a good set of alloys on any forum and save the skin on your knuckles

There's a mightycarmods video on YouTube which shows you how to do it.

I've personally done this about 6-7 times. Spray painting them can work really well (especially considering you won't be spending much) if you take the effort to properly prepare your wheels prior to spraying.

Get yourself sandpaper and work your way up the grits and finish with a 1500 grit sand (don't go too smooth otherwise paint won't stick properly). Obviously if your wheels have gutter rash etc., you may need to do some filling. After the prep work is done remove all the crap with a good wax and grease remover and mask up the valves. I use cards and wedge them between the wheel and tyre so as to not get any overspray on the tyres (much easier than masking) and then you wanna spray a few coats of primer, when dry a few coats of your actual color spray and finish off with multiple coats of clear (at least 4). After the paint is completely dry wet sand lightly using 2000 grit sandpaper.

The type of paint you use is also very important - I generally find that any high temp enamel spray works well (engine enamel, caliper paint or actual wheel paint).

Tip: don't spray too close, or on one spot for too long as you'll get runs which are ok if it's on your primer (as you can sand away) but will stuff up the look of your wheels if on your color or clear spray.

Dont paint your rims yourself , i just get my sets sandblasted and powdercoated , the finish is amazing and hard wearing .

Ring Oleg at HWH Powder Coaters Edwardstown , Oleg sandblasted and powdercoated my work VS-XX for $90 each -

Heres my thread

http://www.skylinesa...iece-work-rims/

Edited by NISSAN GTR

best bet is powdercoating in above post ^^

but if you want to do a DIY and cant afford to have wheels separated rebalanced and etc (unless your tyres are now racing slicks :P)

have had wheels painted at our crash shop before, not all that difficult just takes a long time, as mentioned in above posts, start off with a coarse fine grit (approx 500) and work up from there to say 800, i would suggest using it wet not dry and even use some scotchbrite for thoes areas u cant reach for good measure.

you can use an etch primer for the area of which u have repaired (gutter rash) sand them back using same method untill your happy with them.

then apply a "drop coat" which is a light coating of the colour you want, alternatively, if your going for a colour which doesnt cover very well put down a basecoat of black but only mist it on (that goes for the dropcoat and basecoat)

then apply how many ever layers of paint desired to reach aquired colour/depth always allow for drying time and finish with a few coats of clear.

important tip is to take time in masking the wheels up properly and make sure all the air is out of the tyres so its easier to compress the sidewall to get tape in there, also a few newspapers come in handy if you dont have the proper stuff to cover them. 1 and 2 inch masking tape will work for this application also.

hope this helps as ive tried to cover what i can remmeber from the painters telling me!

best bet is powdercoating in above post ^^

but if you want to do a DIY and cant afford to have wheels separated rebalanced and etc (unless your tyres are now racing slicks :P)

have had wheels painted at our crash shop before, not all that difficult just takes a long time, as mentioned in above posts, start off with a coarse fine grit (approx 500) and work up from there to say 800, i would suggest using it wet not dry and even use some scotchbrite for thoes areas u cant reach for good measure.

you can use an etch primer for the area of which u have repaired (gutter rash) sand them back using same method untill your happy with them.

then apply a "drop coat" which is a light coating of the colour you want, alternatively, if your going for a colour which doesnt cover very well put down a basecoat of black but only mist it on (that goes for the dropcoat and basecoat)

then apply how many ever layers of paint desired to reach aquired colour/depth always allow for drying time and finish with a few coats of clear.

important tip is to take time in masking the wheels up properly and make sure all the air is out of the tyres so its easier to compress the sidewall to get tape in there, also a few newspapers come in handy if you dont have the proper stuff to cover them. 1 and 2 inch masking tape will work for this application also.

hope this helps as ive tried to cover what i can remmeber from the painters telling me!

where is your shop mate?im looking at getting a 2pac setup for my self as im ok with painting acrylics, but if i can get my ford BA bodykit done in shop at a good price i will.

You could plasti-dip them yourself, no sanding needed, its lasted ok so far on mine, but if theres a scratch you just spray over the top and its like new again :D

$30 a can, 2 cans will do all your rims

plus you can always divert to the old colour when you please :woot:

where is your shop mate?im looking at getting a 2pac setup for my self as im ok with painting acrylics, but if i can get my ford BA bodykit done in shop at a good price i will.

Pm'd :D

I dont the colour jet and have some old impuls too.

Your on Australian ford forums as i recognise that car, im 'Sprint' on there.

All fitted and sorted now , the 245 went on the 10.5 so easy , like butter!

Edited by cosworth1971

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