If I can make a suggestion when I painted my rims I sanded between each coat. So I started by sanding with 200 grit to get out any curb damage, then 400 to scuff up the rest.  Then I washed them with warm soapy water.  Then I painted, waited about 30mins, sanded just lightly again just to scuff the paint and possibly any blumishes. Wash, paint, sand, and did this a total of 3 times.  Then I let the paint dry about 30min to an hour and started to put on the clear coat.  I didn't sand between clear coats.  But don't over spray or the clear will fog up and turn white.

Also I used a deck of cards to protect my wheels.  It worked fantastic and you don't have the trouble of tape.




I hope this can help with painting your rims.  Sanding between each coat is key so the next layer will stick to the previous.

Moving to the How Tos section

illestfob wrote:

OH snap! i figured out why my tail lights are frosty now. i oversprayed my clear coat! figures..

anyway, i suggest sanding between coats. and they came out pretty nicely. you didnt clear coat them at all?

i didnt clear coat mine at all. I used a thick but strong high  temp paint, Engine enamel.  Beautiful Gloss finish with nearly perfect reflection.  I did how ever wax them to retain the shine after they cured/dried for a full 24hrs.

More pics later today for the results.

illestfob wrote:

OH snap! i figured out why my tail lights are frosty now. i oversprayed my clear coat! figures..

anyway, i suggest sanding between coats. and they came out pretty nicely. you didnt clear coat them at all?

just wandering..sanding between coast.. doesn't the paint come off..?? so just sand till smooth or sand thoroughly.?

rim paint like from duplicolor

I just f'ed up one of my stock wheels this morning.  This is probably a good time to paint them.  Which would be better to use, the engine enamel or the rim paint?

Se-R4 wrote:

I'm looking for a gunmetal color, anyone come across it? also, i see you painted right on the tires, does it come off?

the paint doesnt stick to rubber.  After a few miles it just flakes off the tires.

You can also use dish soap on the tires to keep paint from sticking to them. The lighter your coats of paint are the more it will stick to the rubber. Light mist doesn't come off easy when it eats into the rubber. Most laquer based paints (spray cans) will melt the rubber slightly and stick around the rim where the rubber doesn't give as much. Silver sidewalls suck.

Mean07Spec wrote:

How deep was the curb rash on these wheels or does it matter because it will be sanded out completely?  I was learning the dimensions of my car and then I rashed my wheels pretty bad.

Deeep.  took a long while to sand them down, but im not a fan of bondo or filler.

Elusive Entity wrote:

I just f'ed up one of my stock wheels this morning.  This is probably a good time to paint them.  Which would be better to use, the engine enamel or the rim paint?

i painted mine with the rim paint from autozone...worked great.. check out my showoff page and check em out...

Wow, that looks awesome.

You have "preferably a palm sander" in your how-to. You might want to add that it's always best to use a sand blaster, if you have access.

ProZach626 wrote:

Wow, that looks awesome.

You have "preferably a palm sander" in your how-to. You might want to add that it's always best to use a sand blaster, if you have access.

Duely noted, original post was edit with your info.

javio24 wrote:

Elusive Entity wrote:

I just f'ed up one of my stock wheels this morning.  This is probably a good time to paint them.  Which would be better to use, the engine enamel or the rim paint?

when i first got my car the stockers had some bad road rash...i sanded them down and used bondo to cure them...(they said that it would fall off, but it never did) worked great then i resanded, primered, painted and clear coated them...then added the pin stripe and nismo stickers.... :-)

I got a chance last weekend to paint those bastards.  I used the Bondo Spot Filler for the curb rash and sanded smooth.  I used the Duplicolor High Performance Wheel Paint and they turned out pretty sweet!.  I didn't spray them with clear though.  I'm going to let the paint cure for about a weekend and then clean them and slather them with a nice layer of wax.  I'll have pics in my showoff page probably by this weekend.

ok i have a question.... does anybody recommend puttin a primer down before painting the wheels?

alrigth bro thanx for that i will doo..

how did you do the pin stripe??

Just lettin everybody know that if u do this with tires off there's a good possibility that when tires get put on that the paint may chip on the lip. I know mine did, it wasn't really the tire shops fault. Just the tire machine ended up scraping it.

The shimmer is probably resulting from the base coat (color coat) having a metallic or pearl property.  So you'd want to look for a paint that is like that... I think most spray can wheel paint except for solid black has a shimmery property to it.

Rustyboarder413 wrote:

BTW Heidi, you and your husband are famous down here in Long Beach, Cali. My friends and I worship you guys!!!!

That's a bit strange   But cool I guess.  Thanks

awesome write up..i think i'm going to paint my stockies since I use them in the winter time..i'm happy i came across this thread..i might attempt this at some point this weekend..and thanks for the tip about the acetone.

Last edited by QR25DECHIC (2008-12-10 21:10:31)