"Restored" OEM wheel with Duplicolor wheel paint
#1
"Restored" OEM wheel with Duplicolor wheel paint
Just wanted to say that wow this stuff looks/works pretty good to "restore" the OEM wheels. I think Cliff Clavin used this same stuff on his 6th gen wheels but he used the bronze-ish color IIRC.
I'll be rolling with my stockers for a while on the black VE and one of them looked TERRIBLE! I thought I'd throw some wheel paint on it just to try to make it look not SO crappy since the others were in pretty good shape.
It started out like this (I know it's blurry but I had to take it in a pitch black shed so I couldn't get my phone to focus in the dark BEFORE the flash came on). It was covered in what looked to be crustacean type of crud. I've never had one look this bad before so I don't know what happened there. This picture really doesn't do justice how bad it was
I went to get a good tire put on it and then I spent about 10 minutes going at it with a wire brush drill bit thing and got it to this:
Wetsanded and then threw some self-etching primer on it:
Color coat. This took a surprising amount of coats to get to this point. It's REALLY metallicy so it took a while to cover all the primer:
Finished product (I put a few coats of the Dupicolor clear on it):
I'm really pleased with how it came out! I still have a little pit on the face of the wheel that I couldn't get all the way out but it's not bad at all. The paint laid down real nice for rattle can. This came out so well I'm going to go ahead and do the other three wheels (need to find lug covers still) too and enjoy some stock clean VE for a few more months
I'll be rolling with my stockers for a while on the black VE and one of them looked TERRIBLE! I thought I'd throw some wheel paint on it just to try to make it look not SO crappy since the others were in pretty good shape.
It started out like this (I know it's blurry but I had to take it in a pitch black shed so I couldn't get my phone to focus in the dark BEFORE the flash came on). It was covered in what looked to be crustacean type of crud. I've never had one look this bad before so I don't know what happened there. This picture really doesn't do justice how bad it was
I went to get a good tire put on it and then I spent about 10 minutes going at it with a wire brush drill bit thing and got it to this:
Wetsanded and then threw some self-etching primer on it:
Color coat. This took a surprising amount of coats to get to this point. It's REALLY metallicy so it took a while to cover all the primer:
Finished product (I put a few coats of the Dupicolor clear on it):
I'm really pleased with how it came out! I still have a little pit on the face of the wheel that I couldn't get all the way out but it's not bad at all. The paint laid down real nice for rattle can. This came out so well I'm going to go ahead and do the other three wheels (need to find lug covers still) too and enjoy some stock clean VE for a few more months
#7
That looks great, but it looks like the 89-91 SE wheels. Still trying to figure out how to restore the 92-94 SE machine finish. Probably a lot of sand paper and wetsanding. Still great job though!
#8
I actually used gunmetal color.
It looks like that self etching primer did a good job. I have some terrible ugly chrome Murano wheels with snow tires for my FX. I might go with that kind of primer and paint them flat black.
It looks like that self etching primer did a good job. I have some terrible ugly chrome Murano wheels with snow tires for my FX. I might go with that kind of primer and paint them flat black.
#9
Very nice for a rattle can. I was considering using that Duplicolor wheel paint to restore my '94 GXE wheels that are flaking off, and now I definately will now that I've seen what it can turn into given some time and effort. I also like Restoleum paints but all the cans I've ever bought, the caps get clogged or just leak
#10
I don't think you could ever re-create the 92-94 wheels without a WHOLE ton of effort polishing the aluminum. And even at that, you wouldn't be able to get the caps to match properly. I'm pretty sure that's why RockAuto and the like DON'T sell the caps with their refinished OEM wheels, because they can't/don't match properly anymore.
I guess you could get some of that chrome paint stuff but I'm not sure how well it would hold up
Anyway, I'm more than happy with these results for $6 and I think the car will look great when it's all said and done
#12
Yeah, after I painted it I thought to myself it kind of looked like an "in between" of the 89-91 and 92-94 wheels. The 89-91 wheels aren't shiny at all. This wheel is much shinier and more metallicy than the 89-91 wheels but not as shiny as the 92-94s (which had a nearly chrome quality to them when new)
I don't think you could ever re-create the 92-94 wheels without a WHOLE ton of effort polishing the aluminum. And even at that, you wouldn't be able to get the caps to match properly. I'm pretty sure that's why RockAuto and the like DON'T sell the caps with their refinished OEM wheels, because they can't/don't match properly anymore.
I guess you could get some of that chrome paint stuff but I'm not sure how well it would hold up
Anyway, I'm more than happy with these results for $6 and I think the car will look great when it's all said and done
I don't think you could ever re-create the 92-94 wheels without a WHOLE ton of effort polishing the aluminum. And even at that, you wouldn't be able to get the caps to match properly. I'm pretty sure that's why RockAuto and the like DON'T sell the caps with their refinished OEM wheels, because they can't/don't match properly anymore.
I guess you could get some of that chrome paint stuff but I'm not sure how well it would hold up
Anyway, I'm more than happy with these results for $6 and I think the car will look great when it's all said and done
Last edited by maximo018; 12-07-2010 at 10:08 PM.
#13
Hmm.. I had no clue Andy's Auto Sport sold them. Looks like they DO have the center caps
http://www.andysautosport.com/nissan...t00230761.html
http://www.andysautosport.com/nissan...t00230761.html
#14
#15
#19
#20
Wow...I'm really impressed, I think I might do that to my factory wheels since I'm keeping them for the winter anyway. I meant to ask James 92SE, what color paint did you use, metallic chrome?
Last edited by shiloh51933; 12-08-2010 at 07:33 AM.
#22
Ive actually used this same paint on some engine bay parts that I didnt have powdercoated (like the throttle body since I did not feel like stripping it apart just to get the body coated) and it matches the gunmetal/metallic gray powdercoat pretty well
I got stiffed out of the pleasure of owning the 92-94 SE wheels with original finish, twice.. my original 92 had the wheels repainted silver and my latest 92 also has the wheels painted over
I think the best bet to get the original look back is to start with a set of 92-94 wheels and use some paint stripper and some fine sandpaper (if any) so as to not rub away the machined marks on the face.. and then clearcoat over
Actually it was 91-94 they had the machined face+clearcoat finish on the wheels
Yeah, after I painted it I thought to myself it kind of looked like an "in between" of the 89-91 and 92-94 wheels. The 89-91 wheels aren't shiny at all. This wheel is much shinier and more metallicy than the 89-91 wheels but not as shiny as the 92-94s (which had a nearly chrome quality to them when new)
I don't think you could ever re-create the 92-94 wheels without a WHOLE ton of effort polishing the aluminum. And even at that, you wouldn't be able to get the caps to match properly. I'm pretty sure that's why RockAuto and the like DON'T sell the caps with their refinished OEM wheels, because they can't/don't match properly anymore.
I guess you could get some of that chrome paint stuff but I'm not sure how well it would hold up
Anyway, I'm more than happy with these results for $6 and I think the car will look great when it's all said and done
I don't think you could ever re-create the 92-94 wheels without a WHOLE ton of effort polishing the aluminum. And even at that, you wouldn't be able to get the caps to match properly. I'm pretty sure that's why RockAuto and the like DON'T sell the caps with their refinished OEM wheels, because they can't/don't match properly anymore.
I guess you could get some of that chrome paint stuff but I'm not sure how well it would hold up
Anyway, I'm more than happy with these results for $6 and I think the car will look great when it's all said and done
I think the best bet to get the original look back is to start with a set of 92-94 wheels and use some paint stripper and some fine sandpaper (if any) so as to not rub away the machined marks on the face.. and then clearcoat over
Actually it was 91-94 they had the machined face+clearcoat finish on the wheels
#23
Sex? This.
Also - I like how Nissan's marketing images weren't really accurate. They show the corner lights AND bumper lights lit up which we all know isn't correct. And they show amber bulbs in the corner lights even though stock we get those fugly pale yellow ones.
#24
I got stiffed out of the pleasure of owning the 92-94 SE wheels with original finish, twice.. my original 92 had the wheels repainted silver and my latest 92 also has the wheels painted over
I think the best bet to get the original look back is to start with a set of 92-94 wheels and use some paint stripper and some fine sandpaper (if any) so as to not rub away the machined marks on the face.. and then clearcoat over
I think the best bet to get the original look back is to start with a set of 92-94 wheels and use some paint stripper and some fine sandpaper (if any) so as to not rub away the machined marks on the face.. and then clearcoat over
If your wheels aren't pitted/covered in crustacean crap, you can likely wetsand and clear and it should look pretty good. I was wetsanding this one pretty aggressively and it never took those slight machined marks off of the face. For a minute I thought I could just wetsand and clear it, but there was lots of pitting looking type of stuff after I got all the crustacean crap off that wouldn't come out. So then I just went ahead and painted
#25
Here's what I used (again, like I said, it's actually Rustoleum rather than Duplicolor as I originally said)
#26
GXE stockers minus the centercap = Sex?
Sex? This.
Also - I like how Nissan's marketing images weren't really accurate. They show the corner lights AND bumper lights lit up which we all know isn't correct. And they show amber bulbs in the corner lights even though stock we get those fugly pale yellow ones.
Sex? This.
Also - I like how Nissan's marketing images weren't really accurate. They show the corner lights AND bumper lights lit up which we all know isn't correct. And they show amber bulbs in the corner lights even though stock we get those fugly pale yellow ones.
Hah! Gxe stockers are badass. scientific fact
#27
#28
Two down, two to go
I'm also replacing the crank seal and power steering pump on the car so hopefully I'll finish that up tomorrow and be able to knock the other two wheels out tomorrow evening or Friday.
I'm also replacing the crank seal and power steering pump on the car so hopefully I'll finish that up tomorrow and be able to knock the other two wheels out tomorrow evening or Friday.
#32
#34
I believe he thinks you have Corvette wheels.... lol
I can see the resemblance tho...
#37
The turbo piping is the setup I built a few years ago for the VE. I'm sure you remember me bugging you constantly with questions. I still need to get some more stuff for the setup.. injectors.. fuel pump.. oil lines.. fittings and whatnot. Hopefully it'll be going in the blue VE in the spring