is this a good idea? I have an old set of rims that are white that I want to paint gunmetal. If anyone has done this, how do I go about doing this? what kind of paint should I buy? any input appreciated, thanks.

 

I saw a set of the SE 16's on ebay the other day that someone had painted gunmetal, but I'm not sure how it was done. Try looking it up and e-mail the guy if he isn't an org member.

 

powdercoating...?

 

Powdercoating would definitely give you the best result since it is done by professionals, but you also pay the higher price for the work. If you are just going for a different look, and you don't care much for the rims, I say take the old spray paint can to them. It is a lot more "economical."

 

I am in the process of repainting my rims. First thing I did was grind down all the scratches from curbing the rims. then i filled them in with body filler/bondo. Then I sanded down the body filler so it's flush with the rim. Then wet sanded all the surfaces. I think my friend used Duplicolor. I will use the same color. It's pretty close to gunmetal in color and seems to last on rims.

 

Wow good idea. Are you using any high temp paint or a clear coat? Also are you taking the tires off before you do all this?

 

This has been done by a few of the NE maxima owners....the 4th gen rims on ebay are Spyhunter's and he is an org member....they look nice in person...I believe that he also used duplicolor, and the second person (Dan/5th Gen) also painted his white rims gunmetal. He dit not remove the tires and they looked sweet. I'm actually considering this on a set of 17s I got sitting in the basement...good luck and take pics...

 

Why wouldn't you remove the tires? I would think that you wouldn't want to get paint and all that crap on them.

 

i am not going to remove my tires because i am going to change my tires right after painting the rims so it doesn't matter. if you aren't going to change your tires, just mask off the tires with some of the fat 3" masking tape and you should be all good. Just make sure your rims are sanded and absolutely clean before painting.

 

Are you just painting the outside face of the rim? Why not paint the whole thing, so you can't see any of the orginal white?

 

i am painting the face of the rim as well as the inner surface from the backside of the rims. if i leave the tires on, the only surface i can't get to is the outside diameter which will be covered by my new tires anyway. not a big deal.