Teameyekon

My girlfriend and I where driving in the rain on day and I couldn't avoid driving through a puddle that looked kinda rusty brown. Needless to say, it was some kind of chemical and now my passenger side rims are permanently dirty looking. I think that the chemical allowed brake dust to get under my clear coat and my tires look really pale and ashy. I am about to put new tires on the car, but I want my stock wheels to all match and to look new again.
Does anyone know where I can get some wheel paint that is the same color as my 99 SE 5 spokes? Also, is it recommended that I try to paint my wheels myself. I want to get them as close to stock as possible. I printed out the direction in the How-to section, but I want some feedback from some more people who have done this. I am trying to avoid paying money getting the rims refinished somewhere.


Thanx in Advance!!!

Brudaddy

iTrader: (2)

They look pretty hot if you want to repaint them with the Dupli-color graphite wheel color, and then with clear coat too.
You ought to try it out.

Teameyekon

Cool...thanx

I will try it this weekend if it ever stops raining. Are there any lighter colors that I can use. I like the graphite, but I wouldn't mind keeping them looking OEM.

goldmax

Griots carries a silver wheel paint and clear coat that they say matches that used by Mercedes, etc. It probably won't match what you have exactly, but I would expect it to be very high quality. I think it's $10 a can and supposedly one can of each can do all 4 wheels. The duplicolor stuff might be better since you should be able to see the exact color before buying it.

Teameyekon

great....

Should I prime the wheels before painting. Would this give me a longer lasting finish?

hurleybob

You don't have a 99.5 do you? If so your SE-Limited would have the Titanium colored wheels, and I found the "TiCoat 47 Titanium" a great match to OEM.
Regarding prep, I would just use steel wool to rough up the surface first (and remove any wax) and then rinse and dry.

Oops, forgot to say, got the Ticoat 47 at www.eastwoodco.com

Brudaddy

iTrader: (2)

Also, look for the thread that some people have been posting on about painting wheels. They use some kind of airplane stripper (takes all the wheel paint off), then they prime, and then they paint. Still cheap to do, but I don't know all the details. You look it up and try it out.