did you take off the clear coat with stripper or did you sand it down? and how many cans of paint and clear coat did you use? thanx

 

At first what kind of wheels do you have.

 

I got the 5zigen copse

 

I painted my fourth gen five spoke wheels. I stripped and sanded them before I painted them. I needed to buy several cans of base coat and I only used one of clear.

 

i used aircraft stripper then took my lil sanding disks fo rmy air tool and sanded them....but now i just use my sandblaster...if u were in NY i would offer my services

 

How long does this "at home" paint job last anyways?

My buddy did it do his civic si. I'd be a little weary about doing it. I don't believe that he stripped his rims before either.

 

They should last a long time as long as you take car of them.

 

i've had my stock 16's painted for about a year and a half, and they've got some minor chips... but i know i didn't do that great of a job on them.

if you really put some effort into it, they should turn out great and last you quite a while.

 

just get them powdercoated--it won't be that much and the finish will last forever

 

the whole point of painting them with rattle cans is doing it on a budget. i certainly don't have the money to get my rims powdercoated... and if i did, i'd just buy new ones.

 

Scuff them up with 220 grit, clean them, repeat. Mask of the tire with blue painters tape and paint the wheel when its flat (face up). I used 1 can of Duplicolor wheel paint for all 4 rims, but I didnt paint the inside. I didnt use clear at all. Clear coat will help but its not needed.

 

where did you get your bronze wheel paint? I painted mine gunmetal but I was going to change them the other day and they did not have bronze at advanced auto.

 

again if u lived in buffalo or near it i would powdercoat them for a minimal fee

 

Walmart or Autozone should have it.

 

so let me see if i understand, use the aircraft striper first then sand it down? so aircraft stripper isnt that strong? from what i was told the stripper takes it all the way down to the metal. thanx for the input!!!!!

 

In my experiance it is not worth stripping the wheels to bare metal. The paint will stick better to the original paint. It take so much more time and effort, especially the spray on stripper. Getting into the nooks and crannys with the stripper isnt easy. If you want to strip them go to Napa and pick up martin senour "water rinsable paint remover" #6802. Available in different sizes.... That stuff blows aircraft stripper out the door.

 

the problem is i need to get the the old clear coat because its flaking off, is there a way to take the clear coat off without having to take it down all the way to the metal?

 

(wet)sanding, maybe?

 

you can check out my (hotly contested) guide here: http://forums.maxima.org/showpost.ph...50&postcount=5