I'm debating on painting my wheels. I've already painted my saw blades before (gloss black) and it turned out well. However they did not hold as well as I expected (flaking, chipping) I prepped them with aircraft stripper, sanded, then about 3 coats of duplicolor brake coating (since I could not get my hands on VHT wheel paint in my area) and about 3 coats of duplicolor clear.

I'm in the process of getting a powder coat quote but I'd rather to do it my self (personal gratification).

I'm asking to find out what paint you guys have used personally to paint wheels, and basically the experience you've had.

i.e. paint used, prep., and how long they've held up...

I'm just nervous the wheels wont hold up like I would like them to If I paint them...

Also, I'd like some opinions on how they look, I like them personally but I would also like some .org input. Don't give me the **** about "its your car, do what you want" because I've already grasped that concept.

Thanks in advance...

Also, additional thanks to BLACKonBLACK98 and ChrisMan287 for the chops.

From this:



To this:



Or this:

stay silver - at least your tiny rotors won't stick out like a sore thumb

solid gunmetal instead of black would look better and then smoked bumper lights and smoke/red tails.

lol, true... I would probably black them out too.

I always regret selling my old polished aluminum centerlines. I thought they didn't fit at the time but everywhere I look you see these cheap knock-off black w/ machined lip-wheels trying to look the part.

I painted my saw blades, used duplicolor wheel black, and duplicolor wheel clear. I took about 3 days to do it, drying time and all. Two days after i put them on, some dumba$$ took a ****ing weed eater to one of them and shaved a good amount of the paint off! Pissed me off. And i took the car in to get the wheels balanced, and they totall ****ed up and used air to tighten the lugs down, they ruined the inside of the lug holes(wich i took extra care to get coated well) and chiped the outside as well.

Maybe i didn't paint them correctly or something. I gave up on worrying about it. I would suggest powder coating. Should not cost too too much really, and it will last a nice long time.

IMO, silver center

Wheel paint is not something I would recommend. Regardless of prep time, and the process you do it, its not going to compare to getting them professionally painted [and I wont ever paint any wheels, pro or not, just IMO] or powder coated.

The strength in the bonds is just not there, from rocks to the chemicals and other car maintenance, they wont hold up over an extended period of time.


That being said, keep them silver, or get them powder coated to the #2.

If you choose #2 or #3, get them powder coated.

both silver and 3rd looks good

multi-piece: go for it
one piece: no

YOU WONT !!!

+1 for being different and standing out from the me2's. even though that doesnt really happen around here, but to me black with the whole polished lip thing is played out. do like silver with a navy blue lip or some other crazy ****.


ive had good luck with duplicolor wheel paint. i did a set of Z32 wheels, primer paint clear. 2 or 3 light coats of each and they are fine after 2 years and they see some winter....

let me know if you want any more flourescent wheels

forgeot to mention, should you decide to paint self-etching primer over bare metal will give you better adhesion.

all you really need is a good automotive clear over the wheels. that duplicolor clear doesn't have any hardner in it thats why it chips and flakes off.. if just use what ever black then a auto clear and take care of your wheels they will last.. i did that to my s14 wheels and they have held up for more than 2 years.. here is a picture of my friends SER wheels i did about a year ago.. still looking super clean!!

I voted

I agree with you on the painted aspect. I realize I most likely can't make it more than a season or two with paint, regardless of the prep. etc. However, I have heard great things about powder coating. Not exactly longevity of holding up its condition(becuase I've never seen extended results before), but every job I see(locally, from this shop I know of) looks to be flawless.

I think it comes down to the process i.e. powder coating > painting because when they powder coat they use an electromagnetic bonding? It charges the surface then the electrons in the powder coat bond to the surface? I thought thats how someone explained it to me...someone else chime in if I'm off base....

I wasnt aware of this...would this mean that I could skip the aircraft stripper for removing the clear and whatever other surface coatings are on the wheels?


Do you know where I could get some self-etching primer?

oh...and yes, I would love to get some 3 pieces but...don't have the skrilla for that at the moment....

but I'm trying to make these work as-is

I should have read this before I posted:

What is Powder Coating?

Powder Coating is an alternative to conventional wet painting for automotive and other metal parts. It involves a process by which a layer of specially treated solid pigment in the form of a dry powder is applied to a surface. This surface is then heated, undergoing a chemical reaction as its temperature rises. As a result of this chemical reaction, the powder melts and re-hardens into a single solid surface, matching the contours of the item to which it is applied. There are many advantages to Powder Coating over typical wet painting. Aside from being cheaper and more ecologically friendly, Powder Coating also creates a much more durable surface far less likely to scratch and chip.

im actualy doing my rims right now. 2 days so far and im almost down to my bare metal all around. cant decide if im going 2 tone, or solid gunmetal gray(of course)
Voted.

post some pics...

I used the Dupli-color paint offerings and came up with painting the whole wheel with the silver and used the gunmetal gray between spokes and in the lug holes, then clear over the whole thing. A bit conservative but unique.

For prep, I had access to a sandblast cabinet so I used that.

Although I knew about the self-etching primer mentioned above, for some reason I did not use it, perhaps it's the olive green color? It really is the key to making paint stick on bare aluminum.

As it is I'm starting to see more and more chips right down to the aluminum. I'll probably let it slide a couple more years an then look into powder coating. It would be nice to find a clear that would hold up as well as the original coating from Nissan did and on bare, machined ("polished") aluminum.

i like them how they are now, but if u do decide to paint them i like how they look with the center caps still silver, i means thats how my rims are, see sig, but anyways gl with watever u decide

yor rims dont suck.....i choose #2

nice rims. i voted stay silver

Proper prep is the key.

http://forums.maxima.org/tires-wheel...storation.html

keep the centers silver w/ the black spokes. would look pretty sick w/ blue annodized lips tho. i never got to paint my 3rd gen's wheels but the plastic paint (bright blue) did work good on the center caps for a while =D

no... you would still strip the wheels down to bare metal. the self etching primer has acids in it which etch into the baremetal surface for superior adhesion. it is followed by primer surfacer, base coat, and clear.

it is not a short cut but rather an extra step for better results.

the reason i say don't bother on single piece is the pressed in "bolts" and one piece construction will end in one of two ways:

1) you will have to tediously tape everything off to retain the multi-piece look. this could turn out anywhere from decent to aweful.

2) you will just spray over everything, which could turn out anywhere from aweful to #$%&ing horrible.

i can dig the money situation, but sometimes being happy with what you have is better than working with what you have.

Thanks for the info man, I'm definately going to look into that primer.


The thing is, I think it would be next to impossible to tape off all the fo-bolts/rivots on the wheels, I think my best shot would be going over everything and just taping the lip.

I'm pretty confident in my painting skills, I just want to make sure I take the time to prep correctlyy and use the right materials for the job(that is key). As Long as the coating holds up, I think i could make it look "strong to quite strong" lol. maybe. hah.

I also painted my sawblades with duplicolor paint. I did the graphite color. It holds up well.

Go bronze or gold. Black is played out.

I'm actually considering doing the whole wheel in bronze and leaving the center caps silver... I do also think that the whole black wheel, polished lip thing is old news. But for some reason I have always wanted them just because of my all black, silver scheme. Either way, If I don't like them I'll just rock them for a season and do a re paint.

I had a set of TWS Revo's powder coated bronze. I loved it till my firm wanted me to make it more "professional."

hah, hey but how much did powdercoating those run you? I'm trying to get a quote but my shop has not called me back yet...

exactly. it will come out looking corny i promise, don't do it.

black wheels are only "played out" because of the jacka**es who put black wheels on any and every thing.

"it's the only color besides silver these cheap a** wheels come in and no one can tell how awesome i am unless everything is blatant. black it is! throw in those cheesy black 'r34' (that's a skyline right?) headlights while you're at it..."

color matched (i.e. black on black, white on white, purple on purple, etc.) is tasteful and timeless.

$100. $25 per wheel as long as no sand blasting is needed. Might run you an extra $50.
Are they a true 3 piece or just rivited?

lol, I agree with you on that.

just fo-riveted... ....

If that is the case, they are prob just made of plastic, and would melt when powder coated. They are still not too bad in plain silver.
That made me giggle a lil.

No, the fo-rivets are metal, they are just not real rivets. The only plastic part of the wheel is the center caps, and I can pop those out.

I like number 2 the most

I did a set of wheels a while back where I paint the center and left a polish lip. Used air craft stripper (spray bottle then moved to liquid b/c it is much cheaper and just as effective), sand it down and cleaned, used self etching primer, 2-3 coats of dupli bronze, and dupli clear coat. It looked great once finish. The main problem I had was with the dupli clear coat that started chipping/flaking after one winter. I'd say clear cost is needed but a better one than the dupli... Bottom line, it will not hold up as well as OEM paint. Also, I would not clear coat a polish lip