Well, I'm painting my rims tomorrow. Going from a bright silverish to gunmetal grey. Im using the rattle can method, using Duplicolor Primer, Wheel Paint and Clear Coat. Planning on using 600, 1200, and 2000 grit sand paper to wet sand the rims. Some isopropyl alcohol to clean them before paining as well. Ill take pictures and make a semi write up.

 

Interested!

Make the pics high res

 

That all sounds good but you don't really need to work up to 2000 grit before painting. I'd sand the rims with 400 and wetsand with 600, clean them, primer them, then wet sand with 600 again, spray 3-4 coats (start light then get a little heavier with each coat, wait about 30 mins between coats), wetsand again with 600, clear with 3-4 coats (start light and get a little heavier again with each coat), wetsand at the end with 2000 grit and polish the **** out of them.

 

As high res as my Blackberry will allow haha, which is actually pretty decent.

And you think 400 grit Chris? I think 600 is enough to rough up the current (but old) clear coat on the rims. These rims are from the 90s but have been taken good care of.

 

Fixed, if you think 600 will be enough.

 

cant wait to see the pics maybe then i will grow enough ***** to paint my rims

 

I was planning on painting just the calipers. This thread inspired me to also include those old 16" wheels. I used 400 & 600 grit on them to get rid of those brake dust markings. I wet sanded the primer on the calipers and wheels tonight and will start painting tomorrow. I'll paint the calipers balck and wheels grey.

Thanks for the tutorial Chris!

 

Update:

So we sanded the wheels down to the bare. We primed them, and painted, and cleared them. Guess we didnt wait enough between coats because when we put the rims on the car it sorta just fell off. Like we could brush it off like it was dust.

So were sanding them again tomorrow and restarting. Gonna paint them gloss black now.

 

why would you tell him to wet sand his his basecoat? you never wetsand basecoast unless you plan on spraying it over again.

 

if your paint is flaking off you need to make sure you have good 600 grit scratches for your pant to bite into.

 

It was sprayed over again, with clear..

 

umm you always wetsand the base coat therefore you get an even smooth finish coat. wouldnt make sense to leave it all bumpy and orange peel like

you did the steps correctly you just need to let the wheels dry longer or else they will stay soft and as you said almost peel off. this cold weather doesnt help out either

 

what? no. youre not supposed to wetsand your basecoat, unless youre respraying your basecoat. basecoat should not have any orange peel? its a very thin layer. the only thing youre supposed to wetsand is your primer and clear coat? your basecoat will be as smooth as your make the primer underneith it. i paint for a living and went to school for it so i dunno what you guys are talkin about. if you wetsand your basecoat youre just putting scratches in your color, which will show through your clearcoat...

 

^ im pretty sure hes right. wetsanding the clear is how they remove orange peel.

 

When I painted my grill, I wet sanded after primer, after paint, and after clear. Everyone thinks a shop painted my grill.

FWIW the rattle can method takes more work than using an air sprayer, so to make a good finished product it takes more elbow grease to look good

Edit. my lip kit was done the same way with satin black.

 

k

 

I painted my wheels silver and did the calipers black. I painted the wheels using ChrisMan287's procedure.

 

Did you paint the rotor or do you need new brakes?

 

wow lol its crazy how 'difficult' yall make it to paint wheels

 

its only "difficult" when people add extra, moronic steps.

 

you're absolutly correct and i understand baucause i paint as well, but there is a difference between rattle can and using a gun. guess i just always sand rattle can vs leaving the base alone using a gun.

i sanded this covers base color then cleared over. no scratches ask TheLaw how it turned out but seriously though you're right about the basecoat

 

After degreasing and sanding the caliper and brackets I painted them alone. The pads are dark so they leave markings on those thick discs. I also was sloppy when I heavily greased the guide pins, pad clip-ons, and caliper piston.
I need to replace the LCA I installed last weekend. This cheap $42 LCA I baught from EBAY was poor. The mounting bracket for the sway bar link was too far off. When I install the Mevotech LCA next weekend I'll give those discs a cleaning .

 

You're funny. What's difficult about wetsanding the basecoat? I honestly don't see the problem with it. I've done it and had great results, so have other members in this thread.

 

i would think wetsanding the basecoat like yall do would change the shade of your paint somewhat. but i guess it works for everybody so whatever.

 

How would it change colors if you wetsand with some high grit like 1500-2000?
Its not like there is a chemical change when you sand

 

i dunno, ive never had orange peel in my basecoat.

 

no professional shop sands the base coat. go ahead if you want to, but it won't do anything for you. a good finish is all in the finish

 

I hate you, your max is sexy as fawk.

 

Imma just get my wheels powder coated... Might be more expensive, but it'll hold up longer.

 

Shops don't use rattle cans..

 

Touché

 

my wheels are powdercoated like the man above suggested. its definitely better. i did it myself though so it only cost me 12 bucks.

 

Powdercoat my Volks for me

 

i don't under stand how you are Paining the Rims.....or is it painting the rims