So I decided I wanted to clean up my original wheels and put them back on my car. This is what I started with:


After stripping with aircraft remover, repairing nicks with spot putty, and two coats of high build primer (after wet sanding):



Two coats of graphite Rustoleum wheel paint:



I just finished my third coat of clear, but it's too dark for a good pic...so that'll wait for tomorrow.

One down, three to go...

 

Looks good!

 

Looks good so far! I need to stop being a lazy **** and repaint my Volks already lol. Maybe this will be my motivation.

 

looking good man, a nice factory set are good to have.

 

I find refinishing wheels one of the worst things in terms of time and patients. Ive done countless sets, all different ways. Ive pretty much given up on a show quality job. I used to spend hours with power tools and chemicals along with specific paints. I didnt have good luck with Duplicolors wheel paint when used with their clear coat. And those wheels took me for ever to prep; paint flaked off in a few months time. Now I just scuff and shoot.

Looks like you have both lots of time and patients. They will look brand new when finished thats for sure.
When you get tires mounted make sure theyre well cured. Last thing you want is a chip or scratch. Also get they use stick on weights, especially since you used filler on the edges.

 

nice job.. you wet sanded with what grit?

 

Thanks. I'm on spring break this week so I have plenty of free time. As far as patience goes...only for a while. I get frustrated if the job ends up taking too long and I start taking shortcuts. The Rustoleum wheel paint and wheel clear coat seems to be pretty nice. I ran out of clear, AZ was out, so I picked up a can of Duplicolor wheel clear coat from O'Reilly's. I MUCH preferred the Rustoluem. The Duplicolor was thicker and ran a few times.

I will wait a week or so before I get the tires mounted. Definitely getting stick on weights too.

 

After stripping the paint I cleaned the rim with water and a green scrub pad. Then I used a coarse sanding sponge to level any nicks. I used bondo spot putty on the nicks/scratches and 220 grit dry paper to remove excess putty. I coated with 1 light coat and then 1 medium-heavy coat of high build primer. After drying, I wet sanded with 400 and then 800. I laid 1 light coat, and 1 medium-wet coat of the graphite paint. I let this dry for about 10 minutes and then put on a few coats of clear. The trick to making them look "wet" is to put on two light coats of clear, followed by one medium-heavy wet coat.

After drying overnight, I decided to wet sand the first wheel with 1500 and then use polishing compound. Honestly, I wouldn't recommend doing that unless you're going for show quality. There is almost zero difference between the wheel I wet sanded at the end and the other ones that I just left alone after clear coating. These ARE wheels after all, and they're not going to stay perfect for long.

 

Thanks for the details.. I got a parts car with those exact same wheels and new tires on it and i think im gonna give it a go with your approach before i sell em.. May even keep em as spare set.

 

+1

I've done a set (slowly and thoroughly) thought it looks nice at first, rattle can paint (with sanding, primer, and clear coat) just don't stick. I haven't tried but think you really need an oven to bake it. I’ve rather just sell the dirty set and buy something else.

 

I had a go at this kind of thing myself but since I don't have and can't afford rims, I did it on my steel wheels cause I got tired of looking at my old hubcaps. I first used a scouring pad to get rid of 13 years of rust and brake dust build up. Then I wet sanded them with a 1000 point grit. Wiped it down with alcohol, then two coats of graphite wheel paint, and finally two coats of clear.

 

This looks quite good. Did you have any curb rash? I've got a big ol' scrape on one of my rear wheels (that definitely wasn't there when I bought the car..I'm terrible at parking) and I want it to die.

 

very nice.. im doing this in the summer

 

Two of the wheels had curb rash. Not horrible, no chunks of rim missing or anything like that though. After doing some leveling with a coarse sanding block, and filling in the scrapes with spot putty, you could hardly see the marks. A couple of light coats with high build primer and they're all gone!

I hope letting the wheels cure for a week lets the paint harden sufficiently so that it lasts longer. If I had the money I would have preferred getting them powder coated.

 

If you won't get killed for doing this.... Put them in your oven at 200 for about 30min. That will cure them better then letting them sit for a year

 

im actually trying to find wheels just like those where can i find some.
And they look awesome after the refinished.

 

Update: Wheels are done and new tires installed. Installing H&R springs next week. Sorry for the crappy pic.

 

After I got my max last summer, the first mod I decided to attempt was paint my stock rims and calipers. This is how they look as of now, AFTER enduring the salt and all the harshness of winter. I attempted to mask off the lip for a polished lip look. It turned out great, only up close (like in this picture) you can see that it is not totally perfect. However, I paid a total of $32 for the supplies for all 4 wheels, well worth it in my mind

 

Looks good. Except I see you also painted your brake pads...

 

Will that cause a ruthless smell and ruin your oven forever? lol

 

you could evn go as low as 160 or 140 for 30 mins. just turn your exhaust on and open a few windows.