prepping wheels for paint

[CHAOS]

im looking into painting my BBS wheels a bit more... and i have no idea how to approach this process besides "sanding" and painting... and obviously taping them off in the appropriate sections..... anyone have any good insight into making them turnout perfect or perhaps know of a vendor that does this extremely well?

[na is best!]

this is how i did my wheels when i painted them... i used aircraft stripper first to remove the factory clear... it worked really good!!!! Isprayed the stripper and let sit for 5 mins then wiped off the residue with a wet towel..then i sprayed water on the rim and used 220 grit and started sanding...just keep sanding a jeep spraying water....keep switching sandpaper sheets.. they get old quick!! Once you see the rim is bare, no more shiny parts then move to the next grit. 220 is the longest one the rest arent as bad dont worry... with the 220 it took me about a hour a rim (by hand) Every grit you use next is just simply smoothing out your last grit. Just try and keep the rim wet and sand sand sand. If you are gonna piant em sand your way up to around 800 grit... when I did mines i wanted a polished lip so i sanded the lip to 1000 grit. Painting is preety simple. I used 2 light coats of primer. Then i think 3 or 4 coats of paint. I used dupicolor.. worked great! Paint real light coats and let dry completely before next coat..good luck

[ToTheIX's]

dude you saw mine.....call bonehead

[Renegade_]

dude you saw mine.....call bonehead
his wheels are forged, can't powdercoat em to the best of my knowledge. I don't know why, but thats what people were telling me

[ToTheIX's]

2nd post....
http://www.tristatetuners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=30409

[S4toSTI]

Ummm to the best of my knowledge and not doubting bone head here but i have always heard it is not a good thing.

[TROLL]

there are different schools of thought on it. enkei recently told me its fine, bbs says its not. there is a low heat powdercoating process that some places can do which should be fine, or you can do normal powdercoat depending on how you feel about that.
i wouldnt paint them yourself though, it wouldnt do the wheels any justice.

[CHAOS]

my only problem with powdercoating is turn around time... i drive the car every day... i cant afford too much down time

[TROLL]

doh, if you did it last week you coulda borrowed my 5x114 wheels but after friday i'm gonna need them.
what color are you planning to go?

[evomike]

well i have painted so many sets of wheels i cant even remember how many ive done, ill do em for a price depending on color, but if you decide to diy i highly advise against stripper here is a break down
1 clean the wheels before doing anything
2 scuff the wheels with a scotch brite untill there is no shine
3 after this reclean
4 do any neccesary taping
5 paint away
pm me with any questions

[CleanNeon98]

Basically for the best result, you want to get a set of beaters to run around on for the time being.

Remove tires (not necessary, but will make stripping and painting easier)
Prep work is key. Sand everything, if you can, get the wheels sandblasted.
Prime them, at least one full coat...I did 2 for my steelies, and those are damn steelies
Sand the primed surface with a fine sandpaper (800 grain or so) to fix any runs, spots, etc.
Paint. Start spraying off of the wheel and move to it. Hold the can 6-8 inches away, and keep moving..better to do a few light coats than one heavy one that will have runs on it.
Let wheels dry completely before doing the next coat...if you really like your rims, do 3-4 coats
Clearcoat
Take them to a GOOD shop to have tires re-mounted because one with idiots behind the machine can scratch all of that hard work you did.

Also, ask Teh Dirt, because I remember he painted his a while back

[evomike]

soooooo much unneccesary things people think need to be done

[CleanNeon98]

soooooo much unneccesary things people think need to be done

yea....lets just spray the wheel while its on the car...that way it can match the tires, and everything else around them:roll:

[evomike]

or you could follow the list i put there, do you have any clue what sandblasting would do to an aluminum whel, but why would anyone listen to me about painting something i havent been painting cars for 9 years

[CleanNeon98]

or you could follow the list i put there, do you have any clue what sandblasting would do to an aluminum whel, but why would anyone listen to me about painting something i havent been painting cars for 9 years

His are forged I dont know if that makes any difference...ive always heard it said that sandblasting is way easier than sanding by hand...quicker as well

[evomike]

not at all sand blastic creates a huge mess and will pitt the wheels all you need is a scotch brite pad

[na is best!]

well here is how mine turned out... this is before i polised the lip.... i just taped the lip off didnt bother tapig the wheels since the tires were bald and was getting new tires put on....

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c169/revlimitda6/IMG_7065.jpg

[CleanNeon98]

Those look decent...did you prime them and all? How many coats of paint? Clearcoat?

[Honest_Bob]

When I did my slipstreams in bronze I followed basicly what evomike suggested. Mine came out just fine, its been probably almost a year and they still look good. They arent 100% perfect but I take all the blame as I was rushing to get them done. Take your time.:)

[evomike]

ill put it this way the last set i did hit a barrier at 120 the wheels shattered but no paint flaking just follow my directions

[na is best!]

well i have painted so many sets of wheels i cant even remember how many ive done, ill do em for a price depending on color, but if you decide to diy i highly advise against stripper here is a break down
1 clean the wheels before doing anything
2 scuff the wheels with a scotch brite untill there is no shine
3 after this reclean
4 do any neccesary taping
5 paint away
pm me with any questions


i want to repaint my wheels... where can i find a scotch brite

[evomike]

the easiest is prob sears hadware etc in the paint supplies section