Wheel Paint?

[Creep]

Quick question just got an 07 cobalt ss( some of u might have seen it at the park on sunday) but since the budgets kinda small right now im thinkin about painting the stock wheels with black duplicolor wheel paint. anyone know anything about it? good/bad. need some suggestions.

Mike

[SilentDeath128]

I used engine enamel. All I did was gave it a good cleaning and ran it over with a bit of sandpaper. I used index cards to stick between the tires and wheel to keep the paint off the tires. After 2 years, there is only a couple of chips and some curb rashes.

[DPancoast]

^ pretty much spot on for something easy. I have a decent write up that I copied from the MR2 boards, but I'm at work so I'll post it later. Clean the wheels, sand em, primer them, and paint. Take your time and it should come out fine. Also I would recommend Krylon over Duplicolor but that's just my personal preference.

[PUREKDM]

always works for me...i painted mine the metallic silver just like stated above...clean, sand, clean, primer, paint, paint, paint...you could even do a coat or two of clear...turns out wonderful for under $40

[ozthunder]

Use a deck of cards to put around the rim and to protect the tire. I also wrapped the tire in tin foil (LMAO...tape won't stick most of the time) before that to make doubley sure. Nothing says fail like paint on the tire. NOTHING!

[DPancoast]

Here's a Duplicolor way that a bunch of people on the MR2 boards did. "I" refers to the person that originally posted it.

Disclaimers: You should never use this method to repair/cover up major dents, ANY cracks, or other major imperfection. If your rim has any of these, please take it to a professional rim repair place to get it inspected and fixed. Always spray paint in a well-ventilated area and follow all manufacturers instructions.

First off, you will need:

2 cans of Duplicolor high performance wheel coating in the color of your choice. You may need 3 if you go heavy on the coats or if your rims have a lot of surface area. I chose Bronze, # HWP105
1 can of Duplicolor high performance wheel coating in clear, #HWP103. I bought two, but only used about half of one can.
Red Scotch-brite pads
30ish 3x5" Index cards
Thin and thick blue painters masking tape


The below are optional, only if your rims are dinged/curb rashed:
Some 180 and 400 grit sandpaper
Bondo red spot putty
Primer (optional if you are going to paint a light color, such as white)

Ok, now you have all your stuff, lets begin!

1. Clean the rims with dish detergent and water to get rid of any oil or dirt, then let them dry.

2. Go over the entire rim with the red scotch-brite pad to scuff up the surface.

3. Once scuffed up, locate any areas that have dings and fill imperfections with the spot putty. You want it to be a little higher than the surrounding area so you can sand it down again to smooth. Let it dry, preferably overnight.

4. After it is dried, sand it down with the 180 grit sandpaper first, then finish it off with the 400 grit to get it really smooth and finished.

5. Use a damp paper towel to wipe up all sanding dust.

6. Cut each of the index cards in half, and start sticking them in between the lip of the rim and the bead of the tire. Overlap them so that it covers the tire well. Once you get completely around with the cards, take them together loosely with some of the thin blue tape. This allows you to really get the lip of the rim well-covered with paint, and saves a lot of time compared to masking tape.

7. Use the thick painters tape to cover up most of the sidewall of the tire. This is just to protect against any major over spray. Don't forget about the valve stems. This would be the time to primer over what's left of the red spot putty if you are going with a very light color.

8. Ok, now its time to paint. I followed the instructions on the back of the can that said to apply two light tack coats first, then one medium coat to cover. Wait 10 minutes between each coat. Duplicolor also reccommended that you apply all coats within a 1 hour timeframe. I did two wheels at a time because it would be very hard to do all four at once. If you only bought two cans of color paint, try to use just one can per set of two wheels. If you used more than 1 can for the first two, you are going to need to purchase a third can. I almost completely used up two cans, so it would just depend on your style of wheel whether or not you would need a third. Take your time with painting, and make sure to get all the nooks and crannies and get the paint even. This is the area to really spend a lot of effort into getting it looking good. I actually added a fourth medium coat of paint to make sure it was even and smooth.

9. Paint the other two wheels using the same methods.

10. Let the first set dry 1-2 hours then spray on the clear wheel coating. Do the same with the second set, once they have dried 1-2 hours.

11. Let the paint dry for 4 or 5 hours, then carefully remove all of your masking tape. If possible, I would let them dry for longer before you mount them on the car, especially if you were going to drive it. It would be a shame to do all this work and then ruin it by being hasty at the end.

Long, but good I think.

[WRX_JB]

Creep if you need any help doing this i have off for the next few days , let me know

[Creep]

thx for the suggestions. now i havent looked into it yet but i still have about a year warrenty left from the dealer. do u guys think it would do anything to that warranty if i were to paint them. i dont see it hurting anything but they might be alittle gay about it ya know.