new wheel paint

[lostforawhile]

well i tried the new duplicolor high performance wheel coating and an very happy with it,I've had it for a while now,just havn't had anytime to do anything until now. it seems really high quality no runs or drips if you follow the directions, I have the 89 teg ls wheels,so they are painted aluninum already, so i just took the wheel and tire off stuck the entire thing in the bathtub and wetsanded the old paint flat. then i repainted it with three coats and two clear coats, and repainted the center cap to match,notice I detailed the h in the center cap with automotive striping paint. I did one tonight,and i'll do another one tomorrow. and so on. this is the graphite color i used,it matches my aluminum grill bars and the gray on the factory trim. here are the pics. starting with the before pic.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b205/moultriemanicmechanic/5oldwheel.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b205/moultriemanicmechanic/2006-01-12_00003.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b205/moultriemanicmechanic/2006-01-12_00002.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b205/moultriemanicmechanic/2006-01-12_00001.jpg

[gfrg88]

ive been thinking of painting my wheels too, how hard was it to paint these?? and how much dow that paint go for?? pics are a little blurry but look pretty nice from what i can see, keep up the good work tim

[86lxinva]

damn there shiny! looks good....were do i find that paint i need to redo mine!and also how much is the paint and how many cans do you recomend?

[lostforawhile]

it's the duplicolor high performance wheel paint,something like 6 bucks a can at autozone, plus a can of the clear for it,I bough too cans and have done one wheel so far and have plenty left in the first can,it's not hard to do you just need to follow the directions on the can carefully,the main thing is careful cleaning of the wheel.

[Cheeseburger]

clean man i like them!!!!

[86lxinva]

so how did you go about keeping the paint off the tires? i no i did it to my last car and it was hard because the tape wouldint stick well? any suggestions?

[lostforawhile]

I just used wide automotive painting tape in strips all the way around,then taped news paper to that.when i do another one i'll take some more pics too. the main thing of course is taking it off the car first,then lay it flat on a table or something,try not to paint it standing up or you'll get drips. it's two light coats and one medium wet coat,ten minutes between coats,20 minute wait two light coats of clear ten minutes between each coat. after the last coat you can't recoat it for seven days if you wait more then an hour.

[86lxinva]

ok thanks alot im gonna do mine this weekend!

[jonrichert]

nice work tim! but you need to invest in a better camera to document all your projects :wave:

[Bglad420]

Great Job Tim.....now just drop that sucker....

[lostforawhile]

nice work tim! but you need to invest in a better camera to document all your projects :wave:
those were taken in the dark with a hundred watt light bulb:)

[HondaBoy]

yeah that does look really nice man. you always seem to do really nice work though. i havent seen anything that wasnt top quality.

[lostforawhile]

ok took a couple more these are a little better but it was already getting dark when i got home from work,
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b205/moultriemanicmechanic/3oldwheel.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b205/moultriemanicmechanic/2oldwheel.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b205/moultriemanicmechanic/4oldwheel.jpg
ok I beadblasted the rear one,but you really don't need to do this if you can't,I did the first one the long way to show you that you don't need special tools or anything to get a nice job, the main thing is clean the wheel and then clean it again,then a third time if you want, but make sure there isn't any crud on it at all. it just takes lots of elbow grease is all, if you follow the can directions you can do just as nice of a job, this is an easy and cheap thing you can do and the results are great and really make your car look nice. if you use the duplicolor high performance paint,I think you can get away with doing all four with base and clear for around twenty bucks,plus sandpaper. the rear wheel after being beadblasted,I will paint it later
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b205/moultriemanicmechanic/1oldwheel.jpg

[russiankid]

why is there a burn out mark?

[lostforawhile]

from me parking,I always skid into the same place right in front of my house when i come home from work,I have a couple of marks there and i always end up in the same spot. had a paper cup there for two weeks,always ended up right behind the front tire,never hit it. Don't ask,I don't know. :)

[lostforawhile]

ok for an update,the paint comes in bronze,flat black,silver and graphite which is what i used, one can will do two average 14 inch wheels,with three coats per wheel,and one can of clear should do all four wheels, the trick to masking is to use short about three inch pieces of tape,all the way around overlapping each other,tuck these between the rim and the tire and make sure they are pushed down in there,i use a special tool,called a pen cap. once you put these overlapping pieces all the way around tape masking paper to the tape to cover the rest of the wheel. make sure you don't have any exposed tire. the best way to do this is after cleaning and prepping the wheel,just set it in your lap and tape your way around. then take it out and paint it. I also used prep all right before i paint it. once you prep all it don't touch the metal unless you have latex gloves on,to keep skin oil off of it.

[lostforawhile]

ok here is a pic of the masking if it helps.they sell rings for doing this,but it just takes a little more effort to do it with tape, the center cap also will get painted,after being sanded,and the h gets painted with striping paint with a number 0 brush,then cleared over. i'm about to do the h right now.http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b205/moultriemanicmechanic/wheelmasking001.jpg

[gfrg88]

nice job tim, thanx for all the info, keep up the good work. im going to try this tomorrow or on sunday....

[lostforawhile]

nice job tim, thanx for all the info, keep up the good work. im going to try this tomorrow or on sunday....just give yourself plenty of time for each wheel and for cleaning them really good and masking really good. what color are you going to paint yours? the graphite grey looks really good under sunlight,it is a metalflake also but thats hard to see in artificial light,in sunlight it really pops. I think the bronze is closer to the original gold mesh wheels that came on some of these cars,i haven't seen it in sunlight yet though. i'm pretty sure the silver would be like what was oem on these wheels. heres a couple more pics. I just finished this one a little while ago.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b205/moultriemanicmechanic/finoishedwheel003.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b205/moultriemanicmechanic/finoishedwheel002.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b205/moultriemanicmechanic/finoishedwheel001.jpg

[lostforawhile]

y'a know this might be a good sticky

[lostforawhile]

yea it seems pretty tough,you can handle it in three hours,but i would be extra careful not to scrape it for a week or so until it fully cures. it says made to resist all the stuff that wheels normally come in contact with,and chip resistant. just make sure you sand the old surface good so it's flat first,glossy areas thet are painted over have a habit of chipping. they have this stuff in flat black. It used to be I wouldn't buy anything in a can,but they have really been creating some good stuff lately. a lot of it is solvent technology,they are able to hold paint types in suspension that they didn't use to be able too.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b205/moultriemanicmechanic/finishedwheels001.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b205/moultriemanicmechanic/finishedwheels002.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b205/moultriemanicmechanic/finishedwheels003.jpg

[HondaBoy]

i might add to this, if your painting aluminum wheels, do make sure any corrosion is removed. its just like rust. even when you think you've gotten it all off it will bubble under the paint after a while if its not completely gone.