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wheel paint

digglesworth

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,789
Location
illinois
I'm so freaking excited. I just got a set of the split spoke oem wheels of craigslist. I'm in the process of cleaning them up now. I want to paint them black. What should I use? I don't want to plasti-dip them and powder coating is probably outtay price range. I've seen people use duplicolor wheel paint so I'm leaning towards that so touch ups will be a breeze. So what's the best way to do it so they're done right? Do I need to prep the wheel in any way? Is there a primer involved? Do I need to clear coat them when I'm done. Any suggestions from anybody that's done this? Thanks guys...
 

digglesworth

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,789
Location
illinois
Oh... And if anyone can post up pics too. That'd be awesome. I'd consider plasti-dip if it holds up. I like the little bit of texture look... Like squeakys bedlined w/ a top coat. Or I just looked at eds plasti-dipped one's.
 

08H3

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,368
Location
United States
I've had great results from Duplicolor's wheel paint. I painted a set back in 2005 and still look just as good.
 

Sneakysilver

Well-Known Member
Messages
173
Location
Midlothian Virginia
Pics? And what kind of prep is involved?

I'm so freaking excited. I just got a set of the split spoke oem wheels of craigslist. I'm in the process of cleaning them up now. I want to paint them black. What should I use? I don't want to plasti-dip them and powder coating is probably outtay price range. I've seen people use duplicolor wheel paint so I'm leaning towards that so touch ups will be a breeze. So what's the best way to do it so they're done right? Do I need to prep the wheel in any way? Is there a primer involved? Do I need to clear coat them when I'm done. Any suggestions from anybody that's done this? Thanks guys...

What's so bad about plasti dip? If you loom up dip your car. They have great products to make plasti dip the next level

sent from my man cave
 

evldave

Well-Known Member
Messages
93
Location
somewhere west of north
I used the Herculiner bedliner in a spray can. Works ok...after many years it's definitely faded and I should probably re-spray it, but I don't care enough :)

I didn't prep at all other than just cleaning the wheels. I know others have used aircraft cleaner to remove the clearcoat on the wheels, but I didn't bother. I'd guess it's been 4-5 years since I painted the wheels and haven't seen any issues other than the fading.



 

digglesworth

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,789
Location
illinois
rims.jpg
The rims all have these "veins" in em. You can't really feel them running your fingers over them. The duplicolor stuff says to scuff them up with their prep pad. I dunno if I should take some sand paper to the face of these before I do anything to em....
 

08H3

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,368
Location
United States
Pics? And what kind of prep is involved?

I stripped all the paint off down to bare aluminum. I don't know if you would necessarily have to do that if the existing finish is in decent shape, but these were pretty poor. After that, pretty straightforward-- rattle can several coats of black, followed by clear. No primer.

H4O-0044.jpg
 

LoJac963

Well-Known Member
Messages
491
Location
Surprise, AZ
Plasti Dip is a waste of your time. I spent a good amount of time taking all that crap off my rig and using permanent products. Here's a pic of one of my wheels after getting the plasti dip off, scuffing with a pad, and 2-3 coats of Dupli Color Engine Enamel low gloss black.

20130625_122623.jpg
 

digglesworth

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,789
Location
illinois
those look pretty good lojac... how come you used engine paint and not their wheel paint. im wondering if I can use bedliner as a base coat then use the duplicolor wheel paint and their matte black clear coat. basically to get the texture of the bedliner with the finish of the duplicolor....
 

SolidusJ

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,028
Location
FT. Carson, CO
I stripped all the paint off down to bare aluminum. I don't know if you would necessarily have to do that if the existing finish is in decent shape, but these were pretty poor. After that, pretty straightforward-- rattle can several coats of black, followed by clear. No primer.

H4O-0044.jpg

Have anymore pictures of that Carlo??? :horns:You should post it up in the other rides thread and post up lots of photos!!! I really want a 1987 SS Carlo since I was 16.
 

digglesworth

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,789
Location
illinois
I think I'm gonna try the duplicolor stuff. They have a matte black clear coat that looks like it should turn out pretty nice. Now I just gotta wait for some warmer temps to be able to paint.
 

LoJac963

Well-Known Member
Messages
491
Location
Surprise, AZ
I don't know, I've used their engine enamel like crazy in the past and know its a great product. I've never used their "wheel" paint. The engine enamel is pretty strong and will hold up to the heat. Here in AZ with braking in the summer the rims can get insanely hot! Forgot to mention, after using a scuffing pad I did primer also before the engine enamel.
 

digglesworth

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,789
Location
illinois
They're already broken down... Powder coating is definitely a durable option. But to spend a good chunk of money and then go slide them through the rocks doesn't appeal to me. I like the idea of a paint product cause i should be able to touch them up very easily and won't have issues with matching colors. I've got several buddies that have used the duplicolor and its lasted years so far. It seems to be pretty durable. May not be quite as durable as powder coating but its more of a cost effective solution for me.
 

Big Mike

Well-Known Member
Messages
214
Location
The Republik of Upstate New York..
They're already broken down... Powder coating is definitely a durable option. But to spend a good chunk of money and then go slide them through the rocks doesn't appeal to me. I like the idea of a paint product cause i should be able to touch them up very easily and won't have issues with matching colors. I've got several buddies that have used the duplicolor and its lasted years so far. It seems to be pretty durable. May not be quite as durable as powder coating but its more of a cost effective solution for me.

That makes good sense..

don't know about your area but PC around here is a little pricey there are only like three shops in town and two of them suck..
 

digglesworth

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,789
Location
illinois
I had a piece of 2" square tubing that was like 22" long I had to cut and drill to make an extension for my hitch mounted bike rack. I called one place and they quoted me over $100 for that... I asked them if they were serious then told them thanks but no thanks.
 

954paulo

Well-Known Member
Messages
467
Location
ny
@ diggle

Mine are plastidipped for almost 1 1/2 years. Still look great even with wheeling and beach excursions.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

RamRod

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,914
Location
AB, Canada
I am currently getting a friends dad to quote me on anodizing my rims! In order to do the process the the rim had to be machined not forged aluminum... Going to see how that holds up!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 

JoeFireGuy

Well-Known Member
Messages
53
Location
Denver-ish
I tried the Plasti-dip product about six months ago. It still looks like I did it yesterday. I had my tires rotated and balanced last week, the shop had to move two of the weights, so now I have two silver spots. I'm gonna re-shoot just those spots and the product will blend right in. That's the cool thing about it, you scuff a wheel on a rock or a curb, spray it and it goes away. I like the stuff. I used Duplicolor bed liner on my mirrors, door handles and grill and it has not held up nearly as well as the Plasti-dip. I'm waiting for more of it to chip off and then I plan on stripping it and applying the Plasti-dip to all of it. Best of luck, remember, its just paint and you can always change it...Joe
 
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