how to paint your rims

[destroyerofu2]

trip to store
1-2 cans brake cleaner or rim cleaner and degreaser
2 packs of 400 grit wet-dry sand paper
4 cans of duplicolor self-etching primer
4 cans of duplicolor wheel paint (flat black or gloss)
4 cans of duplicolor wheel clear paint


***notes*** i did one rim at a time because the tpms (tire pressure monitoring system) (i didnt want to mix them up) but take your time. if you rush it it will show

first wheel chocks



jack the car up from a safe point
take off tire



clean clean clean
i used brake cleaner and rim cleaner(found buy rim paint supplys at walmart)
i curbed this rim so i started with it.



dont for get the lug nuts



this is the point of no return
this part is the one that almost made me cry
so if your weak of heart stop take a min and be sure you want to do this
($40,000 car and your going to take sand paper to it) (just take a min and think)

now that you got that out of the way, sand the crap out of them with fine grit 320 or 400 ( i used 400)
and the lug nuts also



clean, clean, make sure they are clean



tape both sides of the rim and cover the tire
then primer it make sure you get both sides
i started with the back side first (including the inside of the rim) then fliped tire over and do the front


i took out the center caps and did those apart from the rim



after waiting like 2 hours for the primer to dry
paint the rim. I did 2 coats started on the back side first then to the front, half hour wait time, then apply 2nd coat.



dont forget the lugnuts same as the rim, primer and paint



then clear coat
i did 2 coats 1 hour wait between the coats



let dry for atleast an hour or two

you are going to mess up the lugnuts here
but reinstall the tire unless you can wait for a couple of days for the lugnuts to fully cure.



stand back and admire your work

then do other rear tire

clean, sand, primer, paint, paint, clear, clear, install



now do the fronts



make sure you use good lift points and safety first



clean, sand, primer, paint, paint, clear, clear, install



park in the light take some pictures and admire what you have just done



then drive around town and accept all the complements you get



i just got them done and drove to the gas station and first guy that walked out of the store told me that those rims looked bad a$$ on that car

all i could say was THANKS MAN!




hope this helps you guys out there that want to do this
it was relatively easy and inexpensive

just take your time or it will not look as good as you wanted

remember you want to be able to stand back and say LOOK WHAT I DID!
and not say OH MY GOD LOOK AT WHAT I DID TO MY CAR, WHY DID I DO THAT.

any thing i forgot let me know and i will add it

[IBM/2SS/RS/LS3]

Looks good..

Did you at least fix the curb rash?

[destroyerofu2]

yea sanding and primer made it dissapear

[OldSchoolCamaro]

Lookin good! Great write-up!

[Darth Martel]

that is bada$$... I thought about doing that but, figured it would look ghetto. Yours look pro. Great job and write up. My only question is... how will they hold up to the elements/rock chips/etc... ?

[ron10]

very nice job.

[2Devious]

Originally Posted by Darth Martel

that is bada$$... I thought about doing that but, figured it would look ghetto. Yours look pro. Great job and write up. My only question is... how will they hold up to the elements/rock chips/etc... ?

I have a few months of driving on my painted rims, basically the same method as described above (http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=101480), mine are holding up fantastically. No rock chips, paint flakes or anything of the sort.

[destroyerofu2]

Yea I put on two coats of paint and two coats of clear because that's what I was afraid of but so far two weeks now and no scratches or chips and still looks great

[olblue75]

when are you going to do the orange part of the wheel

[racrx451]

good job!

[Darth Martel]

excellent... thanks for letting me know the durability. I'll probably wait until spring for this but, it's now on my list of mods.

[Silver Ice]

looks great

[mcotton]

looks great

[jagan323]

hmm, wouldnt the painted lugnuts chip when you remove the tires or re-torque the tires? I'm just thinking there is a lot of contact with the sockets... dont know how that would hold up @_@.

Looks awesome though, I really want to do that for my LT rims =D