Painting wheels

Andy N

Andy N

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Fellow Frogger
Joined
Nov 18, 2004
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Location
NSW
Hi

Armed with a wire brush and a 'trusty' can of export brand beige enamel, I'll be transforming the CX's wheels tomorrow..if it stops raining. :cry:
Just out of curiosity, I was wondering if anyone knows what the actual original colour of the wheels should be under those shiny saucepan lids?
I just picked a beige bodywork enamel thinking 'oh, it's only the wheels, and they have some patches of mild surface rust that would be good to paint over'. :eek: I will clean them up well with a wire brush and kero before spraying and will need to take the wheels off and mask off the tyres. Does this sound right?

Cheers, Andy :mallet:
 
Kero

Not sure if kero would leave a greasy deposit. I've always used petrol and it's worked out fine.
 
A rub over with a wire brush followed by a thorough cleaning off will get them as good as is possible.
I dunno about the choice of colour though; some colours will show blemishes fairly obviously and any surface rust that remains will both stand out and come back though (after all, 'Export' flyspray paint isn't exactly the stuff they touch Ferraris up with) :rolleyes: FWIW, I used the Export on my car that was identical to yours but in a black. Many advantages; for starters it looks the goods, doesn't show any surface rust through, saves masking the tyres and if you really want to hide blemishes, go for the semi gloss (not mat). Tyre shine then applied at a later time looks quite shmick.
When cleaning the rims before painting though, remember that if you or the previous owner have used any tyre shine products, the silicone will need to be cleaned off the rims. For that you'll need either "Siliconeoff" or a grease and wax remover. Turps works fairly well but regardless, the whole rim will need scrubbing with detergent and warm water after the treatment.
If not proerly cleaned off, you'll drive yourself beserk trying to get rid of the "fish eyes" that will appear when you spray.


Alan S
 
I would also give them a qucik coat of "prepsol" its a special cleaning/etching agent that makes paint stick to just about anything. It's what spray painters use to prepare cars before painting. - Chris
 
Hey guys
I did the rear wheels yesterday and what I thought was a 1 hour job stretched out to 3 :(
I thought it best to take the whole wheels off and in doing this I also painted the inside of the hubs.
The colour is sooo wrong! Apparently 'heritage cream' is pale lemon coloured and it looks crap and nothing like the colour on the cap.
This will be the undercoat until I get the colour I want....just wondering if I will have to slightly sand this one back??
In any case it is good to get that rust covered up...still needing ideas on the type and colour of paint I should be using....I know that black is the easier option but I'm looking for a more original and contrasting look. :roflmao:
Cheers big ears!
Andy
 
I think it's a grey colour. They used it on DS wheels as well.

The only way your going to get a wheel looking really good is to have it sandblasted first (or spend the next 6months of your life trying to prepare it).

Next time I do some I think I'll get them sandblasted. It'll have to be for a very good non-daily used car though (you'll scratch them again just prying the hucaps off).

Possibly a quick coat of oneshot before the top coat might level 'em out a bit.

seeya,
Shane L.
 
I've just taken a set of 205 GTi wheels to get sandblasted, after someone else had painted over the original coating. The same place also does powder coating.

However, they conceded it was better not to sandblast back to bare metal, as there would be considerable filler needed to achieve a smooth finish.

So my next move is to try some paint stripper to get the top layer off, then hopefully get them painted in two-pack silver/clear.
 
Actually paint stripper wouldn't be a bad idea, it would get you back to a level surface without paint chips.

You'd have to be extremelly cautious about cleaning the paintstripper remnants away before painting (all those hidden cracks/joins .... It'd be fun :eek: :eek: ).

seeya,
Shane L.
 
Painting Wheels

Andy N said:
Hi

Armed with a wire brush and a 'trusty' can of export brand beige enamel, I'll be transforming the CX's wheels tomorrow..if it stops raining. :cry:
Just out of curiosity, I was wondering if anyone knows what the actual original colour of the wheels should be under those shiny saucepan lids?
I just picked a beige bodywork enamel thinking 'oh, it's only the wheels, and they have some patches of mild surface rust that would be good to paint over'. :eek: I will clean them up well with a wire brush and kero before spraying and will need to take the wheels off and mask off the tyres. Does this sound right?

Cheers, Andy :mallet:
Click to expand...

Hi Andy,

If you want to avoid the hassle of masking your tyres when painting rims, a good trick I found that works is to paint your tyres with kitchen detergent. Once your paint is dry you only have to hose it down and the overspray comes away with the detergent.

JP
 
Thanks everyone :)
I finally did it and it cost $5.70! This is really too cheap for the finish it needs and the paint is horrible. I ran out and went back to get a better colour. I got 'ivory' which was a little paller but too late for the first two rims.
I covered up quite a lot of rust with the last two rims so I expect it will do me for the next 4 months and then I'll strip it back with paint stripper and get the right colour mixed at the local paint supplies shop.
It'll have to do for now, or for as long as I can stand the ghastly pastel lemon colour!
It could be worth my while finding some rims in better condition and doing a really good job.
I am also looking for some stainless (series i) covers, four of them in very good condition. I will post a request on the parts page but just wanting to know if there are other places that stock them and how much I should pay?
Back to my beer! :adrink: Mid-week weekends are so good!
Andy
 
On my CX I bought two extra wheels, had them sandblasted and powdercoated in a matt black. Then the car was wrecked so still have the wheels (speaker stands). Pity about the stainless steel trims, they were in good nick but went to the wreckers.... :(

The sandblasting/powdercoating was not expensive and certainly easy - I just dropped them off!

regards
sean
 
I recently painted my 505GTi rims. What ever you do, don't use paint stripper!!! It is bloody messy and takes forever to clean the remenants off. You will be sanding/rubbing forever!!

I used CRC/WD40.... keep spraying, rinsing and rubbing with soft pot scourer to get a smooth base. Petrol will also do the trick, but CRC/WD40 is more practical and equally as effective.

A few coats of aluminim enamel wheel paint, and they come up looking like new.

Previously I had used a clear coat of laquer over the top. but wouldn't recommend this, as it breaks down eventully and creates a crazed appearance.

Regards,
Scott
 
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