AaronJ

I have a set of the 96 integra SE 6 spoke wheels, and I decided I was going to paint them. I took all of the old paint off with aircraft paint stripper, and then had the wheels sandblasted to take off everything. After that the wheels were washed off and then whiped off with paint thinner.

First I applied a primer coat, waited 15 min. and applied a basecoat of Dupli-color graphite wheel paint. I did 4 coats of paint with about 15 min inbetween each coat. After that I did 2 coats of clear and let the rims set for about 5 days

When we tried to mount the tire on the rim the edge of the rim chipped to **** just from the tire going over it, and some of the rims have chips in them for no damn reason-I have no Idea how they got there.

Could it be possible that the paint didn't fully harden, because I let them dry out in my shop which was prolly 50 degrees max.

Can the tires be mounted without messing up my paint after I repaint the edge of the wheel?

Did I screw up in the prepping process?

cd5_2NR

umm...it probably didnt bond right with your primer..or your primer didnt bond with the rim...

a friend of mine just recently painted some gsx rims and so far it has no chips...for the first part you it was in 50 degree temp...i once worked on some shaved handles once and my primer would NOT dry with it that cold..lol...that coulda been the problem...

oh i see you used dupli-color...what brand/type primer did you use...

AaronJ

it was all dupli-color products that were used

when i painted them we had the heat on in my shop, but after I was done painting the heat was turned off..So for after about 5 hours it went from 65 to about 50.

I just want to know if it is normal for the paint to chip off when mounting tires, from the people who have actually painted their rims and then mounted tires afterward.

Should I just mount them and then redo the outside to avoid this problem?

AnToNy

i'm in the process of paintin my Sinko's. I cleaned, scuffed, primed ( 3-4 layer w/ 30-45 mins between layers) and now i've done atleast 6 layers of paint. Gonna do one more layer of paint then clear.

It says make sure to scuff, so the primer has somewhere to stick (besides the clear coat). And to recoat while the paint is tacky (not wet) within 1-2 hours. I hope mine turns out fine. I'm going to mount tires Wed night probably if everything works right! If i can get the things balanced!

AaronJ

I sprayed the primer onto bare aluminum, since the wheels were sandblasted it took off everthing, after that they were not scuffed at all and were only cleaned.

could that be the problem?

AnToNy

I would have scuffed in anyway so the primer can def. stick into the grooves. You might have rushed too much between coats. It will def. pay off if u take ur time and wait. I've been doing my rims for 3 days and scuffing between days.

I think it was just a result of rushing between coats. Maybe the primer, but unlikely.

I'm using all dupli-color products, and i will see once i mount the tires.

AaronJ

I didn't try to rush, i had all the time in the world. But on the can it says if you are going to recoat you have to do it within 2 hours, and while the paint is still sticky.

also-they are only chipping on the far outer edge-in the middle and on the spokes it is sticking real well.

This is what I want to know-

Does this just happen when you mount tires on painted wheels or not?

AnToNy

maybe u didn't put enough on the sides where the machine/tire tools rub. I've thought about that before i started painting mine. So i'm making sure to paint the outer lip really good and clear coat. You might have to sand the edges and repaint.

Edit: If the shop doesn't know, or ur not careful when mounting. Rims will always get scratched but it shouldn't chip.

AaronJ

bump for any other suggestions

Mikerocosms

You need a primer that adheres to bare metal and especially aluminum. Not all primers do this. I personally use Valspar's DTM (direct to metal) primer. It kicks ***. You also have to make sure your primer is dry between coats. Wet on wet primer causes it to never dry thoroughly underneath. Get the right temperature reducers and hardeners for your primer and wait at LEAST 15 min between each coat. If it still looks wet wait longer especially in cold weather.

For comfort sake, you can spray another coat of primer on DTM within 24 hours of your last coat so dont worry about it drying too much, it aint gonna happen.


Mike!