How do I go about painting some wheels flat black?

 

I used DupliColor wheel paint. You can pick the stuff up at almost any auto parts store, and it works pretty good. Here's my set of Rotas that I spray painted (might as well, they're Rotas...) in the DupliColor "Graphite Gray" color:


It comes in just plain black too, but I'm partial to the anthracite type color. My tires weren't mounted, which made painting easy. If your tires are already on the wheel, I'd suggest using those 3x5" cards to wedge in between the tire and rim. Much easier than using masking tape and newspaper.


[Modified by CheezeFrog, 12:17 AM 4/3/2002]

 

Wow that looks really good. Did you have to strip the old paint off or can you just paint over it?

 

On two of the wheels I lightly sanded them with some 400 grit wet/dry -- supposed to give the paint better "grip". But then I got lazy and didn't bother prepping the last two wheels. Haven't noticed any difference so far. But then again I haven't even mounted the wheels on my car yet I guess that's the great thing about spray paint: It's cheap, and if your wheels ever get nicked or scratched, just give it a little spray or two and it's like new again. Plus since my wheels are Rotas, I don't feel bad about painting them.


[Modified by CheezeFrog, 12:31 AM 4/3/2002]

 

Thanks alot for the info looks like I am going to be painting some wheels this weekend

 

Those Rota C8's look great!! That's how the rims should've come from Rota (gunmetal color) IMHO. It looks like they didn't scratch the paint when mounting the tires either......

 

That's what I'm planning on doing to my Slipstreams once I get a CF hood. That looks great!!! 2 's ^

 

i did the exact same thing with my del sol rims.

 

That's looks great! What kind of prep work did you put into that? I'm also assuming that you also used the same color grey Duplicolor wheel paint?

 

Nice job cheezefrog. How many coats did you use on the rims? How many cans of paint also? Thanx.

 

do you have any pics with those rotas on your hatchy ?

with or without paint...

 

 

whoa, want to sell your rotas?

 

I forgot how many coats I did. Probably around 3 or 4 light coats, which two full cans will cover if you're careful. I bought 3 cans just in case. With the way I drive (which I'd like to attribute more to bad luck than driving skill), I'll probably add another few coats to cover the blemishes I'm bound to incur later on down the road

I don't have any pics yet, but I should have some up soon. I think I'm going to install my suspension, wheels, and rear disc brakes tomorrow. Was going to wait on the Fastbrakes front brake kit and my ITR rear bar, but I need to get the wheels on my car before the photo shoot this weekend.


[Modified by CheezeFrog, 8:55 PM 4/3/2002]

 

Jesus, that came out nice...If my wheels weren't so "expensive and rare" I'd do that same thing...But I'll probably go the powdercoating route just to ensure a uniform quality finish. But they came out very nice from what I can see here...

 

oh sorry guys i erased the pic from my website. anyway that was four layers of the same paint. just spray in a swaying motion.. left to right.. to left.. to right... etc, and let it dry for 15 min or so, then do it again three more times. also, i didnt use clear coat, and i dont think it was needed.