I don't plan on buying some aftermarket rims for a little while and want to take the hubcaps off but the rims just look horrible with rust/faded areas. I've researched some rim painting and it mainly aims at aftermarket rims, but I'm not sure how to repaint the stock steelies black and don't want it looking like crap if I tried.

Whats the best type of paint and technique for repainting them black? I'm not too picky about the paint, I just want something effective enough to hide the bad spots-if this is even possible, I don't know much about painting but I figured with some help it could be done.

 

https://honda-tech.com/forums/wheel-tire-56/9658-faq-how-paint-your-wheels-1356908/

There's a good write up. Although when I did mine I didn't strip it to bare metal. I just sanded the clear off/scuffed it enough so a new layer of paint would stick.
Duplicolor makes wheel paint in a rattle can. I used it to paint my s10 wheels.

 

The prep is what matters, not so much the paint. The more rust and crap you remove and the more you de-gloss the surface the better your end result will be.

Rattle-can wheel paint will work so long as the wheels are prepped well enough (sanded and cleaned).

 

sand them down and get some black rustoleum paint

 

Or if u wanna be really cheap, like I was with my si's get a good heavy duty wire brush(I stripped my clear first and didn't use a wire brush) but the wire brush will be more effective on the black coating and surface rust on the steelies. But hit them with the wire brush really good, really really good, and then wash them and make sure you rinse all of the soap off, and then I used cheap wal mart flat black .88 cent cans of spray paint. Allow them enough time to fully dry and cure, and slap them back on. I did this on my si wheels and it lasted 3 years without chipping, but I stripped it back off and polished them. Good luck with 'em!

 

Yea it's a good write-up but I'm not sure all those steps are needed to just repaint steelies. I'll probably start getting the paint tomorrow-see what the local stores have, and start by sanding them down really good then applying the paint.

I wanted to know two more things also, is Primer necessary once the sanding is done? Or is sanding them sufficient enough for the paint to hold? And what type of paint would be best to keep the glossy look down and be strong enough to hold up against cleaners when the rims get dirty?

Edit: Found the paint I want - http://duplicolor.com/products/wheel.html
But I'm still unsure as to use primer or not.

 

yes use primer. give the paint a nice surface to bond to

 

Agreed, Like I said I sanded the clear off of the wheels then primered and painted. Just a heads up if you are going to use the duplicolor wheel paint, I found that if you hold it at the recommended distance when spraying it dries in kind of a powdery coat. I would hold it a bit closer than it says to.

 

1.)sand wheel kill the clear coat and take all excesss gunk off
2.) tape of wheels so paint doesnt get on the tire
3.) primer wheels and wet sand to get any marks or dirt off wheel
4.) paint wheels color of your choice
5.) aplly clearcoat wet sand if needed
6.) let wheels dry

 

Thanks for the tips everyone, appreciate the help since this is the biggest painting project I've ever done-not much of a painter.
I started sanding and priming today, will be applying the paint tomorrow.
One last thing, how necessary would you guys say Clear Coat is? I heard it just wears off eventually anyway and you have to re-apply it.

 

whenever i paint wheels i always aplly clear coat it helps the wheel look better and it hasnt ever wore off on any off my wheels

 

if you want a matte finish dont use clear unless youre using a "gloss" color, its not needed. its all in what you want to do with your wheels, after all, theyre yours and no one elses and youre the one that has to look at them everyday. if you want them glossy then clear them.. but i dont see the need in going through all of this wet sanding BS on a set of steelies. its all up to you though

 

Thanks for the help and suggestions everyone, really helped.
Working on my third rim now, thought I'd post a couple pictures.

Before

After


Still rollin' on steelies, but looks MUCH better.