Got some prelude alloys from the junkyard today. They had some rust spots that cleaned up well but they don't look nice as they should. I am debating whether I should paint them or not. Should I paint them? If so what color? Or could I just spray some gloss clear coat over them and call it a day?

 

Gloss clear would look nice, but keep in mind that it will seal in any imperfections. You could always paint and then apply a gloss clear coat. As for color, personally I'm a fan of dark shades of gray or simply black, but I don't know if black would go well with this style of wheel. I feel black is better on wheels with less spoke, more empty space. Try a dark shade of gray with a clear coat.

 

Thanks for the reply. I've always liked gold and bronze rims look, chrome is nice too. I don't know. Black doesn't look very apealing to me for some reason, not very exciting. I like the gold, silver, bronze and chrome look on wheels. Blue, red and yellow seems too superficial.

I'm really just hesitant to paint them cause I think they will start to peel and look bad.

 

Dupli color makes some half decent wheel paint. If you choose that make sure you get the self etching primer as well, and use a good wax grease remover to clean to rims.

 

You will have to take the clear coat off the rims no matter what you plan on doing. Whether you polish or paint them. Self etching primer will not stick to the factory clear coat.

Take them to a shop and have them stripped and powder coated. That would be your best bet if you don't want them to chip. Knowing how cheap you are, I would suggest that you take some time and sand and polish them. Then see whether or not you want to colour them. As far as colour goes....what colour is your car?

 

Conventional Ricer wisdom is hot pink or lime green. Google that for pictures.

 

Oh yeah and just an FYI. Technically aluminum doesn't rust, it corrodes and crates aluminum oxide. Hard Grey coating or white powder..... this isn't rust. Rust is common to iron and steel corrosion.... aluminum should not contain ether!

 

What Ghost said on everything!

 

Polishing makes the wheels look so nice! I would polish them, it takes forever but it's so worth it. I'm planning on polishing my Accord Ex wheels.

 

We all know he is just going to poof-can them and call it a day.

 

Poof can them? , wtfizzle man. No this is what I picked up today. I'm going to clean then off, rough them up, and paint them.









I don't mind constructive criticizing but your mouth has gone a little too far. I think I know what your problem is, you think i'm supposed to be some kind of perfect honda guy know it all like yourself. That's not me man.

 

I would not use any kind of wheeled scotch brite pad on aluminum wheels.

 

So just sandpaper then? In this video the guy used a wheel on a drill,

 

Different kind of wheel. The 3M wheel is a larger diameter, the outer portion will have a greater speed and will chew up AL pretty easily.

 

Alright, thanks for the tip. I used the wheel but only on the inside of the wheel, that and some mineral spirits. It worked really well and was REALLY dirty with what I think is brake dust. It was soo caked on there. But should I clean the inside as well, is this potentially harmful to the wheel?





I also used pain stripper on them and took most of the clearcoat off. It made them look a lot better cause the clear coat was already chipping away and rusting. Check it out. Do you think I should paint them or just use enamel on them?





The stripper took some of the finish/paint off the inside spokes too, its a little concerning and looks bad,

 

not trolling here I just wanna know what I should do next.

Here are my 2 main questions:

1.Should I remove that rust on the back of the wheel?

2.Should I paint the wheels or just polish them?


Thanks.

 

Its aluminum. It doesn't rust.

 

I knew that its just that this brown stuff on it (on the inside and on the rim edge) feels and looks like rust. I don't know how brake dust can get so caked on like that. Can you answer my questions though? I don't know what to do from here. I'm leaning towards painting it or polishing it. Polishing it seems like a lot of work and may just get dirty again next week, but then again painting it won't look as good. With that clear coat taken off I think I would have no choice but to paint it right? Cause I removed the protective coating... I don't know.

EDIT,

And one more thing I forgot to ask: Is that brake dust on the inside wheel potentially harmful?