Ok, with Honda-techs helps, and also that of the Jan 16 O.C. to S.D. meet and the few people I met there, I finally decided to paint my rims. I go to Home-Depot and pick up three cans of Rustolium Metcallic paint, 2 cans of Rustolium clear enamel, and some 150grit sand paper. Total cost $24. Here is goes.

STEP 1: I first jacked up the car. Thanks to my buddy Alex who lent me his two dust covered jack stands. Take the wheels off.



STEP 2: I cleaned the rims. Using an SOS pad (new one for each wheel) really helped me out here. I washed it first with soap n water, then SOS pad, then soap n water again to get all the blue SOS stuff outa there.



STEP 3: Let them dry. Since my *** was tired from the 2 hours of scrubbing wheels I let nature do a little work for me.



STEP 4: So while those guys are drying time to tackle the center caps. First is to sand em down lightly.



STEP 5: Since the wheels are still drying cause this only takes a minute, I slapped on the first coat of paint.



STEP 6: With the wheels dry (by sun or rag) its time to lightly sand them down. I used 150 grit sand paper but you may use lighter grit. The one 150 may have been too coarse so I had to take it easy. Once sanded I rinsed them off once again, dryed them off, and then also rubbed them down with rubbing alcohol.



STEP 7: Insert note cards around each wheel.



STEP 8: Apply a thin coat of paint. I repeated this step 4 times. It may vary depending on color. I waited about about 45 minutes before each coat of paint.



After 4 coats. Inside of rim has 2 coats.



I now tucked the wheels away for the night in the garage to make sure they dry nicely. I now grabbed my center caps which also have 4 coats of paint and took them in for a little detail work.

STEP 9: I happen to have some ACURA oem touch up paint so i go to work on the "A" in the center cap to make it match my car. I put on three layers to fill in the "A" nicely, waiting one hour between coats. Pic is after first coat.



STEP 10: Next morning I set up outside to apply the clear coat to the wheels. Just like the paint I did thin coats. For the front of the rim I did three coats. For the inside I did two coats. I did the coats about 45 minutes apart. I also did the inside of the rim first.



STEP 11: I do the same to the center caps. Also waiting about 45 minutes between coats.



STEP 12: I let the rims and center caps dry for the rest of the day in the garage.



STEP 13: After six hours of drying.......SLAP THOSE SUCKAS BACK ON!!!





So there you have it. I'm very happy with the result. I think this is how the rims should be right off the lot, or maybe an option or something. Not noted is the fact that I used a card board ring around my tires also to protect from over spray.

I posted this in the DC5/EP3 forum because I made an attempt to make a write up specific for us DC5 owners. Well thanks for reading. I hope this can help someone out. Goodluck if you decide to go the bargain route like me


Modified by whiteDCfiver at 10:14 PM 1/18/2005

 

lookin good mang, nice job

 

good job maybe i should do this is weekend

 

Not really a fan of painted oem wheels but yours look nice

 

haha lookin good man..looking good

I was the PWP Type S with the hood open right beside you that you talked to. Names Andre.

 

No offense but......You didn't do a good job at painting those. When you paint the have to go in long strokes, it seemed you had some parts where excess paint build up. You can see some heavy overspray in some points of the rim.

That note card idea probably didn't help since you couldn't go in strokes, it seemed your painting was isolated in one area(circumference of rim).....Use stroke technique.....You may end up using a lot more paint.....But the end result will be great if done properly

EDIT**---They may look good from a distance, but if your a person who pays attention to detail......Use the steps above

 

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ToxicVTEC &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">haha lookin good man..looking good

I was the PWP Type S with the hood open right beside you that you talked to. Names Andre.

</TD></TR></TABLE>

Right on. It was good meetin ya there man. Thanks for the inspiration. Your is clean as hell btw. I loved your engine bay

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 1NasteeEp &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">No offense but......You didn't do a good job at painting those. When you paint the have to go in long strokes, it seemed you had some parts where excess paint build up. You can see some heavy overspray in some points of the rim.

That note card idea probably didn't help since you couldn't go in strokes, it seemed your painting was isolated in one area(circumference of rim).....Use stroke technique.....You may end up using a lot more paint.....But the end result will be great if done properly

EDIT**---They may look good from a distance, but if your a person who pays attention to detail......Use the steps above </TD></TR></TABLE>

Its all good. I know i did in a few spots. But this was my first attempt at trying anything like this. They look better than stock though, and im happy with the result. I know the camera lighting makes em look a lil funny. They look way better in person. Thanks for the tip though. I'll remember it for next time


Modified by whiteDCfiver at 11:05 AM 1/19/2005

 

looks good for a first timer , i dont kno if its the camera or what but it looks like metallic black paint....... my opinion flat black woulda looked better and something about the center caps bother me i just cant put a finger on it , BUT they do look good man, no disrespect intended about any of it

 

That makes the car look nice. Also thanks for the DIY.

 

the best part about that color is in the daylight the metallic flakes start to glisten giving them this bronzish tint

whitedc5iver: thanks, you had a nice drop on those Tein S-Techs, ever thought about some blackout headlights? i do them for the DC5s in my area for a fee. But if you want to attempt them yourself, just message me and i'll be glad to help out and include some tips and tricks to making them look clean with no fogging whatsoever!!!

 

I think it would of looked better in a flat, but thats still tight. I did this in gunmetal to my GSR rims back in the day, have it posted on here also heh.

 

I SAW THOSE IN PERSON THEY LOOK TYTE!

 

now drop the car

 

I want to paint mine bronze

 

Now get these. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...50447

 

TOXICVTEC can you give me some info on the blackout dc5 headlights id appreciate it

 

Those seriously look fantastic for a DIY .

 

ok seriously how long do you think that paint is gonna last on your rims. just wait and you will end up recoating that will suck should just fork out the bucks and powder coat them.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ablack934doorcivic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">ok seriously how long do you think that paint is gonna last on your rims. just wait and you will end up recoating that will suck should just fork out the bucks and powder coat them.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I'll keep you updated

 

that's nice. really nice. you're my idol! hahah.

 

Good job painting the stock rims. Just outta curiousity what percent are your windows tinted? Are they even tinted? It looks like it in the picture

 

looks good.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by whiteDCfiver &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Total cost $24.</TD></TR></TABLE>

haha can't beat that

 

get out of town...so my fist step is to jack up the car hahahaha

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 02SilverSiHB &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">get out of town...so my fist step is to jack up the car hahahaha</TD></TR></TABLE>

Ya imagin that

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by HalfManHalfFred &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Good job painting the stock rims. Just outta curiousity what percent are your windows tinted? Are they even tinted? It looks like it in the picture</TD></TR></TABLE>

Um you know what im not positive. I had Terrific Tint in Mission Viejo, CA do it. They dont really have percents as i recall. They had 4 different ones. light, medium light, medium dark, and dark. I did the sides the medium dark so as not to get too much **** from cops and the rest i did dark. People who have looked at it though say its about a 35% tint on the side windows. I think its a perfect tint, imo.

Thanks for all the comments on the wheels guys. After bending over my wheels in the yard for 2 days its much appreciated