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+--- Thread: Rim painting tips! (/showthread.php?tid=18263)
Rim painting tips! - andrewsfm - 08-04-2010
Some tips I learned from painting my rims this past week in addition to other posts I've seen around here on painting rims...
All of the painting was done with Duplicolor wheel paint.
If possible, find two (full size) spare tires, so you can take the time to do this right, but if you screw up or it takes longer than you thought, you can still drive your car.
Decide on your final color FIRST, and don't change your mind half way through. Removing old coats is not fun, and just throwing a different color coat over top is sloppy.
If you choose to dismount the tires, after factoring in the cost of dismounting and mounting/balancing, media blasting is SO much faster, better and stress free than sanding them yourself, but may cost a bit.
If you're going to sand them instead, WET sand all over and in every corner with 320/400 grit to make the clear coat frosty looking, then when you think you're done, dry off the tire and let it air dry. Any spots you've missed will still be shiny once the rim is dry. Dry sand them till they are frosty too.
After sanding, rinse clean with water thoroughly, dry, and then wipe down entirely with wax and grease remover.
If you don't want to dismount the tires for painting, use index cards between the tire and rim. To help them get in further, let most of the pressure out of the tires first and push the tire back a bit.
If you're starting from bare aluminum, use zinc chromate or self etching primer. If you're starting from a sanded clearcoat, use regular primer.
Don't paint in direct sunlight and don't paint outside, unless there is no wind AT ALL. Do not paint unless the humidity is less than 65%!
Mount the wheel on something so it's vertical, don't spray it lying down because the spray can needs to stay upright as much as possible.
When placing them somewhere to dry, see if you can keep them vertical to reduce the amount of dust that settles on the surface. Hopefully you didn't spray on such a thick coat that it will run.
When the spray cans start getting down past half full, they start sputtering. I'm told this can be slowed by heating the cans in very warm water.
Keep one can specifically for the final coat, and when it gets to about half or starts acting up at all, put it on first coat duty, and the next new can will take its place as final coat can.
I've discovered spray cans are a pain because of their limited propellant, and varying pressure. Only the first half of the can sprays well. Personally, I think next time I'm going to turn the can upside down and spray out ALL of the propellant, and then take a can opener to it, and pour the paint into a spray gun powered by a compressor.
If you have to get the tires remounted on the rim, wait as long as possible (>3 days) for the paint to cure, and be ready to do touch ups to any damage caused by someone not knowing how to work the tire mounting machine properly.
Otherwise, even if you never took off the tires, wait a few days (2 or 3) before putting them back on the car to drive with.
Hopefully someone finds this useful.