Serban
09-28-2002, 12:18 PM
Well, a few of you have asked me about my rims. So here goes. First off, I dont have pictures of all the steps, just the final product.
Step 1: Buy all the necessary materials:
400 grit, and 600 grit sandpaper
Spay gun attachment (attaches to paint can, only $2, makes painting easier)
Sandable primer, 2 cans (I used Duplicolor primer from autozone)
Paint 3 cans, just to make sure (Duplicolor engine enamel wtih ceramic, I used black)
Clear coat, 2 cans (if you want that real glossy look, again, Duplicolor can be used)
Hair dryer (keep reading to find out why ;))
Step 2: Take the wheels off, and wash them good. Next sand them with the 400 git sand paper, till they are nice and smooth. Use the 600 grit sandpaper to finish them up nicely. Clean the wheels good, you dont want any dust on them after you sanded them.
Step 3: If the tires are still on, no problem, put some tire gel on them, and when you're done painting, the paint will come right off the tires. Make sure not to get tire gel on the wheel itself, or the paint wont stick.
Step 4: Start primering the wheels. The duplicolor one dries real fast, so no need to sit around and wait for it to dry. Still do light coats till you cover the entire rim. Once all the rims are primered, sand if needed, if not, move on to step 5.
Step 5: Its a good idea to get about 3 cans of paint, just to be sure, you might not need all of them, but good to have extra. start doing light coats, wait a few minutes in between each coat. Dont do heavy coats thinking you will finish faster, the paint will end up running, and it will look like crap.
Step 6: The more coats you do, the shinier the paint will be, at this point, use the hair dryer to help the paint dry faster, and leave some gloss on the rims. Do this to all the rims. At this point, the wheels will be shiny enough, but if you want to protect them more, and have them really shiny, go to step 7.
Step 7: Use the clearcoat the same as the paint, light coats, then the last few coats when it gets shiny, use the hair dryer. Remember, wait a few minutes in between coats. Dont worry about all the paint and clearcoat that is on the tires, when it dries, it will peel right off (if you used the tire gel ;))
Step 8: Put the wheels back on the car, drive it around, and enjoy, after the first time driving, you should be able to just peel all that paint off the tires.
Finally, here is what my wheels came out like:
http://www.floridasr20s.com/gallery/albums/sentra/PDRM0069.jpg
I left the lip silver, with an intent to polish it up eventually. I did not use clear coat on the wheels. Right now they are not as shiny as they are in that picture, but they still look good when clean.
This took me about 5 hours to do, I started at 7pm, and finished right around midnight. But I had to strip the old black paint off the lip, and tape it up, so it was more time consuming. But I will say it should be around an hour for each rim.
Now, go out and paint some rims!!! :D
Step 1: Buy all the necessary materials:
400 grit, and 600 grit sandpaper
Spay gun attachment (attaches to paint can, only $2, makes painting easier)
Sandable primer, 2 cans (I used Duplicolor primer from autozone)
Paint 3 cans, just to make sure (Duplicolor engine enamel wtih ceramic, I used black)
Clear coat, 2 cans (if you want that real glossy look, again, Duplicolor can be used)
Hair dryer (keep reading to find out why ;))
Step 2: Take the wheels off, and wash them good. Next sand them with the 400 git sand paper, till they are nice and smooth. Use the 600 grit sandpaper to finish them up nicely. Clean the wheels good, you dont want any dust on them after you sanded them.
Step 3: If the tires are still on, no problem, put some tire gel on them, and when you're done painting, the paint will come right off the tires. Make sure not to get tire gel on the wheel itself, or the paint wont stick.
Step 4: Start primering the wheels. The duplicolor one dries real fast, so no need to sit around and wait for it to dry. Still do light coats till you cover the entire rim. Once all the rims are primered, sand if needed, if not, move on to step 5.
Step 5: Its a good idea to get about 3 cans of paint, just to be sure, you might not need all of them, but good to have extra. start doing light coats, wait a few minutes in between each coat. Dont do heavy coats thinking you will finish faster, the paint will end up running, and it will look like crap.
Step 6: The more coats you do, the shinier the paint will be, at this point, use the hair dryer to help the paint dry faster, and leave some gloss on the rims. Do this to all the rims. At this point, the wheels will be shiny enough, but if you want to protect them more, and have them really shiny, go to step 7.
Step 7: Use the clearcoat the same as the paint, light coats, then the last few coats when it gets shiny, use the hair dryer. Remember, wait a few minutes in between coats. Dont worry about all the paint and clearcoat that is on the tires, when it dries, it will peel right off (if you used the tire gel ;))
Step 8: Put the wheels back on the car, drive it around, and enjoy, after the first time driving, you should be able to just peel all that paint off the tires.
Finally, here is what my wheels came out like:
http://www.floridasr20s.com/gallery/albums/sentra/PDRM0069.jpg
I left the lip silver, with an intent to polish it up eventually. I did not use clear coat on the wheels. Right now they are not as shiny as they are in that picture, but they still look good when clean.
This took me about 5 hours to do, I started at 7pm, and finished right around midnight. But I had to strip the old black paint off the lip, and tape it up, so it was more time consuming. But I will say it should be around an hour for each rim.
Now, go out and paint some rims!!! :D