Painted Wheels

[Exploder850]

Just need the opinion of those who have paint their wheels plus clear coat. Pictures would be great of a freshly painted set and maybe lets say a year or so after use? I've got the primer, paint, and clear stocked up so let me know if I should head back to the store to return and save my money for something worth while later on. I previously painted my stock wheels a flat black about a year ago and not impressed with how they look now. Would clear coating make that much of a difference in protecting it's life? When I can get a whole day to myself I plan on redoing them. If I do redo them what's the best method in doing so? How many coats of primer, paint, clear, and so on etc? I'll post some pictures when they were first done and what they look now later. Sorry if there is already a post on this.

[AlexSport'00]

I did a lot of research on this last November, and I found some people who did amazing jobs, for example: http://honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=1356908 But I was convinced out of it by my teacher (of all people), who gave me the number to his friend who does powdercoating. 8 months later, and I'm very happy I had them coated. It's more expensive, but they definitely last. But, if you decide to paint, read that whole link I posted, it was very helpful for me during my planning. Also, it you're painting black, check out just getting new rims. Sometimes the cost of these rims are about the same as getting them powdercoated. To me, the Cragar Soft 8 rims were surprisingly cheap in price, and recommend to me by others on this site.

[JoshMcMadMac]

I have painted a few sets of wheels. As with all things paint, solid prep work is critical. It is nowhere near as durable as powder coating. I have had a few chips here and there, but the nice thing is a quick spray of the area fixes it. If you are absolutely certain of the color you want them to be, it is probably worth the extra cost to powder coat. If you want it done inexpensively, you can paint all four wheels for less than the cost of coating one.

[Exploder850]

Originally Posted by JoshMcMadMac

I have painted a few sets of wheels. As with all things paint, solid prep work is critical. It is nowhere near as durable as powder coating. I have had a few chips here and there, but the nice thing is a quick spray of the area fixes it. If you are absolutely certain of the color you want them to be, it is probably worth the extra cost to powder coat. If you want it done inexpensively, you can paint all four wheels for less than the cost of coating one.

I figured I'd take my time on this one. I kind of bullshitted the sanding and etc but I never had paint chip it just got really faded away. And re balancing the tires would chip away the paint from the new weights. Do I need to sand down the paint before clear?

[GRNMACHINE]

Spent way too much time painting a set of 17" wheels using primer and Duplicolor wheel paint. Only chip so far is on one plastic center cap, and I believe I didnt use any primer on that one (for some unknown reason). Powdercoating is far superior but I wasnt spending $400 for winter wheels to get powder coated. The prep and sanding took most of the time. Spraying was quite easy. I do not have any of my wheels balanced with weights on the outside so no worry on chips from the weights there. Will see how the wheels hold up after this winter.

[AlexSport'00]

Step one, find a powdercoater and become really good friends with him/her. Step two, get a basic color (nothing super crazy) and hope for a good deal. I paid $160 for all 4 wheels to get done in a black with a semi gloss finish. For the guy I became friends with he would have charged me the $40 a wheel for basically any standard color in a standard finish. 6 months later and he only charges me material costs to get stuff done, all he asks is that I do it when he's free and not to try to rush him or anything at all. It's a very good finish, and I feel like it's worth saving up for and making connections for. Anything under $250 is a good deal IMO. $60 a wheel is about standard for my guy.

[GRNMACHINE]

Cheapest I could find at multiple places was $75 a wheel for a basic color. $160 is a STEAL!! There is no way I would have spent all the time painting my wheels if I could have gotten them powdered for that price. Nice.

[Joe Dirt]

Call around- a powdercoater around GR does 3 pieces for $100. Good work, we use him at work for some of our display frames. I'm contemplating coating my stock wheels for $125 out the door...

[GRNMACHINE]

Joe, you have the hookups!! For $125 I wouldnt even hesitate! Probably spent about $40 in paint/materials. I called about 5 different places around here. I think I spent $40 just to get aftermarket rear axle cover powdered in their stockshelf silver.

[87350gta]

I painted mine about 6 months ago. The last wheel I painted I rushed the prep and paint a little, the paint came off within a week. The other 3 that I took my time on still look great. I used zinc rich primer, duplicolor wheel paint and wheel clear. I still have not fixed the one I messed up, it is on the driver's rear and I see it every time I get in my truck.