painting wheels

[tgreene92]

im painting my stock rims on my 98 xlt, i have one wheel where the enamel or plastic coating or whatever it is is peeled off. i was wondering if i should remove the plastic off the rest of the rims before painting and if not could i get the one rim without it to look as good or like the ones with it on. also if anyone knows the best way to do it with sanding and what kind of paint to use etc..

 

[rileyrs]

if you want to spend the cash, have them sandblasted and powder coated, that will last forever.

if not, then sand them very thoroughly with a low number grit first, them move higher. that will peel off the coating.
then use a high quality wheel paint, do many light coats. then clearcoat after.
and try not to bump curbs.

 

[94xlt4x4]

I used paint stripper to get the clearcoat off my factory wheels. It'll take a few applications and some elbow grease to get it all, but it does come off.

 

[volver]

Mine were peeling.

I sand blasted. It would take forever to do it by hand. You can buy one for 100 dollars or make on out of piping from the store for 20 and will work better too. used a combination of play sand and blasting sand. takes like 4 minutes to blast the wheel down. Make sure the peeling parts come off and the rest of the finish is dull. used spray cans, a toat of primer and 2 coats of flat black paint. looks good. Has held up for a year no chips.

while the weel was off i blasted down the brake caliper and paint them with orange high heat paint. looks good too. a littel bit ricer but once i get some soft 8 rims and 33's thwy should look cool.