Anyone have luck with painting wheels?

[Kalgorn]

I'm considering it since I can't afford to buy real nice wheels. I've come up with two ideas:

 

Paint my current wheels.

 

or

 

Pick up a set of Cutlass 5-spokes for real cheap and paint them.

 

Painting my current wheels would be the cheapest but I'd rather have 5-spoke wheels. I'd be going with either gunmetal or black. Probably black.

 

Has anyone tried painting wheels before? If so, how successful was it? Any recommendations for prep and paint?

 

Or is this just a bad idea in general?

[THe_DeTAiL3R]

What kinda wheels do you have?

 

I painted mine with VHT caliper paint, but they're crosslace so you can't see imperfections nearly as much as with a different style. I painted my sawblades (88 GP SE) with Duplicolor wheel paint, was good for about 2 years before the paint started to look scratched/shitty.

[Kalgorn]

Just the stock uglies. (Pic)

 

I figure they're ugly now... not really possible to make them any more ugly right? They'll look better in black but they won't ever be up to par with 077s.

 

I just painted my lug nut covers today. Went from gray to black. Gonna put 'em back on either tonight or tomorrow. Should look pretty good.

[jeremy]

I painted my stock 5spoke cutty rims gunmetal. They turned out pretty good for what they were.

[Turbo231]

Hello,

 

That wheel looks like it could handle a nice accent color. What color is your car? Paint the recessed areas body color, and polish up the aluminum. No need to get fancy, steel wool, scotch bright, time. The rough cast areas will take paint well, the smooth surfaces will be tougher, that's why I suggest polishing them. The accent color will help distract from any defects in the wheels. Don't worry about clear, you just want to fancy up the car a bit.

My S-10 AL wheel painting page: http://members.aol.com/great88fiero/s10/tires.htm

 

The picture below is me polishing the spokes and painting the rough cast areas the same color as my truck. GM cars respond to it well. Ignore the wheel in the back.

[Euro]

I painted my stock 5spoke cutty rims gunmetal. They turned out pretty good for what they were.

yeah and it looked sharp!

 

for the lumina wheels IMO it would be better to just buy some cutty ones....seeing the stock lumina ones painted is

[Kalgorn]

for the lumina wheels IMO it would be better to just buy some cutty ones....seeing the stock lumina ones painted is

 

That's what I figured. Although, I may go with what Turbo231 said and paint the inlays (sort of like the 93-94 wheels) and clean up the rest of the wheel. I had thought about this but I wasn't sure what the whole wheel would look like painted. Hmm... I've still got time to think about this.

 

There's a U-Pull-It junkyard around here that I might go check out. Just look around... maybe I'll find some Cutty wheels there.

[jeremy]

here is a pic of my gunmetal rims

 

[digitaloutsider]

You know, Jeremy, back when you did that.. I thought it looked like complete and utter shit. For whatever reason, it looks really hot now. I'd hit it!

[fastbird232]

C-BADs rims=

[Hairdo12]

Mine are painted. I sealed them with about 12-14 coats of lacquer

[Dan94Z34]

My buddy had his wheels on his camaro painted black. He used a drill and a sanding pad to get all the break dust and clear coat of the wheels. He then had the wheels powder coated. They look good to me. His car is yellow and the wheels are black.

[ApexAnalog]

I am in the middle of painting the wheels on my 92 GP SE. They are the stock Enkei 16s, the mesh looking ones...

 

It started as an afternoon project, but has since turned into a weeklong endeavor. I used aircraft stripper (autozone) to remove the clearcoat and old paint. It removed all the clearcoat and most of the paint, but I still am going to have to use a wire brush to get the rest off.

 

For paint I'm using silver wheel paint (autozone) - I forget the brand.

 

Your wheels have fewer surfaces, so they would be easier.

 

I am also polishing the lip on mine, which makes them look pretty good even though I haven't put new paint on yet.

[Euro]

GP's didnt come with Enkei's stock....

[J]

enkei makes most of GM's wheels

[stockgp]

enkei makes most of GM's wheels

 

 

score one for the noob.

 

anyways, kalgorn, i would go with what turbo2312352 said and just paint the recesses. there's a chick intown here with her lumi wheels painted this was, and it looks pretty good. plus it helps that she has THE best looking loom i've ever seen

[Euro]

enkei makes most of GM's wheels

 

 

score one for the noob.

 

anyways, kalgorn, i would go with what turbo2312352 said and just paint the recesses. there's a chick intown here with her lumi wheels painted this was, and it looks pretty good. plus it helps that she has THE best looking loom i've ever seen

 

actually jay's not a noob!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

what the hell wheels does enkei make for GM??? maybe thats why some are freakin ugly...enkei

[stockgp]

i didn't mean jay. i meant Apex Analog. he is a newbie

[bluegp]

Paint the recessed areas body color, and polish up the aluminum.

That's what I would do. Body color or gloss black. For example, these look pretty bad-ass:

[THe_DeTAiL3R]

^^ those are very badass!

 

It's way too much aluminum to paint the whole wheel unless you paint them silver. Black/gunmetal would look stupid IMO.

[pwmin]

you're an obsessed w-body freak and you didnt know that?

 

i would polish the outer surfaces and paint the inlays gunmetal. those wheels look good polished, imo.

[J]

enkei makes most of GM's wheels

 

 

score one for the noob.

 

anyways, kalgorn, i would go with what turbo2312352 said and just paint the recesses. there's a chick intown here with her lumi wheels painted this was, and it looks pretty good. plus it helps that she has THE best looking loom i've ever seen

NOOB! ROFLMFAO!!!!!!

[jeremy]

enkei makes most of GM's wheels

 

 

score one for the noob.

 

+1