Im wondering what everyone thinks about painting the stock 7 spoke rims.....
any opinions?
thinking either matt black or matt white
possibly matt black but leaving the spokes silver.............

 

I was thinkig the same thing. I want to paint my stock rims with "Alabaster" paint to match the car. Does anyone know what I could wipe the rims down with to take off the protective layer? I do not have much experiencec painting, but I just painted my grille to match the car and love it.

So if anyone has any tips for prepping the wheels for painting it would be greatly appreciated: primer?, how many base coats?, clear coats? Keep in mind that I am not an experienced painter.

 

Dude,
Why chance it.......
The local body shop here will do it for about 120-150 a wheel.

From what I here its not easy to get right.

 

Be careful not to over do the white. You don't want it to look like the Good-Humor guy's car. I think the grill looks great.

 

I don't want to pay $700 or more for something I can do myself for less than $100. I would rather spend the extra $600 on performance upgrades . It is really not hard to paint, I mean I am not a professional, but I can do decent work. The hardest part is just taping off the tire so there is no over spay onto the tires.

Anyway, does anyone know of a solution that will help strip off the protective layer on the rims? Or do I even need to worry about that? That is really my only concern.

 

I think you have one of the best looking Crossfires on the Forum and the Alabaster wheels would look VERY NICE.

I was considering doing the same thing. I still have my original wheels and tires as well as an extra set of stock wheels that I was considering having painted, powder coated or chromed.

For now I prefer the chrome wheels I have, but I always have the option to change them. Variety is the spice of life but I'll never change the color of my Crossfire. ...

 

well if anyone want to know how to paint there wheels just ask me...i paint cars and bike and wheels all the time....just to let you know you do not have to take the protective coating off.. you just need to scuff it up real good so that the paint sticks....if any one really wants there wheels painted i will do them for 300+ shipping....i return from afghanistan real soon so if any one is interested just hit me up....i have a shop in Fort Walton Beach Florida....if everyone would really like i can make a new post on how exactly to paint your wheels with the most ease.....just to give everyone a hint.....take all your wheels off, take them down to a tire shop and have them break the bead on both sides.....DO NOT TAKE THEM OFF......you will not have to balance the tires (unless you are real paranoid)......then push the tire down and use GOOD masking tape and go around only the side wall....if you paint the surface that contacts the ground then you are making a mess..... now before you do that if you go down to your local auto paint store you can get a abbrasive cleaning agent that you use 3M scuff pads to clean the wheels and scuff them at the same time....TAKE YOUR TIME....get every corner grove crack ...you get the point.....Then if you know how to paint go to town.....i really suggest using base clear....and it might cost you 30 bucks for the correct color for your car....like i said i love doing wheels and i will give you a great price......take a look at my car, it took me 8 hours to paint my wheels.....i put them on after the 16th hour and drove home from my shop....now i would have been screwed if it rained but they were dry to the touch......now you can spray paint them but i really dont suggest it....i used to do that back in the day in highschool but i really dont suggest it now....well i am open for questions.....you can email me at gsxrat12@yahoo.com like i said i love helping people out...i will paint anything by the way....ANY ONE NEED AIRBRUSHING.....let me know....like i said i will do it cheaper than anyone only because i really like the crossfire community......if you guys want to see more pics of stuff i have done i can mut my myspace address up and i have many pics of things i have painted from corvettes to bikes etc.....

 

I painted my wheels gloss black and left the inside of the spokes silver. I think it definitely makes my graphite coupe look like no other crossfire in the area (I also have everything silver blacked out on my car). It cost me about $35. I used Duplicolor Etching Primer, Duplicolor gloss black Acrylic paint, and Duplicolor metallic wheel clear coat. I masked the tire off with blue tape and came out perfect. Just slip it under the lip, no big deal. Blue tape behind the spokes and hub, duck tape around the inside lip, and I used electrical tape to mask off the spokes (perfect width). It takes about 2 hours per wheel to clean/prep, mask and paint. It takes a good two days off work to complete taking it easy, unless you can get more than one wheel off the car at a time and do them all at once. I haven't had it done long enough to see how well they hold up, but I'm sure nothing will ever compare to how durable the factory finish is unless you have them powerder coated or something.

 

Okay, this may be a noob comment, but I am uncertain so I figure I will ask. Don't we have alloys on our cars? could we just dunk them and anodize them any color we wanted? Just a thought. Just please god, nobody go do some crazy pink or purple wheels.

 

PAINTED ALLOY!
WATCH OUT WHO CHANGES YOUR TIRES.......THATS WHY I GOTTA FIX MINE!

 

i have had some small custum bike parts anodized and let me tell you its not as cheap as you think and its not as durable as you think and it fades....the striping proccess is very expensive due to the fact that the cost of the waste is rediculous.....they wait for huge batches of things to do so they dont waist money...i would highly not recommend anodizing....just my 2 cents....i really do belive base clear is the best way to go.....i have done it for years on my motorcycles...and have never had any problems....so you can say i have tested it......

 

I appreciate the knowledge. I have no doubt that painting is probably the best choice, was just thinking about doing something different If I were to anodize them, I would do it myself. I have anodized quite a few things and its really cheap if I do it myself. I sometimes make anodized chainmail armor for people and its absurd if I pay somebody else to do the process, but I can do it myself. Now I have never done anything as big as wheel, and didn't think about it fading, great point.

 

So it's been a little more than 3 months since you painted your rims.
How have they held up so far ?
I featured your pic today on the daily featured photo thread

 

It held up good, but I changed the wheels a few times since I first did it, now I'm about to strip them in the next few weeks and totally redo them something solid and paint inside them behind the brakes. I can't decide what I want to do next, probably something pearl. I had painted the silver spokes green which was pretty crazy (just to see what it was like) although a lot of people loved it, I ended up color matching them to the car to keep it clean. Here is how it has been looking the longest:



I'd strongly recommend NOT to use engine clear coat or wheel clear coat from duplicolor because it has metallic in it and will ruin the look of your basecoat. My wheels actually are matte black because of that... but I wanted them real glossy. The best stuff you can use is Upol clear coat which I get from my local paint shop, but you can order it online. It comes in a big can and it's like $20. It's well worth the money. Just primer, base coat, a good clear coat and it'll be just fine.

 

i love the look of it but honestly i might get mine painted shiny black and have chrome center caps, I love the contrast