Contemplating painting my stock wheels...

[stickgoat]

Anyone else ever painted their stock S14 rims?

I don't know what is up with mine, but they are extremely streaky. If they get wet (ie; whenever I wash the car, which is very frequently), they look like sh*t. I don't know if something was put on them once to make them like this but it's pissing me off. Actual wheel cleaner makes things worse.

I've tried Eagle One aluminum/mag polish...supposed to restore any metal finish to a mirror shine...didn't do a damn thing. I decided to see if I could go ahead and strip off whatever was causing the problem, so I sprayed a touch of carburator cleaner on a small section of a wheel, which proceeded to make it very sticky, like I could peel something off. I'm guessing that was the clearcoat...

Anyway, after using a paint cleaner, then polish, then wax on the wheel I managed to get it looking alright, and have been too lazy to complete the three step system on the other three wheels.

So I'm debating on whether to paint them or not. With my champagne car, I'm thinking a very slightly gunmetal shade on the wheels would look rather nice. My only delimma is that these are my only rims for the car, and I can't currently afford a nice set like I want (SSR Integrals ).

Cliff Notes: My wheels are streaky and look like shizzle. All cleaning/polishing attempts have failed. I'm strongly debating on painting them. If you've painted your stock wheels, post pics, regardless of color.

[Tino]

I plan on getting some nice 18"s for a pretty decent price and free shipping to boot. About painting though... idk I think the polished gunmetal would look good on the wheels im getting their like dull silver, your stock would look better too though, like polished gunmetal.

[Jusepi97sx]

yeah. i recently painted my stock rims... even was able to get all the chips out of them... some liquid metal product my pops was able to get... really fixed them up, one was in pretty bad shape, the lip was all scratched.. previous owner probably ran into a curve... anyways.. its not a bad idea, although i would have wanted to go with nice aftermarket 17's, the economical situation would now allow it., but in the mean time its a good way to get by not looking so bad...

i also didnt' have extra rims to put on it.. well the truth is my pops works in an auto body.. and could easily do it.. but i think if you take your car to one.. they should be able to do it in a day max.....

[stickgoat]

If I decide to paint them, I'm just gonna do it myself. Might sound kind of ghetto, but proper masking, stripping the current coating off, and using high quality spray paint and finish, I think they'll be alright until I can afford my SSRs.

[SRdS14]

ya i have. i mean, why not??? I have my 18"s on my car, and i was bored one day...lol. so why not paint the factorys. Here's what i did:

Clean them and sand them down real smooth...clean them again. dry off and paint them. ALL i used was krylon flat black...it hasn't come off. they look REALLY clean on the car too. a lot better than the factory silver. make sure you sand them real good cuz it will bubble if not sanded. also, spray one coat at a time...just take ur time with it. they'll come out great.

actually, i have pics of my car when i had them on there for a week (a blow out on my 18s). btw, my car is blue and all that good stuff now, so these pics are about a year old.

[Tino]

OMG thats the best looking s14 here... You do have the white wing and wheels fixed right..

[nismodave]

Have you considered powder coating them?

Good stuff.

BTW......SRdS14 awesome ride!!!!

[stickgoat]

Have you considered powder coating them?

Thought about it, but the idea is not to put any money into these rims. A couple of them are scraped up from previous owner's encounters with curbs, one of them has so much caked on brake dust I honestly don't know how I'm going to go about getting it off, etc.

The painting idea is simply a cheap DIY plan to make them look decent until I can afford what I want.

[nismodave]

I guess it depends on how much they get for powder coating down in SC.

I had my valve cover on my sr done in black for $20.

I do know that you should sand blast them no matter what you decide.(at least I think so:D)

[lateralmotion]

Dude, SRdS14, was your car in the recent Super Street at that 240 meet? there is a car in there that is almost identical to yours.

[SRdS14]

no way bro, that pic was about a year ago. since then, i've painted it, etc etc. i still have the aluminum wing, but i'm repainting the car in a few months, and i'm getting the bomex slick-back wing...i don't know the code for it, but u guys know what i'm talkin about...here is a recent pic of my car at nopi.

[SRdS14]

and i also appreciate you guys' comments on my car...thanks!! since then i've added a carbon fiber hood~Scott

[nismodave]

Its your choice......we all strive to get our car exactly how we want.........BUT......

Your car is so def why the color change? That blue is ice cold, stupid fresh, off the chain, bad as hell.

If it aint broke dont fix it.

:ylsuper :ylsuper :ylsuper

[SRdS14]

i ask myself the same thing...honestly, there are a few "little" minor blems on it...and i'm repainting it. i can't tell ya or i'll kill ya.

[SRdS14]

eyyyy stickgoat...South Kakalaki represent!!!! haha. there is a place here in charleston that powercoats pretty cheap...i'll check up on it for ya. but honestly painting does just as good for me. i used 400 grit....that's all ya need, just make sure you get everywhere....~Scott