Refinished Wheels

[atlM35]

3 out of 4 of the wheels on the 45 had some minor curb rash and I couldn't stand to look at them any more.
Went to the auto parts store on Saturday and picked up a can of wheel paint and a can of clear.
Sanded the rough edges, cleaned thoroughly, dried, painted, cleared, and ended up with this:



It lost the polished aluminum look, but is much cleaner. I'm happy with the results... especially being a 4 hour rattle can paint job and less than $20.

[TXT]

Thats pretty good.

A week after I bought my car, I bought some wheel cleaner from auto zone and it completely messed up the wheels. Most of the clear coat is gone and it looks like its always dirty. Luckily, the color of the rims doesn't allow the messed up wheels to look Fkd.

I would do this, but I'm curious to know how much a professional refinishing job will cost. My rims do not have curb rash so it would literally be repaint + gloss. I like the metallic look of the rims which is why I would go professional VS doing this.

Anybody know pricing from personal experience?

[atlM35]

Just for reference, The lowest estimate that I got was $125/wheel, but that also included fixing the scratches.

[GQM45s]

my clear coat is going away, planning on sanding them down and polish them out

[KoMikeey]

i used the brake dust cleaner too and that thing ate away my clear coat too.. so what is the process. and what paint did you use?

mostly how many coats?

[bejjutsu]

Looks great from far away. Could you post some closeups and maybe a before-pic? I'm going to plastidip my wheels black this weekend for the same reason.

[joe320nyc]

i have wheels with alot of oxidation. whats the best way to sand them down?

[atlM35]

i used the brake dust cleaner too and that thing ate away my clear coat too.. so what is the process. and what paint did you use?

mostly how many coats?

I don't claim to to be a professional, I just like to experiment. I also painted the spoiler that's on the car.
The following instructions are the steps that I took, you can try at your own risk... blah blah blah, //end disclaimer.

I took 2 wheels off of one side of the car (used the opportunity to rotate the wheels afterwards). Started with coarse sand paper on the more rough scratches and worked up to finer grit sand paper. Then I used 2000 grit sand paper all over the wheel to give a slight scuff.
Next, I got some foaming tire/wheel cleaner and sprayed down everything, and gave them a good cleaning.
I used a leaf blower to blow the water off, then used a hair dryer to get what was left... especially focusing on the gap between the tire and wheel.
Then, I inserted index cards in the gap to keep the paint off of the tires like this: http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/5677/1002483xl4.jpg

2 light coats of DupliColor wheel paint, then a medium coat to finish.
2 light coats of DupliColor clear wheel coat, then a medium coat to finish.
(followed the instructions on the can)

I let it dry, then lightly sanded with 2000 grit, then polished with some paint swirl remover.

Looks great from far away. Could you post some closeups and maybe a before-pic? I'm going to plastidip my wheels black this weekend for the same reason.

I don't have any before pics, but i'll try to take some close up pictures today. In the mean time, you can click on the picture that I posted and a larger picture should pop up. I don't know anything about plastidip. Does that stand up to the heat from our brakes?

i have wheels with alot of oxidation. whats the best way to sand them down?

If it's oxidated, chances are, you don't have any coating in those areas. You could try very fine sand paper to clean off the oxidation and try clear coating over it. Being thorough in the prep work before spraying anything is crucial.

[White-Rush]

I know you guys already know this stuff, but if you are not aware; here goes.... Whatever tire / wheel cleaner you use on your car, always try to stick with the same brand if possible. The 2nd and most important part in keeping your newly done wheels or just in maintaining your wheels is to Make sure that they are cool before applying any kind of cleaning solution. Like I said before, everyone probably knows this but i'm sure there are a few people that don't.

Your rims will heat up after driving around and that heat combined with cleaning solutions can make for a disaster on their finish. If you have to, spray the wheels down with water reapeatedly while you wash the rest of the car and then at the end, apply your wheel cleaner. Doing so should help to maintain the clear coat that is laid on, for most rims. I hope this helps someone out there.

--- OP > From the pic, it looks like you did a pretty good job.

[DJPlayedYA]

Thats pretty good.

A week after I bought my car, I bought some wheel cleaner from auto zone and it completely messed up the wheels. Most of the clear coat is gone and it looks like its always dirty. Luckily, the color of the rims doesn't allow the messed up wheels to look Fkd.

I would do this, but I'm curious to know how much a professional refinishing job will cost. My rims do not have curb rash so it would literally be repaint + gloss. I like the metallic look of the rims which is why I would go professional VS doing this.

Anybody know pricing from personal experience?

We have a wheel guy that does 16" and under for $40 per wheel and 17" and up or intricate wheels for $50 per wheel. He comes out to our lot and refinishes them on the vehicles, so there's slight flaws but overall they look great to the customers...basically like brand new wheels. Most wheel guys charge between $60 and $150 per wheel just to answer your question though.