Repainted the wheels (pics)

[mikethemike]

So I'm going to be straight forward with you guys. I know I was all talk about powdercoating the wheels, but I'm at a point in my life where I dont want to keep spending large amounts of money on my car unless its a necessity. Besides I'm saving up for a new drawing tablet, Mac book and a trip to Germany and then eventually move out so I'm trying to do less spending on things I can live without.

With that said, I started to get tired of the plastidip wheels and so I researched some DIY wheel painting videos and I will say I fully stand behind Rustoleum wheel paint and clear coat. This stuff is pure awesome and it has a very nice finish to it. I tried snapping photos of the process.

BTW I started off with sanding, then used Rustoleum etching primer, then 3-4 coats of Rustoleum gunmetal wheel paint, then another 4-5 coats of Rustoleum wheel clear coat.



The wheels obviously looked like s*** from the get go which is why i plastidipped them to begin with.


Close up of the glossy effect. No orange skin texture.


I kinda messed up on this wheel when it was drying but this is just another example of the gloss.



You may not be crazy about the color, but for less than $50 Im much happy with the results and it looks better than plastidip.

[SanoSuKe]

I like it!

[AlexN09]

That looks fantastic, mike! I curbed both of my right side wheels and plan on sanding, bondo-ing, priming, and painting them when it gets warm. I have been thinkin about this same gunmetal but it might be too dark for my color.

Anyhow they look very good.

EDIT: Sano, your new sig looks freaking amazing.

[mikethemike]

That looks fantastic, mike! I curbed both of my right side wheels and plan on sanding, bondo-ing, priming, and painting them when it gets warm. I have been thinkin about this same gunmetal but it might be too dark for my color.

Anyhow they look very good.

EDIT: Sano, your new sig looks freaking amazing.

I was just about to comment on his sig too. Beautiful

And if anything, I think this color would match well with your car. The color is like mixed with my cars color and your cars color.

[yttimhcs2009]

honestly if you didn't mention it was a cheap diy spray job I wouldn't of known, that looks damn good.

[mikethemike]

Thanks man =) And I hate to sound like a walking billboard, but seriously, this stuff is pretty damn awesome.

[xshinnyshinx]

Looks nice! Will it chip from rocks or anything on the road? I spray painted my old grill with 3 coats and the paint chipped after a couple of weeks.

[mikethemike]

Looks nice! Will it chip from rocks or anything on the road? I spray painted my old grill with 3 coats and the paint chipped after a couple of weeks.

I think this may have a less chance because its not facing directly at the road, where as anything come fly up and hit the front straight on. But only time will tell. When I painting my old 17'' 350z wheels on my altima, I had it painted for about 2 years, maybe more and it never chipped.

[xshinnyshinx]

Oh alright. You should put up a picture of your whole car from the side so we can get a better look at them :P

[mikethemike]

You're right. Here ya go

[xshinnyshinx]

Much much better than that nastidip! Car looks a lot better.

[mikethemike]

Yea and it didn't take that much longer to do. I mean it was a little longer because you're using 3 different sprays, but it took about a day to do. I let it sit for about a week before putting them on the car.