Teaser of my "new" wheels
- Thread starter Wynn
- Start date
looks good.. My cobra r's are wore out and was considering something like this. Explain the process for me(prep work)..If I remember right you just purchased a spray gun right? Mine would be rattle can lol
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Good call on keeping the silver lip.
Awesome sig pic bro! - love the spray! Wheels will look mean for sure.
Agreed, they came out really good and I'm not a fan of black wheels. The lip gives it a nice contrast.
Looks sick man!
Thanks guys. It is a ton of work... only the one wheel in the pic is actually done. I just got done prepping the other 3 and taping them off. I just did the one at first in case I didnt like it- I could just buy one new machined wheel on eBay.
Anyway, the prep work is the absolute hardest part. I just spent 3 hours prepping/ taping just 3 wheels.
"looks good.. My cobra r's are wore out and was considering something like this. Explain the process for me(prep work)..If I remember right you just purchased a spray gun right? Mine would be rattle can lol"
I took some pics along the way. I probably have $70 in supplies including paint and my $20 Harbor Freight mini spray gun. I think you could get just as good or better results with cans of spray paint, as long as you get name brand stuff (the tips seem to spray a lot more fine, which is good).
I'm no pro by any means, and I've never really painted much in my lift. Anyway, take this for what it's worth.
What I used:
1 roll of paper towels
1 box of rubber gloves (VERY IMPORTANT!)
Simple Green
Rubbing Alcohol mixed 50/50 with water in a spray bottle
A couple packs of Scotch Brite scour pads
Masking Tape
Paint and Primer of your choice
Anyway, here's how I did it:
1) Spray down the wheel with a good degreaser, like Simple Green, and let it soak for a few minutes. Then wipe the wheel clean with a rag.
2) Use the scour pad and scuff up the entire wheel. This took me about 15 minutes per wheel- take your time and don't miss any. Pay special attention to the hard to get areas. You want the wheel to have a dull, flat look when you are done.
3) Wipe the wheel with your alcohol/ water mix and some paper towels. WEAR RUBBER GLOVES (and keep them on until you are done painting the wheel)! You don't want to touch the clean wheel with your hands, because the oil in your skin will affect the paint.
4) Carefully tape the wheel. This is probably the hardest/ most time consuming part. You have to get this right, or else your wheel is going to look like crap. I used some really thin tape I got at a paint supply shop to do mine.
After running the thin stripe of tape, I stepped up to a thicker tape to get the rest of the wheel lip. I also made a cutout/ template. It's just a circle 17" across, and I'm able to lay it over the wheel with the taped edge to completely cover the tire. I also taped the back side of the wheel. Here's what they looked like before I was ready for paint:
5) Now you're ready for paint. You can run a quick swipe over the wheels with a paper towel and alcohol/water just to make sure it's clean, then let it dry a couple minutes before applying your first very light coat of primer. I sprayed my coats of primer a few minutes apart, and kept the coats very very light.
6) After priming the wheel, you can take a scotch brite pad or some sand paper and lightly sand the primer. I didn't do this part, but if you want a glossy finish you will probably want to.
7). Now it's time for the actual paint. Read the directions on the can, and apply it in very light coats. It's better to do a lot of light coats than to try to get it done in just a couple of coats and end up with a bunch of runs. If you do get a run, let the paint dry then lightly sand it out. Then respray the wheel.
8) I cleared my wheel before the paint was actually dry. From what I understand, you want to spray when the paint is tacky, so the clearcoat can actually mix with the paint. If you try to clearcoat over dry paint, your clearcoat will end up peeling.
9) That's it! Once they dried a while, I peeled the tape really carefully. I let the one wheel dry overnight, then hit it with a little Swirl Remover. Like I said, I didn't want them glossy. If you want a gloss look, you can let them dry a few days then wet sand/ polish them.
Anyway, the prep work is the absolute hardest part. I just spent 3 hours prepping/ taping just 3 wheels.
"looks good.. My cobra r's are wore out and was considering something like this. Explain the process for me(prep work)..If I remember right you just purchased a spray gun right? Mine would be rattle can lol"
I took some pics along the way. I probably have $70 in supplies including paint and my $20 Harbor Freight mini spray gun. I think you could get just as good or better results with cans of spray paint, as long as you get name brand stuff (the tips seem to spray a lot more fine, which is good).
I'm no pro by any means, and I've never really painted much in my lift. Anyway, take this for what it's worth.
What I used:
1 roll of paper towels
1 box of rubber gloves (VERY IMPORTANT!)
Simple Green
Rubbing Alcohol mixed 50/50 with water in a spray bottle
A couple packs of Scotch Brite scour pads
Masking Tape
Paint and Primer of your choice
Anyway, here's how I did it:
1) Spray down the wheel with a good degreaser, like Simple Green, and let it soak for a few minutes. Then wipe the wheel clean with a rag.
2) Use the scour pad and scuff up the entire wheel. This took me about 15 minutes per wheel- take your time and don't miss any. Pay special attention to the hard to get areas. You want the wheel to have a dull, flat look when you are done.
3) Wipe the wheel with your alcohol/ water mix and some paper towels. WEAR RUBBER GLOVES (and keep them on until you are done painting the wheel)! You don't want to touch the clean wheel with your hands, because the oil in your skin will affect the paint.
4) Carefully tape the wheel. This is probably the hardest/ most time consuming part. You have to get this right, or else your wheel is going to look like crap. I used some really thin tape I got at a paint supply shop to do mine.
After running the thin stripe of tape, I stepped up to a thicker tape to get the rest of the wheel lip. I also made a cutout/ template. It's just a circle 17" across, and I'm able to lay it over the wheel with the taped edge to completely cover the tire. I also taped the back side of the wheel. Here's what they looked like before I was ready for paint:
5) Now you're ready for paint. You can run a quick swipe over the wheels with a paper towel and alcohol/water just to make sure it's clean, then let it dry a couple minutes before applying your first very light coat of primer. I sprayed my coats of primer a few minutes apart, and kept the coats very very light.
6) After priming the wheel, you can take a scotch brite pad or some sand paper and lightly sand the primer. I didn't do this part, but if you want a glossy finish you will probably want to.
7). Now it's time for the actual paint. Read the directions on the can, and apply it in very light coats. It's better to do a lot of light coats than to try to get it done in just a couple of coats and end up with a bunch of runs. If you do get a run, let the paint dry then lightly sand it out. Then respray the wheel.
8) I cleared my wheel before the paint was actually dry. From what I understand, you want to spray when the paint is tacky, so the clearcoat can actually mix with the paint. If you try to clearcoat over dry paint, your clearcoat will end up peeling.
9) That's it! Once they dried a while, I peeled the tape really carefully. I let the one wheel dry overnight, then hit it with a little Swirl Remover. Like I said, I didn't want them glossy. If you want a gloss look, you can let them dry a few days then wet sand/ polish them.
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great write up..could be a HOW TO...they look awesome..before i opened the thread i was hoping for white wheels lol..but that actually looks great....hurry up and get them on the car!
I have been looking for a new set of wheels for my white car and finally decided. Get some pics of them on your car quick!
Trust me I want to lol. We have my car, my dads '91, and his '55 F100 in our garage. Mine is parked where I cant pull it out until the others get moved in the spring, but I'll try to get some pics tomorrow of them on the car.
try harder wynn...i must see
Okay okay. I can't wait to get pics outside, but that won't be until spring. It should look nice when I get the front lowered just a bit more. These are the best I could do. I may try to shovel the driveway and back the 5.0 out for some better pics later this week.
they look awesome...if you feel like getting motivated ( freezing here too with snow) then shovel away and would love to see the pics...but if not i suppose we could wait..looks great though..they came out awesome
Thanks man. I shoveled it today. Im gonna try to pull out the red one and get a little bit better pics tomorrow. Might even set it back on the ground lol. I cant wait to see how it looks. So far im pretty happy- the only other thing ive ever painted in my life was my valve covers, and that was just a quick scuff and shoot.
This is the best I have for right now. I didn't want to drop it to the ground because I have a line lock and brake pads waiting to go on.
I need a bigger garage lol. I think it's going to look sweet when I set it down, especially if I pull the isos out of the front springs or put some 4 cylinder springs on.
I need a bigger garage lol. I think it's going to look sweet when I set it down, especially if I pull the isos out of the front springs or put some 4 cylinder springs on.
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