How to Paint your own wheels. (Not 56k friendly)
06-04-2008, 06:05 AM
#83
Originally Posted by aSPECtL06
I wonder how he went about jacking the car up...stands or what? Somebody enlighten me so I can get all the necessary equipment and paint my wheels!
01-01-2009, 10:44 PM
#89
For a while I have been thinking about getting new wheels and didn't really want to spend the money. Then I saw this write up! Wow, thanks MisterFubar. I looked around for someone who had done this on a WDP and couldn't find any... so I bit the bullet and just did it. I absolutely love it. These pics aren't great as the sun was getting ready to set. I'll post more later if someone wants. In bright light the wheels really pop! I love it with WDP. 
01-02-2009, 07:56 AM
#91
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For a while I have been thinking about getting new wheels and didn't really want to spend the money. Then I saw this write up! Wow, thanks MisterFubar. I looked around for someone who had done this on a WDP and couldn't find any... so I bit the bullet and just did it. I absolutely love it. These pics aren't great as the sun was getting ready to set. I'll post more later if someone wants. In bright light the wheels really pop! I love it with WDP.
I recently bought an 06 WDP TL and the A-Spec body kit is being installed today. I have a set of slightly scratched OEM 04 TL wheels and 75% tread Michelin Pilot Sport A/S coming today for the winter, I was thinking about painting them black, but the Grey looks great! Now I definatley will do this to them. Thanks for the pics, my car will look identical to yours.
01-02-2009, 02:38 PM
#93
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01-02-2009, 11:42 PM
#94
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I just got a set of used TL wheels with Michelin Pilot Sport A/S today from Royce. I just cleaned them 100%. They will dry tonight. I bought the Duplicolor primer, grey paint and clear. Can't wait to finish them.
I would like to black out the headlights, maybe when it gets warm out.
I would like to black out the headlights, maybe when it gets warm out.
01-03-2009, 07:51 AM
#95
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See my Avatar, I cleaned all 4 wheels last night, WOW what a mess. Today I am starting to sand them down. A few need some real sanding with my orbital and 80 grit. I need to find a warm place to paint them. I think I will also repaint the Acura symbol on the center cap black, but not the outer ring around the Acura symbol.
TiminAZ Painting your calipers black would look nice also. I already have black front calipers (manual) and I will paint the rear calipers when its warm outside (aprox 90 days from now, YUK.)
TiminAZ Painting your calipers black would look nice also. I already have black front calipers (manual) and I will paint the rear calipers when its warm outside (aprox 90 days from now, YUK.)
01-05-2009, 01:08 AM
#96
I was actually thinking of that already. The shims in the standard brakes are polished stainless and look nice when redone and would look great with black. I am also thinking of black lugs.
Here are some better pics of my car.
Here are some better pics of my car.
01-05-2009, 03:57 AM
#97
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Looks Great, I was also thinking about painting just the Acura symbol in the center of the center cap black, maybe white. Here is my car right after picking it up from Acura A-Spec body kit install. I would have dressed the Tires but I took them off about 1 hour after this pic to put the RJ Legends on. 
2 Hours later
2 Hours later
Last edited by JD TL-S; 01-05-2009 at 03:59 AM.
01-06-2009, 08:07 AM
#98
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Tim: what was YOUR process (primer, number of coats and rough time frame) i too am thinking of doing this but im not wanting too dark of a contrats (i have a SSM TL) does the number of coats darken or lighten the final color? TIA
P.S. Wheels look GREAT!
P.S. Wheels look GREAT!
01-08-2009, 12:58 AM
#100
JimiThng,
The whole process took about 6 hours. Now, I live in AZ and the day I did it our humidity was less than 10% and the temp was in the 50-60's.
I put the car on stands so I had all 4 wheels.
Cleaned them with Weslie's Bleach white and warm water.
Lightly sanded front and back with a 3M scotchbrite pad (paint repair isle-Checker. Looked barely used after doing all 4 wheels.)
Rinsed wheels off and dried THOUROGHLY.
used a tack cloth to get any dust off.
used the index card idea.
sprayed 2 light coats and 1 hevier coat and let dry for 15 minutes. Gently tacked the wheels down between coats when dry to the touch. ( I really believe that is how the finish came out so well.)
Followed by 2 coats of clear on the fronts.
Waited 2 hours to mount. (Mounted them CAREFULLY by hand- no air tools.)
Didn't drive on them till the next day and waited 3 days to wash the car.
I never wash with anything but water and I don't use brushes ever. The newest pics are after the wash.
draztic1011,
using the index cards as a mask allowed the paint to get around the edge but the machinery actually rubs the inside of the lip that isn't seen and didn't get painted. I don't plan on having a tire removed from the wheel soon so I would imagine the paint will have cured long before I have to. I don't believe it will be a problem.
The whole process took about 6 hours. Now, I live in AZ and the day I did it our humidity was less than 10% and the temp was in the 50-60's.
I put the car on stands so I had all 4 wheels.
Cleaned them with Weslie's Bleach white and warm water.
Lightly sanded front and back with a 3M scotchbrite pad (paint repair isle-Checker. Looked barely used after doing all 4 wheels.)
Rinsed wheels off and dried THOUROGHLY.
used a tack cloth to get any dust off.
used the index card idea.
sprayed 2 light coats and 1 hevier coat and let dry for 15 minutes. Gently tacked the wheels down between coats when dry to the touch. ( I really believe that is how the finish came out so well.)
Followed by 2 coats of clear on the fronts.
Waited 2 hours to mount. (Mounted them CAREFULLY by hand- no air tools.)
Didn't drive on them till the next day and waited 3 days to wash the car.
I never wash with anything but water and I don't use brushes ever. The newest pics are after the wash.
draztic1011,
using the index cards as a mask allowed the paint to get around the edge but the machinery actually rubs the inside of the lip that isn't seen and didn't get painted. I don't plan on having a tire removed from the wheel soon so I would imagine the paint will have cured long before I have to. I don't believe it will be a problem.
01-08-2009, 06:29 AM
#101
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great expanation! when you say you 'Gently tacked the wheels down between coats when dry to the touch' what exactly do you mean? sorry for the elementary question. is there a way to make them 'not so dark?' i have a SSM and im not wanting the wheels to overpower the beautiful color...im wanting just a touch darker. TIA
JimiThng,
The whole process took about 6 hours. Now, I live in AZ and the day I did it our humidity was less than 10% and the temp was in the 50-60's.
I put the car on stands so I had all 4 wheels.
Cleaned them with Weslie's Bleach white and warm water.
Lightly sanded front and back with a 3M scotchbrite pad (paint repair isle-Checker. Looked barely used after doing all 4 wheels.)
Rinsed wheels off and dried THOUROGHLY.
used a tack cloth to get any dust off.
used the index card idea.
sprayed 2 light coats and 1 hevier coat and let dry for 15 minutes. Gently tacked the wheels down between coats when dry to the touch. ( I really believe that is how the finish came out so well.)
Followed by 2 coats of clear on the fronts.
Waited 2 hours to mount. (Mounted them CAREFULLY by hand- no air tools.)
Didn't drive on them till the next day and waited 3 days to wash the car.
I never wash with anything but water and I don't use brushes ever. The newest pics are after the wash.
draztic1011,
using the index cards as a mask allowed the paint to get around the edge but the machinery actually rubs the inside of the lip that isn't seen and didn't get painted. I don't plan on having a tire removed from the wheel soon so I would imagine the paint will have cured long before I have to. I don't believe it will be a problem.
The whole process took about 6 hours. Now, I live in AZ and the day I did it our humidity was less than 10% and the temp was in the 50-60's.
I put the car on stands so I had all 4 wheels.
Cleaned them with Weslie's Bleach white and warm water.
Lightly sanded front and back with a 3M scotchbrite pad (paint repair isle-Checker. Looked barely used after doing all 4 wheels.)
Rinsed wheels off and dried THOUROGHLY.
used a tack cloth to get any dust off.
used the index card idea.
sprayed 2 light coats and 1 hevier coat and let dry for 15 minutes. Gently tacked the wheels down between coats when dry to the touch. ( I really believe that is how the finish came out so well.)
Followed by 2 coats of clear on the fronts.
Waited 2 hours to mount. (Mounted them CAREFULLY by hand- no air tools.)
Didn't drive on them till the next day and waited 3 days to wash the car.
I never wash with anything but water and I don't use brushes ever. The newest pics are after the wash.
draztic1011,
using the index cards as a mask allowed the paint to get around the edge but the machinery actually rubs the inside of the lip that isn't seen and didn't get painted. I don't plan on having a tire removed from the wheel soon so I would imagine the paint will have cured long before I have to. I don't believe it will be a problem.
01-08-2009, 06:49 AM
#102
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Maybe use a white primer. I am now priming my wheels with grey primer. I will post pics when I am finished.
I took my wheels off, I used an orbital power sander with 100 grit to sand down some pretty bad curb scratches on the wheels. Then I used 150 grit by hand on the bad areas. Then 320 and 400 on the rest of the wheel. I also sanded the insides the same way. I then cleaned them with hot water and dried them. I taped off the wheels with 2" masking tape and then covered the entire tire with newspaper. I put 3 coats of primer on the wheels. 2 thin coats and 1 medium coat. The first wheel I primed turned out poor. The paint was drying b4 hitting the wheel surface and caused a grainy look. I used super fine steel wool after it dried and re-primed it painting much closer to the wheel. That turned out great. I have 2 fully primed and am going to prime the other 2 in about 2 hours. Then I will probably coat the wheels with 2 light coats of Gunmetal paint followed with 1 heavier medium coat. After drying I will put on 2 coats of clear.
I took my wheels off, I used an orbital power sander with 100 grit to sand down some pretty bad curb scratches on the wheels. Then I used 150 grit by hand on the bad areas. Then 320 and 400 on the rest of the wheel. I also sanded the insides the same way. I then cleaned them with hot water and dried them. I taped off the wheels with 2" masking tape and then covered the entire tire with newspaper. I put 3 coats of primer on the wheels. 2 thin coats and 1 medium coat. The first wheel I primed turned out poor. The paint was drying b4 hitting the wheel surface and caused a grainy look. I used super fine steel wool after it dried and re-primed it painting much closer to the wheel. That turned out great. I have 2 fully primed and am going to prime the other 2 in about 2 hours. Then I will probably coat the wheels with 2 light coats of Gunmetal paint followed with 1 heavier medium coat. After drying I will put on 2 coats of clear.
01-08-2009, 09:47 PM
#103
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DUPLICOLOR Wheel Paint ROCKS!!!
Here is the wheels fully sanded and painted with 3 coats of primer.
Here is the wheel with 3 coats of paint and 3 coats of clear
Here is the wheels fully sanded and painted with 3 coats of primer.
Here is the wheel with 3 coats of paint and 3 coats of clear
Last edited by JD TL-S; 01-08-2009 at 09:50 PM.
01-09-2009, 07:39 AM
#105
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This morning I will finish the other 2 wheels. I am going to let them cure for 3 days. I really need to put them on. These are the wheels and tires I bought from Royce Han. They have Michelin Pilot Sport A/S tires. Now I am running my Ronjon 19" Legends with General UHP Extreme 245/35/19" tires because the tires that came on the car when I bought it last month are BAD in the snow, they are BFG g-Force sport ZR summer tires. The General tires on the RJ wheels are way better in the snow then the BFG g-Force sports. But I don't want to leave the RJ wheels on TOO long. Now we are getting another big snow storm here north of Chicago. I am trying to keep the salt off my RJ wheels until I finish painting my wheels with the A/S Michelins.
Last edited by JD TL-S; 01-09-2009 at 07:41 AM.
01-09-2009, 07:44 AM
#106
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holy wheel paint bat man, that looks great! cant wait to see pics of them mounted. oh, a quick observation, your wheel weights, i assume next time they are mounted and balanced, the tire shop will most likely scratch the weights off resulting in a scratched inner wheel, right? is it possible for them to mount the weights in another location i.e. on the inner lip of the wheel? thats my only concern.
01-14-2009, 01:50 PM
#109
Drifting
How close is the silver duplicolor to the factory color of the wheels? I've been meaning to fix all the scrapes my wife put on the wheels. I remember someone saying that SSM was pretty close but a little darker. (Does Acura touch up paint even come in an aerosol can? The one I have is in a tiny bottle with a brush)
01-19-2009, 11:08 AM
#112
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For a while I have been thinking about getting new wheels and didn't really want to spend the money. Then I saw this write up! Wow, thanks MisterFubar. I looked around for someone who had done this on a WDP and couldn't find any... so I bit the bullet and just did it. I absolutely love it. These pics aren't great as the sun was getting ready to set. I'll post more later if someone wants. In bright light the wheels really pop! I love it with WDP.
04-20-2009, 06:53 PM
#118
i've got 4 complete rims/tires/tpms and one spare rim i'm about to practice on. i'll see how hard the spare rim is to do before i jump into 4 rims that are winter beaters.
i can't decide if i want regular ole silver or try and match my TL-S gunmetal look.
i can't decide if i want regular ole silver or try and match my TL-S gunmetal look.
