Spraying alloy wheels

[Timo. 0]

Has anyone ever sprayed their own alloys before.

 

Looking to get rid of the gold ones that are on my scooby :roll:

 

They are in pretty good condition and I'm thinking about gun metal grey or something similar. Maybe even black. At least if they are dark, no one will see my dodgy paint spraying work :D

 

Any ideas or thoughts.

 

Timo.

[craigowl 0]

I did it on a Golf Mk 2's imitation BBSs. (silver - Hammerite)

 

Use at least 7 coats, with rests and checks for dust/hairs between coats.

 

Arsols by the way. :ignore: you know, the pressurised tins!

 

Get them done professionally for £220-270.

[coolrado 0]

definately worth getting powder coated rather than sprayed, spray painted wheels seem to pit very quicky from the brake dust and heat, and when i had a set of wheels that had been sprayed they had nice yellow stains on them after a dog pissed on them :bad-words:

 

check your yellow pages and phone around some of your local powdercoaters, i managed to get 4 bbs rms bead blasted and powdercoated silver with powder coat laquer for around 100quid

[Timo. 0]

Oh..............

 

I like the sound of powder coating.

 

I shall look into it. Not in any hurry cos I'm skint. Hence why I thought about doing it myself.

 

Cheers

 

T.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

I've painted wheels a few times and had very good results, long lasting too.

 

I think in NickVR6's gallery, he has pics of his Rado on my old Oettinger RE wheels, which I painted myself with Halfords Vauxhall "Astro Silver" spray cans :-)

 

So far the finish is lasting really well. Total cost - £30 in sandpaper and paint.

 

Powder coating is fine so long as they don't apply it too thickly and the flat the wheels back again after the acid bath. Otherwise it will just chip off in huge great chunks and you'd be better off with paint.

[shawshankkid 1]

Did mine myself, very happy with the results too. have a look -

 

http://the-corrado.net/.archive/forum/viewtopic. ... highlight=

[Timo. 0]

I've painted wheels a few times and had very good results, long lasting too.

 

I think in NickVR6's gallery, he has pics of his Rado on my old Oettinger RE wheels, which I painted myself with Halfords Vauxhall "Astro Silver" spray cans :-)

 

So far the finish is lasting really well. Total cost - £30 in sandpaper and paint.

 

Powder coating is fine so long as they don't apply it too thickly and the flat the wheels back again after the acid bath. Otherwise it will just chip off in huge great chunks and you'd be better off with paint.

 

Thats the kinda idea I had in mind. Good old halfords. Can you give me a quick run down of the prep. work you did and how many coats you applied.

 

For the sake of £30, its worth having a go myself. If I do a shite job, I'll save up and get them done properly at some point.

 

Cheers

 

Timo.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Halfords paint is actually very good, but watch the last 1/2 to 1/4 of the can as the paint can come out a bit dusty as the air runs out. Best to start with a new can past half empty, but it's still cheap!

 

Anyway, I basically just flatted off the existing paint, primed over the top and then added 1 thick primer coat, 2 colour coats and 3 or 4 laquer coats. You don't have to go mad, just so long as the surface is flat and smooth. I used Tack cloths (also from halfords!) to remove any fine dust before putting the laquer coats on.

 

It's worth a shot as you say and the worst that will happen is you've lost £30 and your paint skills would have improved a bit!

[Timo. 0]

cheesewire, You're a star mate!

 

I get on with that mission next time I'm off and have some spare time.

 

Did you do it with the tyres on or off??

 

Thinking I might just mask them up and leave the tyre on. Cant be bothered to take them to get the tyres taken off etc.

[jonnyboyo 0]

I've sprayed 2 sets now. Pretty much as cheesewire did. I stripped the paint off the wheels first using paint stripper before sanding them down nicely with good ol sandpaper. Then put 1 good coat of primer on, 2 coats of silver then 3 coats lacquer. To save time i used a heat gun (the ones used to strip paint off wood) between coats so i could go from primer to lacquer all in one day! In effect "baking" the paint on lol!!

I left the wheels a good 24hrs to harden before driving the car and hey presto, they looked fab and went through a miserable salty Northern winter with no probs whatsoever.

Give it a go fella, the worst you can do is waste 30-40 quid and you'd only maybe get one wheel professionally refurbed for that.

 

Oh, and i left the tyres on during the whole process. Just used plenty of newspaper and masking tape on the tyres. Or you could grease the sidewalls coz paint wont stick then.

[Nuggit 0]

Another quick tip,

 

Heat the can of paint first, makes a massive difference.

 

Either use a heat gun/strong hairdryer for 5 mins, or use some warm water from a kettle. (not boiling!)

 

Really helps the finish and distribution.

 

Masking tape's a sod to stick to tyres, just do your best, and remove any overspray with small amounts of thinners.

 

 

And the key to a good job is like everything.. preparation and time. Key the wheels properly, tack rags (as CW mentioned) are a must IMHO. Use a small amount of heat between coats, and try and keep it warm full stop.

[Timo. 0]

Cool

 

Cheers chaps.

 

Already done two full wheels, half way through the third and have started on the fourth.

 

They are looking the dogs dangles and better than the gold that was on :)

 

T.

[herisites 0]

Pics??? :D

[stevef182 0]

yeah i did mine too off my old golf, just to experiment and they looked pretty good! ill put some pics up!

[Timo. 0]

Pics to follow at some point.

[Timo. 0]

Pics