Painting my track rims
 

Ok you experienced guys, I want to paint my 17 inch turbo twist track wheels black with dayglo orange faces. I'm thinking of flat paints as well.

No, I don't care what you think of my color choices. I just want a step by step guide to prepping and painting them and how to mask off the faces so it looks good.

Pointers? Sources for paint?

I've been watching YouTube vids, btw...

RN, good luck with the project. Cant wait to see the finished results. And for the record I like the color choice :D

Go for it.

I think "RS" with orange wheels


http://i1265.photobucket.com/albums/...01139Large.jpg

I am painting my track wheels today with Plastidip. I'll post some info and pic's later today.

I know nothing about this Plastidip...does it come with the neon oranges/greens? If so, i am so doing my track wheels the brightest orange you can find.

Can't wait to see your pics!

Plastidip is a rubber paint that is available in basic white, black, gray, blue, red...

C6, what you want is landscaper's Dayglo orange spray paint from Home Depot. That's what I'm buying...

Learn more about Plastidip here (including a list of available colors): Plasti Dip Protective Coating Products | Plasti Dip Protective Coating Products | Rubber Dip Coating

If you missed them, the pics are posted here: http://986forum.com/forums/general-discussions/35614-plastidip-wheels-you-vote.html

I also use the Plastidip to paint my track.

Holy crap this is bright. Actually, the picture doesn't do the color justice. It's actually just as bright but a deeper orange than this!

I take it back. I DO care what you all think of my color choice. Let the comments fly!

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads01...1339638398.jpg

97boxster, no need to drive over to see these rims. Just walk out your front door and look toward downtown and you'll see the orange glow coming from my back patio.

You can get away with it on a Black Boxster.

Let's hope I can! I would hate to be laughed off the track.

I can just hear the guys humming the theme song to the TV version of Batman!

RN I like it. Can't wait to see it finished. Looks like "cone orange" to me. When you get them mounted I want to see it. Make sure to park it outside so I can see it.

Seriously we do need to get together. Cheif is here (somewhere) too and a GTG would be fun.

Take care

This is "construction cone/sign orange" for sure.

Where's the carnival at ? :)

The track!

Then it will look good !

keep us posted on how easy it is to keep them clean !

Ahem... very nice track livery Randall. Now you just need a couple of these on your rear spoiler:
Radioactive Sign, 7" x 10", fiberglass from Labelmaster

I was thinking of putting the radioactive logo on my center caps!

I'm a little closer to finishing the first wheel now. Had to sand it down and hit it again, and I messed up that coat too. I need to build a stand so I can paint the rims vertically. Painting them with rattle cans on the ground just isn't a good angle.

This shot gives a glimpse of the color contrast it will give though. I'm having second thoughts. It's just so freaking bright.

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads01...1343617315.jpg

Sorry I missed this when it started. I repainted a set of wheels that turned out pretty nice and lasted a long time. About 5 years ago, I bought a basket case for a daily driver. Among many other things, it has severely bent rims and were actually starting to crack!

<a href="http://s2.photobucket.com/albums/y37/bellylint/Eclipse/?action=view&amp;current=wheel_damage-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y37/bellylint/Eclipse/wheel_damage-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s2.photobucket.com/albums/y37/bellylint/Eclipse/?action=view&amp;current=spoke_crack-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y37/bellylint/Eclipse/spoke_crack-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

So I bought some used wheels that had a very iffy black with polished rim finish.

<a href="http://s2.photobucket.com/albums/y37/bellylint/Eclipse/?action=view&amp;current=black_wheel.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y37/bellylint/Eclipse/black_wheel.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

The metal was in pretty good shape, but dirty and the paint was poor and scratched.

The process is to sand the entire wheel. I used 100 grit paper and a triangle shaped sander. This is a pic while I was part way through the process. I eventually got all the paint off and also did the backs of the wheels. The insides of the spokes and the groove in the rim just below the lip I sanded by hand. I left the tires on as I was not going to use them and it makes it easier to handle, avoiding touching the newly painted metal surfaces.

<a href="http://s2.photobucket.com/albums/y37/bellylint/Eclipse/?action=view&amp;current=sanded_wheel.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y37/bellylint/Eclipse/sanded_wheel.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Make sure to rough up the area around the outer lip. It will help resist chipping when the tire shop puts the tires on. Mine still chipped, so I had to touch up the wheels after the new tires were mounted.

I then bought the wheel specific paint from Dupli-color. They claim it's more brake dust and chip resistant. True? Who knows. It's a 1 step paint, with no primer.

I put on several light, even coats of color. It ended out being probably about 5 coats total. I let it dry for a couple of days and wet sanded down to 1500 grit. I then used Mirror Glaze meduim cut cleaner, light cut cleaner, glaze and then the high tech yellow wax.

Here's the wheel still mounted on the old tire. You can see some knicks in the wheel. I suppose I could have bondo'd them out before painting, but I wasn't motivated to do so.

<a href="http://s2.photobucket.com/albums/y37/bellylint/Eclipse/?action=view&amp;current=graphite_wheel.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y37/bellylint/Eclipse/graphite_wheel.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

These still looked good after I used the car for a couple of years through 100 degree heat and -14 degree cold and snow.

Well, I got my rims painted in time for the track, but I didn't give them enough time to cure after I finished them and the installers screwed up every one of them one way or another. But from a distance they look awesome and everyone gave me two thumbs up! Check it out: