Restyling Stock Wheels Options

[rave2n]

Picked up some stock rims from a member here. I figured they would need some work, being they are over 10 years of age, and road rash is bound to happen.

When I got them




Began the process of stripping and sanding




Sanding


Skipped a few photos here, mainly because it was some busy work.
Process included, stripping and sanding to bare metal. 3 Coats primer, 3 Coats Color. Going to put clear on tonight. Took 1 1/2 half to just tape it up to spray the inside of the spokes..but I like the results...can't wait to see'em on the car.





Now I only did one wheel to just see how it would turn out. Now I got 3 more to do.

Heres a pick of the car without them on. So when all is done, there is reference to the old steelies =P (Shocks, coils on the way, BTW =))

[rave2n]

Final Pic!



I think shes looking 50 times better =)

By request, here is the process I used.

Supplies:
2 X RustOleum 11 oz. Metallic Silver High Performance Wheel Paint
1 X RustOleum 11 oz. Metallic Black High Performance Wheel Paint
2 X RustOleum 11 oz. Clearcoat High Performance Wheel Paint
2 X RustOleum 11 oz. Bare Metal Primer
1 X Tal-Strip Paint Remover
2 X 5 pk 180 Grit sand paper
2 x 5 pk 220 Grit sand paper
1 X 5 pk 800 Grit sand paper
1 X Painters tape - 1/2 inch.
1 X Razor Blade & Pencil
1 X Small Paint brush & cup
1 X Aquameld Fiberglass putty, or Aluminum Putty
1 X Rubbing Compound
Optional: Black & Decker Mouse Palm Sander (Highly Recommend, unless you have the forearms of a gorilla)
Optional: Notecards (This is for if you want to do it with the tire on)
400 X Patience

Begin with Tal-Strip, saturate all rims. Wait 1 hour, rinse off. Some spots may require using a plastic scrapper, or you can just sand it off.

Once rims have dried off, you can begin sanding. Start with 180 grit. Sand it down to a smooth surface. The lip will require a bit more sanding, if some road rash is to deep and sanding it down will create a dip on the lip, simply mix up the fiberglass puty and fill the gash. Wait 45 mins, return with 180 grit over the fiberglass puty and sand to a smooth surface. After all 4 have been sanded smooth with 180, whip out the 220 and do a general sanding of the whole face of the rim to create a nice smooth surface for the primer.

Clean rims throughly - Anything left behind will show. It must be spotless, use water and wait for it to dry if you have to, or dry with a microfiber cloth so a normal one doesn't leave cloth shavings behind.

Apply 1 light coat of primer - Wait 10 mins, apply a solid wet coat of primer - Repeat 1 more time, total of 1 light, 2 solid primer coats.

Wait 2 hours for primer to dry throughly, and sand down the whole face of the rim with 800 grit paper to make the primer nice and smooth for paint to be applied. Clean off dust, I suggest using a air compressor and blowing it all off, or you can just wipe it off throughly with a cloth, do not use water unless you want to wait for the primer to dry agian.

After Primer is nice and smooth, and clean. Begin to apply the Silver paint, same process as priming. 1 Coat light, 10 mins, 2 coats heavy. 10 mins in between.

The silver will be nice and tacky after 2 hours, and you can begin to apply the painters tape, be very careful because your fingernails or any amount of to much pressure will make a dent in that fresh paint. You can wait a day or two if you to do the next step, for the paint to cure more, but thats up to you. Take the painters tape and follow all the curves of the silver area outside of spot. I simply apply tape, followed the lines with a pencil, and cut it with a razor. This process is very time consuming, I believe it took me 1 and half hours per rim to tape up. You want to make sure you tape matches along these lines, or a visible corrupted line will show when the black is applied. Once done taping all face of the rim, you can then apply the black

Black simply is 2 coats 10 mins in between. Wait 1 hour, this is very important, no more then 1 hour, or the black will begin to cure and when you remove the tape it will take black with it.

Once all tape has been removed, you can then apply your clear coat. I applied 3 coats 10 mins in between once agian. This will provide a nice shine and protection for the paint. It won't be completely smooth, thats where you bring in the rubbing compound and rub like hell til its nice and smooth on the clear.

Painting the center caps is real simple. Same process as stated above. The toyota symbol must be painted by hand using a small brush and paint in a cup. I just used the spray black, and applied it..( Well i didn't, my wonderful lady did, I made an attempt and my hand just wasn't steady enough, and I figured hell, ladies apply finger nail polish, this is quite similiar. and she did a damn good job)

Thats about it, it all really comes down to how much time you want to put into it. The more you put in the better the outcome.

I made the mistake of taking them to get tires put on only 36 hours after the paint was applied, so when they balanced the tires, the weights pulled some paint and clear off. No biggie, just sand it down and respray, I would recommend waiting atleast a week before putting tires on, so the paint is nice and solid. Hope this helps!

This post has been edited by rave2n: Feb 24, 2010 - 11:07 AM