Painting stock rims

[Jeff C.]

How do I prep my old stock rims before spray painting them? They have some kind of clear coat on them and the paint doesn't adhere.

[Fred85]

Give them a thorough sand job, you have to remove the clearcoat first

[old_man]

Sandblast is the best

[HCA-Bronco]

Goto www.por15.com and look for whats called Por Strip it will take the clear coat right off faster then you can drink pitcher of beer

[Mr.OverKill]

you could also use easy off oven cleaner. ( totaly ghetto, but it works )

[JLane99XJ]

i guess since it was doods 69th post its cool he posted it in the Adv. Fab. section of the board,
i guess...

[the_bandit87]

Are you talking about aluminum rims, because if you strip the clear coat right and do some sanding you can get a pretty nice looking polished aluminum look out of them. Its not as nice looking as the stock lacquer/clearcoat finish, but its a lot better than the way they look after they've been exposed to salt or had the clear coat crack.

[derekrichardson]

I've used "Aircraft Remover" from Wal-Mart. It comes in a light blue can I believe. I first used it to remove faux wood paneling off my Grand Wagoneer and the paint just dripped off in puddles along with the vinyl... OOOPS!

By the way, getting it on your skin is frowned upon. You don't feel it at first. Then you become aware of a feeling like a burning ember is sinking into your skin. And it leaves a mark!

I just painted my gold (arrrghhh!) lace wheels on my Cherokee. I used Hammerite in a can in black. Looks GREAT!

[435Mj]

whats a durable paint? i painted mine a sliver ....well actully my dad kinda took that apon himself but anyway its scrached and now is a lil rusty. i wana paint em black now tho. any suggestions on a paint

[old_man]

Hammerite

[pipes94xj]

I also am looking at painting my wheels. I'm leaving the tires mounted while doing it and was worrying if the "aircraft remover" or other strong chem will hurt my rubber?
And..my local auto parts stores suck, where can I get Hammerite paint?

[streetpirate]

hammerite at any hardware store or fred meyers hardware department. home depot or lowes. hammerite isnt a car paint, used for outdoor metals liek gates and railings and such. thats why the auto parts stores dont have it. and by personal experience, it chips off way easy. i did my mountan bike with it stripped and primed and it still chipped off easy.

[ju$tice720]

Generally rubber will not be affected by an acid.. but that aircraft remover stuff's harsh!! it pulled off litreally 13 coats of paint off of my 65 mustang in the matter of say 20 mins.. do you know how long I would have had to sand 13 coats of paint.. crap!! Anyways, you'd be better off pulling the tires and doing it correctly. what ever paint you buy make sure to clean the surface with a degreaser scuff it and use a metal paint. good luck

[Hypoid]

WOW! There's half of my question and I didn't even think to ask. LOL

So I want to paint an extra set of lace rims gold for my wife's XJ Limited. It's a grocery-getter, she LIKES gold, we want to maintain the vehicle's current appearance.

What brand of paint will be durable and match the (?)stock(?) gold color?

What brands of clear-coat are really durable?

Did the wheels come with the entire center section painted; or paint inside the lace, with a finished aluminum face (like the country wheels)?

Did I mention she REALLY LIKES the appearance of the gold lace rims? :twak: LOL

TIA, Mike

[Rocketman]

Goto www.por15.com (http://www.por15.com) and look for whats called Por Strip it will take the clear coat right off faster then you can drink pitcher of beer

Damn that stuff works fast!!!:roll:

[HogWash]

I sanded mine down with some 220 grit and rattle caned them army flat black....Looks cool!

[orchimaxi]

WOW! There's half of my question and I didn't even think to ask. LOL

So I want to paint an extra set of lace rims gold for my wife's XJ Limited. It's a grocery-getter, she LIKES gold, we want to maintain the vehicle's current appearance.

What brand of paint will be durable and match the (?)stock(?) gold color?

What brands of clear-coat are really durable?

Did the wheels come with the entire center section painted; or paint inside the lace, with a finished aluminum face (like the country wheels)?

Did I mention she REALLY LIKES the appearance of the gold lace rims? :twak: LOL

TIA, Mike

I say you tell her it came with whichever is easiest! :cheers:

[ktwalker01]

I used Grill paint gunmetal color on my rims, heat resistant and also finished extremly durable and smooth as if it was stock in that color, its from Duplicolor i believe. I did this on the 10 hole 15 inch aluminum rims.

[moparmatt]

I would like to paint my wheels too but if i did it i would have to have the tire still on, their for the stupid little wheel weight balancer is in my way can i just rip it off or.... any one else have any ideas

Would it look stupid if i painted over it and touched it up later.

[dfreeman616]

if you just rip off the weight, you'll probably have some nasty vibes afterward unless you get them rebalanced. if you're going to do it, take a little extra time to do it right, take off the weights. by the way, you can take the weights off without dismounting the rubber. in fact, that's how it's supose to be done.

[moparmatt]

if you just rip off the weight, you'll probably have some nasty vibes afterward unless you get them rebalanced. if you're going to do it, take a little extra time to do it right, take off the weights. by the way, you can take the weights off without dismounting the rubber. in fact, that's how it's supose to be done.

Thanks a million

Awsome that is what i am going to do. I have never done it before what is the best way to rip them off pliers or just cut them off best as i can.

Now my plan is to take the weights off and paint it with the rubber on and wait until it dries and make the 4 mile drive to discount tire and get bigger tires, that is if the vibes do cause the tire to fall off. (i will take my time)

[Hamer460]

Does anyone have pics of the lace rims painted?

[Blaine B.]

When I got the jeep, I'd say 3 of the 4 wheels only had weights on the insides, none on the outsides.....never had any issues for about a year, until I got new tires, and had it balanced properly.

[wild_thing]

If we can't convince the customer to get them powder coated, we will sandblast and paint the rims. Aluminum usually requires an etching primer (depending on what coating system you are using). I would advise against the hardware store paints, as they are more geared toward lawn furniture and the like. Rims take a beating and a more durable coating usually looks better and lasts longer.