HOW TO: Paint Your Wheels...

I have always been a huge fan of the AEV Bridger wheels, But blowing $179 a pop just isn't economical or sane. So I set out to find a set of wheels that looks similar, and much cheaper. The Moab wheels seemed to be pretty close, but were a little too "squared off", and EVERYONE seems to be running them. Also, even in 16's they seem to be around $80-120 a piece. 17's are around $60 a piece, but then you need new tires, and spacers which again is just too expensive. Then I came across the Icon's. The seems to be a great match, but had an extra raised rib in the middle of each spoke. Whatever, close enough. I scored a set of 5 for $195 at the local yard.




If they had come in gunmetal, half of my trouble would have already been over. Unfortunately they were the Limited silver, not Classic gunmetal. So it was time to paint.

Here is everything you'll need. 220 or 320 grit sandpaper, self-etching primer, gunmetal wheel paint, and clear wheel paint. I also bought a little can of metallic black for the centercaps.


Start by removing the centercaps. These pop out easily from the back with a little screwdriver.


Then start sanding away. This is easily the most important step. I used a 220 grit sanding pad from 3M. Worked great, but took a lot of effort. Make sure to get into every little crevice and nook. The lip and corners of the spokes seemed to be the trickiest. Keep at it until everything is no longer glossy.

In a couple places around the bottom of the spokes I went through to the aluminum. This is no big deal, as the self etch primer will take care of it.


Next comes priming. TAKE YOUR TIME. I did 1 extremely light coat, let it tack for about 5 minutes, followed by 2 more medium/light coats. I let that set up for about an hour, and then came back with one last medium/heavy coat. Make sure it does not run. Be sure to get around the wheel lip on the inner side, as well as the lug holes.



Next it's time for paint. For this, each coat I did was a little heavier. 1 super light dusting, just to get a tacky surface. Then a light coat with full, even coverage. Let it sit for about 5 minutes. Did another medium/light coat, waited 10 minutes, and finished with one last heavy coat. The last coat was super thick, and I laid it down as thick as I possibly could without runs.

Here is after the first light coats.

And after the last 2 heavy coats. Very glossy.


Here are the centercaps. The AEV's have a yellow bull or some little logo in the middle, so I decided to paint the engraved surround yellow, and the rest black. I had to spray the black on SUPER thick. Then use a brush to get the yellow in the grooves, and finally sand down the black with 1500 to remove any rogue yellow. Then cleared them.


Next came the clearcoat. I did 1 light coat once again for tack, followed by 2 extremely heavy coats. Both very thick, but NOT runny or sagging. I'm going to let them cure for at least a week before I put the tires back on. After all this work I'm not going to rush anthing. Here they are complete. Extremely glossy. Pretty good, I think



Edit: BAH!!! After all that typing I put it in the wrong forum. Mods move to Paint/Body if necessary.

great job! Those came out really nice.....

Thanks. It was actually a lot easier than I though. Just time involved if you want it to look good. Paint acts very funny in 30 degree weather...

They look great, good job.

:worship:

Looks good.

I just did a rattle can black on my stock "spare" wheel and didn't sand it down first, so it looks like crap, the paint barely stuck. I'll probably re-do it following your method.

Haha funny you should mention that, I did my spare the same way. It was rusted flaky silver, so I blasted it black. Now after about a month and some dirty roads it's rusty flaking silver and black, and looks worse than before. That's kind of what inspired me to do it right. I thought about powdercoating, but some of the wheels have rash that I'm going to repair with JB Weld, which obviously doesn't conduct electricity.

Update: After 2 days of curing inside (70 degrees) the clearcoat is still very soft. Not tacky or plyable to the touch, but a fingernail could easily gouge it. I'm gonna put them in the oven and see if I can speed things up a bit.

They look good. Looking forward to seeing them on the Jeep. I may do the same thing on the wheels that I removed from my Ruby and put them on my XJ. :cheers:

Update #2 lol. I'm going to be reversing the centercaps. I found some gold flake paint in my garage, and mixed with the yellow it looks AWESOME. So the grooves of "Jeep" will be filled in black and the rest will be painted metallic yellow. Here's what I'm aiming for.

On an XJ, but silver

Impressive. I can't wait to see them mounted.

Sweet. I really need to paint mine... Maybe today

Just got mine painted flat black.

Ive used Elmore's wood glue on things like this.. Say you want the JEEP black,, so you take the center cap and wash it real good, then spray the JEEP black,, let it cure real good maybe a day or two, then fill in the JEEP with some cooking oil and a q-tip. BE CAREFUL not to get the oil anywhere but where you DONT want paint. Then, take the wood glue and fill in the JEEP, let it dry and keep filling until its flush or slightly above the rest. If you get glue on the surface all you have to do is wash it with water.. Paint the whole thing and let it cure, then use a pin or something and pop out the wood glue. It'll look like it was never touched. You can also use car wax to fill in the letters,, but that takes a real steady hand to keep it in side the lines,, but it'll let the outside paint wipe right off..

I have a set of these and I want to paint them as well.....I lucked out that I got a set of 5 for $80 and they had tires on them that I have been running for the last year.....


Go me!

I'll paint mine soon and post up probably

Great job. Shows that its in the prep on painting projects. Also terrific job on the write up.
Thanks

Wow, those turned out nice!!!!!!

those came out very very nice.

they look great. ive been considering doing mine black, but the gunmetal looks great. i have the same wheels on my jeep. i want to see how they look mounted so put up some PICS!!!

Get some tires on them already...

Very well done, they look outstanding. This definitely will help me when I paint mine. I really appreciate the time and effort of the post, and seeing quality work is refreshing. Again, good job.