Anybody Here Ever Paint Their Wheels?

[Mad Scientist]

I was all set to order a Plasti-Dip kit online when I discovered that Rust-Oleum (and a few others) also sold wheel paint. My local Lowes (Known around here as "Blowes") had some so I bought that instead and started yesterday morning.

Years of putting cheap brakes on my truck resulted in an almost impenetrable layer of dust deposited on my factory chrome wheels. I started with a coat of "Aircraft Remover" stripper and a green scrub pad to get all the brake dust off. I tell ya what, doing all 4 wheels was labor intensive!



Plastic center cap too:



Since I had the wheels off I put new brake pads on the front, ceramic ones this time!

 

[Mad Scientist]

All taped off and ready for paint. You can't see them but theres a whole lot of fine scratches all over the wheels from the scrub pads.



First two coats of Self Etching Gray Primer (looked more like OD Green to me) then three coats of Satin Black and.... viola!

 

[Mad Scientist]

Came out about as good as you can expect from a "rattle can" paint job I guess. Saw someone paint their wheels an "Anthracite" color, sorta loots like semi-gloss, Gun Metal Dark Gray, looked real good so maybe I'll do that next time. Next up is window tinting, flat black nerf bars, black out all the chrome, subdued headlights and tail lights...

 

[waltky]

Back inna 60's...

... Granny once painted her belly-button...

... do dat count?

 

[jon_berzerk]

I was all set to order a Plasti-Dip kit online when I discovered that Rust-Oleum (and a few others) also sold wheel paint. My local Lowes (Known around here as "Blowes") had some so I bought that instead and started yesterday morning.

Years of putting cheap brakes on my truck resulted in an almost impenetrable layer of dust deposited on my factory chrome wheels. I started with a coat of "Aircraft Remover" stripper and a green scrub pad to get all the brake dust off. I tell ya what, doing all 4 wheels was labor intensive!



Plastic center cap too:



Since I had the wheels off I put new brake pads on the front, ceramic ones this time!

i have had wheels powder coated before

a much harder paint then a spray on

 

[AyeCantSeeYou]

FYI - For cleaning chrome wheels (especially brake dust that has caked on), a paste of baking soda and vinegar works really good.

 

[TNHarley]

Plastic dip is the best imo. Durable and easy to fix. If you have not yet, clear boat the Hell out of them. Will help against scratches and what have you.

 

[Mad Scientist]

Back inna 60's...

... Granny once painted her belly-button...

... do dat count?

Well I guess that depends on what she painted her belly button with. Natural or Artificial coloring.

FYI - For cleaning chrome wheels (especially brake dust that has caked on), a paste of baking soda and vinegar works really good.

Baking does work on most everything, that and Hydrogen Peroxide. I tried that and everything else commercially available to clean those suckers but it seems the "Earth Friendly" movement has taken out the very chemicals that did all the cleaning! I've even used Oven Cleaner with varied success. Ceramic brake pads should keep the dust down from here on out. (There so smooth!)

Plastic dip is the best imo. Durable and easy to fix. If you have not yet, clear coat the Hell out of them. Will help against scratches and what have you.

Thanks, I will! I didn't do that this time because I'm prolly gonna' re-do them in an Anthracite color (Shiny Gun Metal Gray) then I'll clear coat them with sumthin'.

 

[TNHarley]

Good. The clear from a rattle can is fine. Just stay light with plenty of coats. I have experimented many of times lol
Also, chrome can be a pain in the a'ss. When mine we're beyond repair, I wet sanded with like 800? Grit and prayed clear on them. Didn't look brand new but damm sure made them shine lol

 

[midcan5]

Let us know how the ceramic brakes hold up and sound. I usually do my brakes, but last year in a rush I had the dealer do them and they were the 'after market' ceramics. Darn are they noisey, next time I do them myself with Buick's more costly brakes. I just hope the ceramics haven't scarred the drums too badly. Nice to see a communist owns an American car.

 

[Mad Scientist]

Good. The clear from a rattle can is fine. Just stay light with plenty of coats. I have experimented many of times lol
Also, chrome can be a pain in the a'ss. When mine we're beyond repair, I wet sanded with like 800? Grit and prayed clear on them. Didn't look brand new but damm sure made them shine lol

I just used the green kitchen scrubbers on these. I was gonna' go with Silver but I could tell from the first coat that it was gonna' look like chit so I went with the Satin Black instead.

Let us know how the ceramic brakes hold up and sound. I usually do my brakes, but last year in a rush I had the dealer do them and they were the 'after market' ceramics. Darn are they noisey, next time I do them myself with Buick's more costly brakes. I just hope the ceramics haven't scarred the drums too badly. Nice to see a communist owns an American car.

Will do! Until now I've been using the cheapest brakes I could find but I've had to replace two warped front rotors probably due to all the heat build up of the cheap pads so no more el cheapos for me. I can feel the difference right away, cheap pads "grind" as they set but these ceramics did no such thing as they were operating smoothly immediately.
Yeah I grew up in a Chevy family but now I have a Dodge, a Ford and my wife has a Toyota. Go figure!

We all had nice cars back in the day!
Dad: 1978 Corvette (Silver Anniversary)
Mom: 1979 Z28
Sis: 1968 Camaro
Me: 1972 Chevelle