Painting Stock Alloys

[goblazers_6]

I've got a set of the factory festiva alloy's and was wondering if anyone has painted them. i'm thinking of painting mine black.

[Levitan]

If you are going to do it, do it right. Go powdercoat them black. I think the white factory alloys were powdercoated....might want to confirm that first with somebody thast knows for sure. They'd sure look bad to the bone.

[ejp2fast]

yes! black would be sweet!! i have considered this.... how much would it cost to have them all powdercoated? plus you'd have to take the tires off the rim..

[m715]

The factory finish was a baked on clearcoat finish that is hard to reproduce without specialized equipment. Even a body shop cannot do this finish in a durable finish. Wheel reconditioners are the only ones that have the proper process down pat.
That said, you could get a local powder coater to do the job, if they have a media blaster to prepare them, and their oven is large enough. Tires will have to be removed for that process. Painting them can be done, as long as you keep in mind that you will be touching them up I would guess a couple of times a year or so. Painting raw aluminum, it is a problem getting maximun adhesion at the metal surface on the molecular level. A high quality self etching primer will greatly improve your chances here before applying any paint.
We have used some old style aluminum (YUCK!) paint to just dress up a really sad looking set of those alloys before, and it... well... does look better than corroded, spotted, etc, but you could try some black first, just as is, to make sure you like it before going all out dismounting/mounting, rebalancing tires etc, to make sure that is the way you want to go. I would have to consider a set of aftermarket wheels at some point though, considering what the prices are, and options buying those 165/70/12s that fit those rims properly.That is just my opinion though. Some really like those particular rims, and want to stay with them.
Good luck, which ever way you decide to go.

Michael

[spiko]

I spray painted a couple sets of rims with DupliColor Rim Paint. This stuff holds up great, and looks just as good too! Just sand/scuff them up, wash them really good, tape off areas you don't want painted, apply about 3 light coats of color, then apply 2-3 coats of clear. This will cost you less than $20, comes out great, and is very durable.

[m715]

That's withsteel wheels, right? ^^^^^ We sell the stuff... On steel it does fairly well until the gorillas install your new tires next time and scrape it off the edge of the rim, or the salt finds its way back under it. Just make sure you prep it well according to instructions. Wax and grease removing prep spray helps too. It can be bought in spray cans to make things a little easier/convenient.

Michael
Oesterle Auto Glass & Paint
PBE jobber

[MONSOON]

Be careful of powder coating someone on here posted a pic of powder coating gone bad. And it went bad after the wheel was on the car. NOT a pretty sight!

[spiko]

That's withsteel wheels, right? ^^^^^ We sell the stuff... On steel it does fairly well until the gorillas install your new tires next time and scrape it off the edge of the rim, or the salt finds its way back under it. Just make sure you prep it well according to instructions. Wax and grease removing prep spray helps too. It can be bought in spray cans to make things a little easier/convenient.

Michael
Oesterle Auto Glass & Paint
PBE jobber

Well, the the first ones I had done I painted the spokes gunmetal, and left the machined lip. It looked hot. 17" Konig Rated-R's. The other ones, I just painted the stock Festiva rims, and it came out looking pretty good too, and they held up well.

[m715]

So you painted the Konigs with the original finish scuffed and cleaned. Not trying to be a pain or anything. I believe what they were talking about was a set of original alloys that had some issues with the original finish like corrosion. Most of the wheels here in this area have peeled to one degree or another. Getting anything to stick to the aluminum substrate can be a real problem. As I understand it, the wheel remans take the wheels and run them through a process of subsecutive tanks where the remainder of any coatings/corrosion are removed, straighten/fill/repair the wheel,polish, then apply and bake on the new finish. That appears to be the only durable way to repair a finish on a corroded/damaged alloy surface. Sure, you can use product to refinish a wheel with decent results, but like any refinishing the real key to longivity is preparation of the substrate. Aluminum, and galvanized are probably the worst to get adhesion to. In the case of your Konigs, they have a VERY high quality clear finish on them at the base level, and I like them very much. I personally have 3 sets of them myself: Divas, Incidents, and Theory. I would feel confident painting over he stock finish on any of those with excellent results. Just adding what all of our paint experts from Sherwin Williams, and BASF had to say about painting aluminum rims, and why no one seemed to be able to get even the highest quality polyester catalized claercoats we sell to not peel back off even when done by professional painters in a spray booth/bake process. We get asked that often by people who have peeling clearcoat on their wheels.
BTW I bet that your wheels do look great. I was surprised how good the gunmetal looks. My wife has claimed the set of Reasons for her car, and informed me that I can just use the Theorys on Shtinky, thank you very much!
Michael

[m715]

Since we were still on the subject today, I don't know if the resolution does justice, but this was the result with the aluminum paint(YUCH!!! I hate messing with that stuff!)

[Biglay5150]

I painted I set of stock Miata wheels for my car. I just used cheap walmart paint. My car is no show car but the wheels look good as long as you dont look at them just to find flaws. I think a set of stock Festiva wheels would look good black. If your just wanting to see if you like them black then just sand them as good as you can and paint them black. Than if it comes out ok and you can live with it than run them. If you dont like it your only out the price of cheap paint or you can have them sand blasted and repainted or powdercoated. If your just experimenting than go the cheap route.

[big_ty2003]

I think I am going to paint mt wheels, anything is better that little rust spots all over the stock wheels.

[geezerstiva]

black steelies look great with the trim rings. makes the wheel look bigger.

[snowbound]

i'm thinking of painting my mags DIY. any suggestions how to do it? i tried searching here but i cant find DIY guide on how to do it. TIA.

[Rectilinear]

I have painted a few sets of wheels over the years and all were fairly simple, though a bit time consuming. I always did them with tires on so it did create a bit more work for myself in doing so by having to mask them off.
Whether you are painting steel or alloy wheels, the most important thing is the prep. Clean, sand, clean again, scotch brite, clean again. I like to use Duplicolor Prep Spray to remove wax and grime. If you go to bare metal, use a good primer for better adhesion and durability. I rattle can mine with Duplicolor Wheel Paint and have had really good results in the past. NOTE: Duplicolor Wheel Clearcoat will turn hazy after a year or two in the sun. I suggest using a hitemp Engine Clearcoat instead!

I will be painting a set of Miata Daisys soon but it will be down and dirty since it is for our Lemons car. So sense in making it perfect on that one!