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Painted My Steelies!


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Alrighty, so I got the pics of the process. Including preparation, removing the wheels, and drying time, getting the paint on all four wheels took about 14 hours. You will also need a full 24 hours for the wheels to dry until fully driveable. So before starting, make sure you have at least 2 days for the car to sit in one spot. Also, before jacking up the car, break the tightness of the lug nuts, so when the car is jacked up it won't fall on you. ;) Jack stands are highly recommended. I also used the spare tire as a "jack stand". When putting wheels back on, tighten your lug nuts! For the primer and top coat drying/recoating times, refer to the bottom of this post. :)

 

These are the supplies you will need:

 

- LOTS of old bath towels or large T-Shirts

- warm soapy water

- a garage or shaded area to do the painting

- dust masks so you don't directly breathe in paint fumes

- gloves if you want. I did not use them, but you WILL get paint on your hands

- 2 cans of primer

- 2 cans of gloss paint

- fine sandpaper designed for metal surfaces

- a drop light for working at night

- painter's tape for the valve stems

- Goo Gone for any paint on the tires

- a deck of playing cards you will not use

 

As a side note, be careful of loose particles that can get onto wet paint. Whatever sticks to the wet paint or primer will show. It's probably inevitable from getting something on the paint, it has happened to me, but it's nothing terrible, removing then adding another coat will make it unnoticeable.

 

The sand paper I used

 

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The paint and primer I used. Rust-Oleum neutral (grey, whatever you want to call it) filler primer and Rust-Oleum BLACK gloss protective enamel

 

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The work area. Lots of room, accessible, and shaded

 

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Remove the hubcaps if you have any, and remove the wheel from the axle

 

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If you have jackstands, USE THEM!

 

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Clean with warm soapy water and sand with fine sandpaper for metal surfaces. Sand lightly, and harder for rust

This is my method in this order: clean, sand, clean, sand, clean, clean. Be as thorough as you can. Preparation is key. Also, before priming, make sure the entire surface of the wheel is fully dry with no moisture!

 

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Use painters tape to tape up the valve stem so the paint doesn't get on it

 

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Place playing cards around the lip of the wheel between the tire. Overlap them by about an inch. Then place old bath towels and/or T-Shirts around the tire up against the back of the cards to full protect the tire.

 

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Before priming, read the directions on the can. For my exact can of Rust-Oleum, shake vigorously for 1 minute, and hold can about 16" from the wheel to spray. Add a second coat! Keep the can in motion while spraying or you will blotch the paint, and it will drip and run and will not look good at all. When primed according to the directions, it should look like this

 

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Two wheels primed

 

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If you did get primer on the tire, use Goo Gone to rub it out. Takes it right off with some scrubbing!

 

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After the second coat has fully dried, you are ready to add the top coat. Refer to my directions on priming for the top coat. But do not add a second coat just yet! Refer to the bottom of this post for drying/recoating times

 

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Two wheels drying after second coat of top coat

 

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After the time passes for the drying times, you may put the wheels on the car. Lightly touch the wheel's surface in an inconspicuous area to check how dry the paint is. Be careful with handling so you don't get a fingerprint or handprint on the surface.

 

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Why you should have a drop light handy when working at night

 

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After all four wheels are on the car and have gone through the 24 hour drying time, remove the painters tape around the valve stems, give your car a nice wash, and shoot some photos of your freshly painted steelies!

 

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Before and After

 

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Drying/Recoat Times (for Rust-Oleum)

 

Primer:

Second Coat - 3-4 minutes

Top Coat Ready - 1 hour

 

Top Coat

Second Coat - 2 hours

Handle Time - 5-9 hours

Full Dry - 24 hours

 

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Good luck, and have fun!

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I love the red speckled white.

 

I painted my wheels matte black.

 

Spent about 2 active hours. Power washed, deflated tires, index cards around rim, one primer coat, two coats of black, two coats of sealant. Started Friday night, installed wheels Saturday around noon.

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Yeah! Lol. More like a ugly dirty black to a clean glossy black! I wanted them to look better than stock, and I don't have enough money to buy new wheels. I was wanting to do something crazy, but I still go to highschool, and the kids at this school like to touch and vandalize other's cars, so I just paintedthem black.

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Yeah, but most of that time was drying and bullcrap. Paint wouldn't dry in the specified time, couldn't get the wheel dry after cleaning, so drying took forever. Screwing around jacking the car up and setting up the jackstands, and all that crap. Seems like it took longer than it really should have been. It was fun though, I must admit.

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Got new tires installed Saturday. Michelin HydroEdge. Drilled a hole through my wallet, but they were definitely worth it. I think it was around $112 per tire, and I also added road hazard, which I think was $8+ per tire, got it for all four.

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why did you spend near 500 dollars for tires to go on your steelies?

 

I wanted tires that were safe, had good ratings, and did well in bad conditions. My other tires were Tigerpaws, which absolutely SUCKED in rain, and I have slid and almost gotten into wrecks with those crap things they call tires. I have become afraid of sliding and hydroplaning, so I got some good tires.

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