i'm planning on painting my wrx rims that's been collecting dust. i have two options:

option 1: have it professionally painted (powdercoated etc)

or

option 2: diy spray can paint

if i go with option 1 where i get it done professionally if you got any decent shops in mind with reasonable prices. if you got their number that would be nice.

and option 2 i would like to know the steps on painting rims, where to get gold paint, what materials and where to get get them.

thanks in advance.

 

mekala in campbell industrial park powder coating imo is the way to go they come highly recomended and have Alot of colors

 

^^^ what he said.

 

i did my own... ill get some pics for ya if you like

 

k im bored at work and here are teh pics lol

before

half done

done


did my calipers at the same time too



clean your rim really well and thats about all i did for prep work.. take a deck of cards and place them in the gap so you dont get over-spray on your tires


some paper behind the rim to prevent over-spray onto the ground

 

I would recommend powder coating if you have the extra cash laying around, but if you don't do what I did and paint the suckers! about $20 of paint vs. $50-$75 per wheel powdercoating.

most IMPORTANT thing is to prep the wheels for primer,paint and clear. getting lazy on the prep work is why people's who paint there wheels have them chipped. here's the very basic steps to painting the wheels:

1. begin by throughly washing the wheels with dish soap and water. dry them off and begin sanding. I use 400grit to do this. make sure u hit every corner of the wheel. once the wheels are fully sanded, wash them again. this is by far the most important step so dont slack off here, i spread the work out between two days. first day prep/second day paint.

2. get some index cards and place them around the rim if you still have the tires mounted. now your ready to spray the primer. I used rustoleum "stops rust" primer/paint/clearcoat for my wheels. I believe they have this paint in gold also.

3. begin spraying with a very light coat in a covered area so as the wind will not blow dust on the wheels. TIP: dont expect to cover the whole wheel with the first coat, 3 light coats are better than 2 heavy ones. my method was 3 coats primer,3 coats paint, and 3 coats clearcoat waiting 15 minutes between each coat. i painted mine front and back.

4. once the wheels are painted, it's ideal to let them sit overnight to dry but if you need to mount them wait atleast 4-5 hours. now enjoy the new look of your suby. it's been about 8 months since i painted them and I have not had a single wheel with any major chips or cracks. only a few small ones but that was from playing in the dirt sorta long but i hope this helped you out.


here's some before and after pics of my car:


BEFORE










AFTER

 

^ clean! i like the white on white

 

https://www.i-club.com/forums/showth...=painting+rims

 

thats freaking sick!

 

that's a clean white on white STi~!!

 

thanks guys

 

I want white wheels.......

 

haha there just $20 and some elbow grease away

 

^ I know what you mean. I painted my stock wrx wheels gunmetal. Reason I diddent paint um white was because it would be a pita to clean haha.

 

WOW awesome jobs guys!

I think I will do my winter rims (WRX stockers) in gold before this winter. Awesome idea to use playing cards or index cards...I have a crapload of used index cards and old business cards at work.