DIY: Rim painting

[jdmEnthusiast]

DIY by Jamwong from clubrsx.com


2 - Cans of Duplicolor Graphite Wheel Coating
1 - Can of Duplicolor Clear Coat Wheel Coating
1 - Can quick dry primper.
2 - Sheets of 100 grit sandpaper
1 - Sheet of 1000 grit sandpaper
2 - Sander inserts (Mesh like sandpaper which is very good cause it's durable)
1 - Pack of Index Cards
1 - Bondo body filler

Simple Green cleaner to clean the wheels.
Water

Let me tell you that 2 cans is more than enough. I had to do so many coats (8) of paint because of that.

Start off with a stock rim.


See how shiny a perfect rim is?


See how water beads up on the clearcoat of a perfect rim?


Here is an old pic with my rim that was curbed slightly...


Start sanding down the rim, wet the rim down so you are wet sanding to minimize dust and stuff. It'll start getting pasty.


Sand down your rim but you just mostly want to scratch the clearcoat really really well. Sand down the curbed area really well. You can see most of the scratches went away.


Put some bondo or body filler on the curbed area. You should mask off the tire.


Wait about 30 minutes for it to dry. Sand down the bondo with 700 grit.


Sand with 1000 Grit sandpaper.

[jdmEnthusiast]

Finished sanding


Other rims need to be sanded down. Prepare for the primer!


Spray primer on the rim. It was masked off with index cards.


Wait 30 minutes for the primer to dry. Now spray the rim with your paint. I used Duplicolor Wheel Coating. The color I used was HWP102 Graphite.


Here are the rims after 2 coats of paint. Spray evenly and about 20-30cm away from the rim. Wait about 20 minutes between each coat of paint.


3 coats of paint


5th coat of paint


Closeup of the look


Here is the 8th coat of paint


First layer of clearcoat

[jdmEnthusiast]

After the 3rd layer of clearcoat. Here is a pic of the curbed area... Sand with 100 grit sand paper so it's smooth now.


Looks very nice...


Closeup of the paint after 5 layer of clearcoat