Ever paint factory aluminum Wheels?

[mknherhappy]

Ever paint the factory wheels on a Comanche? If so, any advise on how to do it? Any pictures?

 

Thanks again for your advise and help.

[Guest vzehler]

Do you have access to a compressor and spray equipment or are you planning on using a bomb can?

 

At an absolute minimum you need to scuff the wheel up to allow proper adhesion, but, if the clearcoat is chipping or eaten up with salt you should use aircraft stripper and remove all the coating (remove tire from wheel obviously. Prime them and paint them.

 

You can also refinish your wheel to factory by:

 

1. Break wheels and tires down.

2. Strip the factory finish off.

3. Sugar blast them.

4. Repolish the outside face of the wheel by starting with a 300 grit paper then moving up through 1200 grit to get the shine back.

5. Re-clear them.

 

I've done both... It's definitely something you should allow yourself plenty of time to do, especially if you want that factory finish i talked about... its a daunting task to do right.. but man does it look good when you finish...

[LEAD_NOT_FOLLOW]

We painted a factory set of rims on Rebecca's XJ that she ran temporarily until she went to 33's. We just sanded them for about 10 mins each and shot them with some paint. Turned out good and lasted quite well.

 

[mknherhappy]

We painted a factory set of rims on Rebecca's XJ that she ran temporarily until she went to 33's. We just sanded them for about 10 mins each and shot them with some paint. Turned out good and lasted quite well.

 

 

They look awesome. What type of paint did you use?

[Guest vzehler]

it really depends on how much corrosion you have on the wheels from salt.. you just want to make sure and get all of that off or your paint job won't last long.

[comanche87]

if there in decent shape. just lightly sand them down and get wheel paint. paint them a color then they have clear coat for the wheels. i havnt used the clear coat yet but i should soon. i painted the ones on my truck and came out good.

[LEAD_NOT_FOLLOW]

They look awesome. What type of paint did you use?

Rustoliem (sp?)

 

Gave them 1 light coat and than a 2nd heavy coat and they've held up well even in the harsh winter's here.

[CWLONGSHOT]

I have painted a couple sets!! Pics in my build thread.

 

Last ones where the 10 spokes and the ones before that where the XJ Limited rims. Some people call them "lace" rims.

 

I used wheel/rim paint I got from the local Pep Boys store. I'm sure others have it. But the key with all paint jobs is PREP PREP PREP!!! I choice the have mine sand blasted. But not with sand as its quite abrasive for the alloy rims. Glass beads or other less abrasive media will work best. After that just follow the directions on the can. Multiple LIGHT coats give a great result followed by a couple coats of sealer/clear coat.

 

Here is what they started out like:

 

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Here they are aft sand blasting:

 

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Here is the paint:

 

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Here they are in the process of painting:

 

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They came out GREAT!!!

 

CW

[comanche87]

i guess the paint picked out is popular here. lol.

[DirtyComanche]

I'd use zinc chromate as a primer, if you can find it (probably not, seems it's been outlawed). It sticks to aluminum way better than other primers, and seals really well.

[jared]

i never had good luck with the duplicolor wheel coating. it dries even before it hits the wheel and is not smooth in my expiriances.

 

my tj i just primed and shot with a satin black ( the cheapest i could find) and its lasted great over 1 year now.

[CWLONGSHOT]

i never had good luck with the duplicolor wheel coating. it dries even before it hits the wheel and is not smooth in my expiriances.

 

my tj i just primed and shot with a satin black ( the cheapest i could find) and its lasted great over 1 year now.

 

It works fine for me... :D You'll can see how it came out.

CW