Painting my Turbo Twist wheels

[ultramens]

Hi all, I am thinking about painting my turbo twist wheels. I would paint them black with the outside ring speed yellow. Where would I go to get this done? I live in Orlando, FL and would be very helpful if someone can recommend someone. Does anyone know how much this would cost? I have attached two pictures that I found on another forum(if they belong to you, sorry, but for some reason they will not let me register at that forum and ask for permission) And as always, thanks in advance.

[CosmosC4S]

I have been asking the same questions on 2 other forums.

I plan to paint them myself. Got some tips from some members there,

but the problem is masking the outside rings freehand...if it's not done perfectly round, it's not gonna look good.

I think I'm gonna give it a try, if I mess up, I'll get them powdercoated.

[ultramens]

you going to do them yourself? I was thinking it had to be done by painters. is this a DIY? what kind of tools are you going to use?

[Izzy]

I have painted my spare track wheels for some time. They are turbo look, and all I have done is some fine grit (600) sand paper and rust oleum paint.

I have had a few people on the PCA track days comment on my "special wheels", which I run along and mention that they where special order from Germany from "Hommedeepout" or whichever paint was cheap at home depot. I let my kids pick the color, glossy black or red or blue, etc. It is cool to change them out, for about $10 total.

Here they are in black.

[ultramens]

wow 10 dollars? we dont have to use special paint or anything? these will be my everyday wheels and I would not want them to start peeling and such. what did you use to get the paint on the wheel? spray gun?

[david_yorkshire]

you could always spin the wheels & paint by brush....

lol

not really sure how my wheels were done - factory painted I'm afraid !

they are a base coat of red, then the black is applied on top, I do know that much from the stone chips

as for paint - std is OK, it just needs to be baked

David

[Izzy]

Ultra,

they are my spare wheels, not everyday wheels. I leave those alone. However, I use just regular spray paint, "Rust-oleum professional" I think it is called. each can is about $5, I use two cans. No peeling, or other issues, and my brakes get up to 650F on track (infrared therm on the rotors). So I guess you can call that baking of the paint? :)

Again, with a spare set of older wheels, it can be fun to change from bright red to bright yellow (keeping the interior black for contrast) between track days, or even match the basalt black on the car since Rust-oleum has such a wide variety. And on track, a few people would come over and compliment the car on my "custom wheels". The yellow never fails to bring someone to say "penske racing yellow, that is cool". Breaks their heart when I tell them is Home Depot yellow.

If you are fuzzy about the looks, you may not want to use the cheap solution and have them professional done. They will look better on close inspection.

Edited May 8, 2007 by izzyandsue

[ultramens]

thanks for the feedback! I love the "Home Depot Yellow" comment, pretty funny.

But as for the painting part, I was thinking it had to be done by professionals, but since you did yourself, I am not so sure...But as I thought about this more and more, I realized that I dont know who "the professionals" should be? Should I take this to a body shop or a wheel shop? If they want an arm and a leg, I think I will just get new rims.....

CosmosC4S: When are you doing yours?

[ultramens]

oh forgot,

David: went to your link and saw your car, that is nice, almost gave me a heart attack! congrats!!!!

[Izzy]

Last time I was in the body shop (due to a minor disagreement between me and a tire wall who occupied the same space as my car), the body shop owner offered to redo my wheels, they had the equipment to recoat the wheels. So I would assume a good body shop can do it.

[CosmosC4S]

ultramens, I plan to do mine soon, hopefully. I don't have much spare time.

I plan to use duplicolor spraypaint over a primer on the wheels.

The wheels need to be cleaned thoroughly first to strip all dirt, grease, or wax.

Then, sanded lightly, primer, paint.

I'm gonna let the paint cure for a week or so, then attempt to mask the round ring around the circumference,

and spraypaint them red to match my brake calipers.

I don't know how they will turn out, the last time I spraypainted a wheel silver, it turned out pretty good.

Except the clear coat turned yellow after a while, it wouldn't have mattered alone, but in contrast to the other 3 wheels, it was a tell-tale.

This time, I plan to use a matt-finish carbon black, that won't require a clearcoat.

Now, I had planned to powdercoat my wheels a while back, that would be when it's time to replace my tires.

But I think I still have about 8k miles left in them, which would be a year or more.

So I can't wait that long! I'm gonna try this DIY, with the tires on, I might deflate them.

And knowing that if it doesn't turn out good, I can always get them powdercoated! :thumbup:

Edited May 9, 2007 by CosmosC4S

[djomlas]

its really not that hard.

i painted my wheels few days ago

[CosmosC4S]

djomlas: That looks like a good job from the pic! :clapping:

And that's exactly how I want it, a thin red ring.

Would you care to share your procedures, or do you have any tips or cautions to chip in?

Did you use spraypaint in a can, and did you use a primer or clearcoat?

Edited May 9, 2007 by CosmosC4S

[ultramens]

djomlas: very nice, I too would like to know the process, care to share?

I am going to paint the ring "Speed Yellow. " To match the body, anyone know where I can get some?

[djomlas]

thx,

i first cleaned the wheels the best i could, then cleaned them with some steel wool (that took off way more dirt and gunk that i ever tought it would, so give that a try, and then i used a bit more aggressive steel wool to scuff the wheels up a little more so that paint can stick), then i used the rustolium gloss black, put about 8-9 light coats, waited about 10-15 mns between coats, and then put one very thick coat that gave it more shine.

btw, i used the index card masking procedure, so masking took up about 1 minute per wheels.

as for pinstripe, its jsut a pinstripe that you can get at pepboys for $3 that you can use to pinstripe a sde of the car, so it sticks very good, and if you change your mind about it down the road, just peel it off :)

i chose not to put any clear coat

here are some more reference pics for index cards, i painted the back of wheels first

and finished, waiting to dry

[ultramens]

omg, that is too easy!!! if I were to add clear coat, would it give it more shine?

[CosmosC4S]

There you GO, Pinstripes! I knew I'd learn something...that's an idea, and a good option to consider instead of spray painting.

Thanks, djomlas! :thumbup:

[CosmosC4S]

omg, that is too easy!!! if I were to add clear coat, would it give it more shine?

With clear coat, you gotta be more careful with atmosphere temp and humidity.

Also, be patient and apply multiple thin coats instead of less thick coats.

There is a risk of the clearcoat getting cloudy (from the humidity)

or turn yellow over time (as for this, I don't know why, probably from the heat?)

[ultramens]

Thanks for all the advise. I found a write up on the net that mentioned the use of a paint stripper called "aircraft stripper" Its suppose to get the old paint off so there is less scrubbing? I think i will tey some of it unless someone knows that I should not use the stuff..... thanks

[djomlas]

Thanks for all the advise. I found a write up on the net that mentioned the use of a paint stripper called "aircraft stripper" Its suppose to get the old paint off so there is less scrubbing? I think i will tey some of it unless someone knows that I should not use the stuff..... thanks

ooo man, you dont want to go there.

me and my friend were painting some wheels on his BMW, and we stripped all the paint with that stuff, Yes it works, and YES it took us about 2 days worth of trying to get all of it out and out of all those hard to reach places, and keep in mind that you have to get ALL the paint off, not just some spots, and very hard to get all of it off, and finally when done, you will need to primer all that suff as well, and even.

so my suggestion is scuff up with either sand paper or steel wool, and paint light coats, and dont use clearcoat.

as with the paint stripper, there was issues with applying clearcoat even, and in the right temp as mentioned above.

[CosmosC4S]

djomlas, I can imagine that, BMW wheels are usually powdercoated, and those are tough and durable! Haha...

The last time I powdercoated my BMW wheels, they sandblasted it to strip the old layer.

And I agree... ultramens, don't strip what you got. Just clean it real good, sand it, use primer, and spraypaint.

djomlas, I guess you haven't had it done that long to know if it stands up well against rock chips and scratches yet?

That's one concern I have...durability.

And the pinstripes, although it's a very good idea,

I am also concerned about grime and dirt collecting along the edges or the pinstripes, coz' they're stick-ons.

What do you think?

Edited May 10, 2007 by CosmosC4S

[ultramens]

thanks for the tip, i am going to do this next weekend, I will post pictures once I am done!

[camores]

Does anyone have a picture of rims like the ones on my 99 C2 that are painted?