Prep work is KEY
step by step:

- remove tire from wheel
- remove valve stem
- wipe front and back with degreaser
- light sand suface to be painted (just enough to get it rough. I sanded till the wheels weren't glossy anymore with 400grit and finished with 800grit)
- clean REALLY GOOD with dishwashing soap and lots of water
- dry with non-lint cloth
- light coats of primer (I used 4-5 coats of black primer)
- allow 15-20 minutes to dry between primer coats (in sun, hopefully)
- let it dry for 20 minutes
- light coats of actual paint (I painted till the paint was shiny and glossy)
- allow 20 minutes to dry between coats
- light coats of clear (about 4-5 coats should be good)
- allow the whole thing to dry at least 12 hours (I let mine dry for 2days)
- get new valve stems at your local auto parts store, remount/balance tires

NOTE: LIGHT coats on the paint or you'll have runs. Just like what the paint can says, paint at least (AT LEAST) 6 inches away from surface. Good luck.

EDIT: If you don't want to take the tires off the wheel, just tape it off and follow the steps. With the tires off, wheel is lighter when you're carrying it from one place to another. You can sand them in your room if you wanted to without getting the carpet dirty from tire marks. lol.
Only cost me $3/wheel to mount and balance them.

 

u dont have to talke off off the rim if u dont want to!

what kind of rims do you have first of all?


stock se 91?

you could also do a lip

silver and red look pretty good.. for lips

i seen them in red the rim doesnt look to bad...

you could juss mask up the tire and stem

but the balance pieces reallie have to come off or else your goin to see them ther after

clean with degreaser and scrub wit comet and red scotch brite

to get off the clear coat and that leaves a 400 grit scuff

u dont have to 800 you could 1000 for clear coat but thats if you reallie want to and thats wat i did at the body shop...

u dont reallie need too much coats kuz its gona chip if you have too much...

so 2 coats primere if you want to make it stick good... 2 coats of base and 2 coats of clear

try to find a primere that matched the paint so you can if you miss a spot you wont reallie notice it

sand the primere wit 400 if u wants but lightly and any sanding should b done wet


take your time on preping it

80% of good jobs is based on good preping

 

IMO silver lip on an OEM flat faced wheel just doesn't look right. But that's just me.

 

i dont have stock rims look at the 1st page for pix of them

 

sanding the primer so its super smooth is really important...i used 1000 grit...came out super smooth....and i think bronze looks really good

 

i think im' going to go with graphite/

 

what kind of rims do you have?

good luck

 

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/816560
go there