DIY: Painting Your Wheels...

[BlackVr6ix]

hahaha PJ0080 someone spends too much time at the paint stand!

VHT wheel paint is good stuff, highly recommend it.

[Golf Houso]

Hmnnn wheel paint. I just used generic automotive paint and acrylic clear coat. Its all about the colour codes hahahaha, gloss black and midnight black look the same but aren't, I found that out the hard way!

Wheel paint is obviously better than generic paint, but I've seen well done jobs lasting 5 years plus anyway.

I still don't see any pictures

[ScienceVR6]

How about now?

[rayray086]

Here's a DIY to add to all the others too. Here's some before pics for interest's sake:



Baked on grease:


Baked on brake dust and damages from an air impact no doubt:


On with the DIY:

Materials needed:

• Coarse sander
• Sanding paper (60/120/240/400)
• Metal/polyester filler
• Etch primer
• Spray putty (will help with hiding imperfections)
• Base/Top coat paint
• Wax and grease remover

You'll also want to have a bucket/water bottle for wet sanding, plenty of clean rags, masking material and safety bits like gloves and face mask.

Step 1:
Clean wheels to observe for damage that requires filling. Using your coarse sander (I use nylon brushes on a drill), rub back til you see shiny metal. If you're using metal filler, sand back to metal about an inch surrounding the damage.





Step 2:
Clean wheels thoroughly, and using wax and grease remover, thoroughly go over the bare metal areas to prepare it for filling.

Mix your filler as per label instructions. I usually use clean cardboard to lay my filler on and mix using paddle pop sticks. Once thoroughly mixed, lay onto bare metal. Create a very small mound over the damaged area and smear off the filler around the surrounding area.



If the damage is deep, use the filler in two passes. It's best not to lay on a thick layer of filler.

Leave to dry overnight.

Step 3:
Using 60 grit sandpaper (dry), sand back filled areas. It's best to use a block but if that's not possible, try to keep the sandpaper exposed to a large area to keep with the contour of the wheel (e.g. use three fingers rather than one - that's what she said).





Continue using 120 then 240 grit dry (or 240/400 wet), making sure you sand back any heavy scratches caused by the previous grit. Make sure the entire wheel at this point is sanded down (especially parts with baked on brake dust, CV grease etc.) to prepare for a primer coat.



Continued next post...

[rayray086]

Step 4:
Clean wheel thoroughly and dry. Mask off sections that don't need to be painted. Clean the wheel over with wax and grease remover just before laying on the paint.

Step 5.
Spray 2-3 even coats of primer, giving ~15 minutes between coats. Leave to dry overnight.



Step 6.
Lightly sand primer using 240 dry (or 400 wet), paying attention to areas where repairs were made. At this point, if you're not using spray putty, skip to step 8.

Step 7.
Repeat steps 4-6 (for spray putty), then again for another layer of primer over the spray putty. Remember to let primer/spray putty dry overnight.


^Note - see how the spray putty fills the slight low spots.



Step 8.
Repeat step 4 in preparation for paint. Follow label instructions for paint. Leave to dry over a few days before any buffing/polishing work or mounting any tyres.

[Mrk_Mickey]

The king strikes again! Nice write-up mate.

[rayray086]

Cheers Updated with finished pics.

[Silver dub]

Nice job, how long would you say it took you?

[rayray086]

Started around this time last week. Did it on and off as I had work and weekend was filled with VW events.

[Tim]

good work ray! they come up awesome!

[mikinoz]

That is a great transformation - top effort!

[rayray086]

Thanks guys. More to come

[dylan8]

Digging up a old thread... Im looking at buying thestu wheels and painting them, my dad is saying it wont stick for long unless i get them anodized... Can you guys that have sprayed your wheels give me some feed back on how they were 1 year on pleeeease.
Thanks in advance!

[Golf Houso]

Digging up a old thread... Im looking at buying thestu wheels and painting them, my dad is saying it wont stick for long unless i get them anodized... Can you guys that have sprayed your wheels give me some feed back on how they were 1 year on pleeeease.
Thanks in advance!

Perfect, the old wheels on my GL stayed on fine for an entire year +, so as long as you do your prep properly and don't go to cheap on the amount of paint/primer you use you really shouldn't have a problem with a $60 backyard jobbie

[dylan8]

Perfect, the old wheels on my GL stayed on fine for an entire year +, so as long as you do your prep properly and don't go to cheap on the amount of paint/primer you use you really shouldn't have a problem with a $60 backyard jobbie

Thanks. $60 sounds good to me! Wheres a good place to get paint? just auto-barn or something? cant say iv ever looked...