I woke up this morning with an idea...this is what happened.

[kam]

Looks great, I was thinking of doing something similar myself. Would be a great cure for the kerb rash also.

What do you mean kam by if you don't like it you can just peel it off? the paint on the rims?

youtube "plastidip"

its basically a spray, which, when dry, hardens. but you can also peel it off if you want.

[BTJ]

Kam,

There is a supplier for plastidip in Sydney in Bardwell Park. Australian Master Distributor Plasti Dip International-Performix (Plastidip) is the web site. $100 bucks did it for me.

Good luck if you decide to go ahead!

[fastlane]

Wow looks great BTJ!

I've done similar too to a spare set of GTI wheels at home. Plastidip is soooo much easier as the prep work can be virtually eliminated!

[Vdubboys81]

Hi there folks,

I've recently had my love affair with VW rekindled after purchasing a new Polo (not to mention trip to Wolfsburg a few months ago) and today I woke up inspired after viewing a few threads about plastidip and after a quick phone call and a short drive to Bardwell Park I had 4 cans and a spray holder for $100.

So my new TSI77 POLO in its glory. Sports pack and comfort pack.




Fairly standard affair but I do love the Candy White. Just so thick and rich. Best looking white cars on the roads are our VWs.

So I got the car up and took off the first shoe. Between the little black caps and the one special locking bolt I cant envisage anyone stealing a set of wheels without a good half an hour and a tolerance for lower back pain.



The instructions on the can are fairly simple, shake; shake some more. Just to be sure shake. Don't spray it in your eye/fire/garden salad.

I took off a second wheel in the pursuit of doing the job a bit quicker. This story we will return to later.

The first coat went down easily and my excitement levels jumped up as the proof of just how good this stuff is was laid before my own eyes. This would prove to lead me to my first mistake as I got a bit over zealous and applied some more without really letting it dry for the suggested 30 mins. I got too close, pulled the trigger too hard and laid on too much PD. The result was some VERY undesirable bubbles.

Hard to make out here, but they were there.



I let it dry for about a session in the cricket and came out determined to be more careful. I diligently applied thinner, more even coats and smoothed off the finish. The problem was that due to the extra coats I had entered into my 3rd can. I would have to be flawless with the next two.

So I put the wheels back on and I was feeling positive about the decision to cover my 2 week old wheels in black spray.



Onto the second set of wheels.

Now I had taken off 2 wheels at a time, diagonally opposite (ie front left, rear right). I'm sure someone will come on here and tell me this was foolish to do with only two standard car jacks and if I'm honest with myself I probably that myself at some point, but everything was going well so far.

The last two wheels were hit with my best work spray wise. Some real nice even coats that had a great matte finish across them. Was happy to have all the spraying out of the way, with a bit left over.

Now to put it all back together!

As I gently maneuvered the wheels into place both jacks needed to be taken up a bit to get the wheel in. I started winding the front one up and to my absolute horror the vehicle started sliding forward. there was nothing I could do but hope. In my mind and my memory I'm sure the vehicle moved 3 feet. In reality it probably rocked about 2 cm but as you can imagine I was not keen to put my suspension through that.

All was well and I was pretty happy to put those wheels back on. I think the end result looks pretty damn good myself. Plastidip is great stuff to work with and I've already got some more styling ideas in mind.

If anyone is thinking of doing this then I can say the following things:

1) One wheel at time. It might take longer but unless you have the car up on a proper rig, your heart rate will thank you.
2) Slow and steady wins the race. You'll use less and you will get better results.
3) Don't listen to your girlfriend/sister/wife/mum or anyone else who says they liked it better before. Its your car!







Hope you enjoy guys and be sure to wave if you see me on the roads!

Brendan

Looks amazing mate! We have been wanting some black or white wheels, but don't really want to spend over 1k for a new set, this looks awesome. Can I ask how durable is the paint? Does it scratch pretty easy and if so is it noticeable? And how many coats would you recommend? And did you just cover the tyres with like masking tape? Cheers for any advice!

[kam]

love plastidip !

a tip to remove any overspray is to use a citrus based cleaner, eg goo off from bunnings