I want to paint a set of stock BBSs. I have the paint but i dont really know what the best way to go about stripping them is. I thought about having them beadblasted, but our local shop sux balls. I was just wondering what grit sandpaper, and what technique works the best. They are just going to be for snow tires but i would like them to look nice. i may put some nice track tires on them. Please post up techniques/tips as well as materials needed. You help would be greatly appreciated. Brad
I know a place in Lake City that does pretty good if you want to blast 'em. They could even paint them pink for you, Sally.
the cheap way would just be to clean them extremely well, sand with a medium grit paper, primer, paint, clear
just get a few red stripping pads from menards or home depot and go to town, all you really need to do is rough up the finish a bit. Then clean them up with wax and grease remover and lay down the primer and then your base coat. I've painted 3 sets of wheels now and thats all I've ever done and they turn out fine. I'm paintingmy 4th set which are my subaru stockers, this friday.
yes, they are more flexable and get in the tight corners and reduce the number of sand scratches you get from using sandpaper.
400 grit is RAPE on the metal!!! -edit ***- more elaborite reason sure it will strip off the paint like noones buisness.... but your going to scratch the ever living sht out of the metal. start with a minimum, 600 and keep going up (ex. 600, 800, 1000, 1500, 2000). You don't have to go up all the way, just enough to make it really smooth. Whatever your grit you started with, go up to remove those previous scratches. And if they are not deep scratches, the paint/base/clear will cover them. wet sand by hand! Don't block... so get the wet / dry... and prepare to work your arm. sure you could go cheap, but waste all the effort if your not going to do it the right way. Buffing - Wet Sand, use 1500 or anything between 1500-1000 grit sand paper. Just get rid of the shiny, you might want to use some soap in your water also, soap acts like a lubricant. Make sure you rotate your paper. Once you have knocked the shininess down, you can wash the part with clean water. Now get some rubbing compounds, start with a coarse grit compound. Use the wooly pad on a high speed buffer. I STRESS BUFFER, you can use electric or air buffer, I like Air, but you can really mess things up on this part. This is where most people burn through their work. Anyways, slap on enough compund on the wooly pad, then start buffing. It's gonna take at least three steps, cause once you are done with the COARSE Compound you need to get the Medium Grit Compound and the black foam pad, this is where you take out the "scratches" the coarse compound left behind. Now you are ready to wash off all that compound with water and start using the Fine Compound, and a NEW black pad, or clean one, just make sure you seperate all of your pads. One for coarse buffing, one for medium, one for fine. NOW be careful cause this is where you don't want to burn through your work, this step is also where people make mistakes of buffing too much. All you need is a small amount of FINE compund to get the MEdium compound scratches out. Be careful, I would practice on a couple pieces of work that aren't that dear to you. Wash the piece when you're done.
why would you sand with 2000 grit??!! He doesn't wanna polish the metal he is prepping it for paint, 2000 grit would make the paint NOT want to stick toa surface that smooth.
it was an example... "ou don't have to go up all the way, just enough to make it really smooth" but i'll elaborate further... you don't need babys butt smooth because the paint still needs a tooth to hold... unless you get metal etching primer..... in which case.. make it babys butt smooth... primer will bond / bind to the metal, then rough your primer for your paint... are we doing this the right way? or are we just making it work for a year or two?
I'll do a write up on my rims i repainted. It was really simple. But yes DONT USE 400 grit... Steel Wool or something to take of clear coat... not the metal.
I have used 150 grit on all the wheels I have done, no scratches show through. As long as you gently scuff in a random circular motion, you shouldn't see scratches. I will be doing another set possibly this weekend again with 150-200 grit paper. The more you scuff the paint, the better the new coats will stick, or so I've been told by a very successful bodyshop owner/friend. Oh, and use note cards instead of taping the tires off, it is so much easier and saves a butt load of time.
Ill be dismounting the tires... Im not that ghetto. (also work at a tire shop LOL) I dont think ill be going through that much trouble to paint my wheels. Thanx for all the good info guys.
when it comes to paint.. I like to think I know what i'm talking about... example top picture.... = graphic done correctly.. bottom is an example of random scratches showing through 2 layers of primer, and plain coat. ((took a complete strip down, and build up to fix..))
Yes you do. But your doing nice cars and bikes, and he's just doing some winter wheels. Unless he garages it during the winter and needs the showroom shine on them. Your way is not wrong, it's just overkill for most. Are your plans for the STi's and the custom paint work you were going to do on hold now b/c of the accident?
his car is in full repair, and should be out on friday... damage was all body, and a tie rod. just glad we didn't start the graphic work on the car allready.. whew.. so plans are back in affect. when is you and I gonna get together and put some candy blue skulls on your hood ((tell me about it... that tank was horrible... was a damaged tank supposed to be a cover test to see how the AA colors covered deep scratching.. they do a freaken dang good job.. but the truth of the matter is.. nothing covers scratching like solid prep work / primer))
No crap! That would have blown to get into an accident after the work was done! As far as my car goes, I have something else in mind.
alright i have a question to all those who have painted their stockers.... i have mine off the car, cleaned, and ready to be primed and painted.... but what did you use to mask off the tires? tape doesnt follow curves at all, and i was just wondering how you mased them off without removing the tire. not to jack the thread or anything, just figured its better than starting another.
1. if your worried bout scratches, you can always use aircraft stripper to get down to bare metal. I've done that method but it isn't really necessary. I'd just use the red schotch bright pad to scuff up the surface and then clean with wax and grease remover (like cause it evaporates quick), wipe down with a tack cloth and prime. 2. If you don't want to remove the tire and your trying to mask them off, use 3M blue tape. The thinner the tape the easier to curve, then, go around it with thicker tape and then paper the rest off.
i paint wheels all the time with duplicolor wheel paint over 220 grit... process- 6" da everythign i can reach with 120 120 the rest 180 everywhere 220 everywhere paint Pat's seen 2 or 3 sets of wheels done this way on my C43- it works, and it's all that's needed.
