I have been a fan of painting my wheels ever since my first set of winters for my 09 WRX. Since then I have painted my wheels every season. My OEM Summers and steelies for the winter always get a fresh color and coat as the seasons change. I have also painted quite a few wheels for friends / local Subaru members. Why am I telling you this? Well this isn't my first time around the block painting wheels. This wasn't my first run in with GrimmSpeed paint. I had done a set of GrimmSpeed Gold BBS for a friends hawkeye this past summer. I was very happy with the final product, as was the owner of the car. The wheels were put on early spring and held up all summer / fall. He just had to swap them out for winter tires, but we won't have to paint them come summer. The paint is still holding up! So GrimmSpeed came out with a new paint color and I thought I would put it to the test. I have used paint from Home Depot, Ace Hardware, Checker Auto, Auto Zone and Advanced Auto Parts in the past. I have a pretty good idea of the amount of paint it takes to cover the wheels and obtain a good final product. Well.... until I picked up this paint. GrimmSpeed "Cherry Blossom" Paint (STI Pink) GrimmSpeed Link Click Here The weather here is cold and my garage heater only does so much, so I approached this project using very thin coats of paint to make sure I was letting it dry to the best of my ability. I also spaced out the time that I applied coats to help ensure a good coverage and final product. I couldn't believe how well this paint covered. I can honestly say I used 1/2 the amount of paint that I have used in the past using other brands. I never thought it would make that big of a difference, but I had my wheels 99% covered with the first can. Yeah! All 4 wheels were looking great after just 1 can. It is one thing to say that you have covered the wheels in 1 can. It is another to say that you got the color you want on all 4 wheels with a good base in 1 can. I used part of the 2nd can just to touch up a few of the sides of the spokes on my rim. Since I am working in winter conditions (after the sun is down) with less than perfect garage lighting... I am guessing tapping into the 2nd can is more on me than the paint. With how well this paint was covering my wheels I could have used just 1 can if I would have taken my time... but you have to remember I approached this project with light coats. So it wasn't until my 3rd coat that I stated to realize I had a lot of paint left and my wheels were really coming along. I would still suggest picking up 2 cans if you are going to do your wheels, you don't want to run out of paint when you are 99% done. With that being said, I was able to paint these wheels with 1.25 cans instead of the 3 - 4 I usually use. Rock on GrimmSpeed! So with all of that being said.... I will be using GrimmSpeed paint in the future. I can't believe how well this covered my wheels. Well I can believe it... I have yet to be let down by this company. Once again GrimmSpeed has produced a great product.
That looks really, really cool! N00b question: Do you paint the wheels with the tires mounted, or is it not really feasible to do that?
Yeah I paint them with the tires mounted. There is a really good thread on this forum for how to DYI paint your wheels. I use the note card trick. Feel free to hit me up if you have questions about doing it. I have done quite a few sets of wheels in the last 3 years.
Oh I bet that would look cool. You'll have to PM me the pics. The GrimmSpeed Gold works wells on BBS's too. RexNEffect had me paint up some BBS wheels for his summer setup.
I have some varrstoen 18x9.5 wheels for my white 11 hatch. I just brought them to all pro powder coating and had them sprayed Florescent orange
AW MAN! I was totally looking at picking up this paint for when I come home and being all original with it on the wheels! At least now I know how well the paint is and how nice they make the WRX look Thanks for the pics and write-up!
Yeah, Awesomeness will do that to you John. Try not to get so excited next time. It will help you out with the ladies in the future.
I start by hand sanding the rim. The first time around on the OEM rims I spent 8 hours taking down the powder coat. Now I spend 1.5 - 2.5 hours hand sanding the spray paint down. Steelies are a bit easier than these OEM rims. After sanding I knock off as much dust as possible, then clean with alcohol. Insert note cards and start painting. The key is starting off with light coats.
Wheels are holding up great! Just a couple small nicks, but only noticeable up close, while washing them. It only took 1.5 cans of pink though, eh? I think it was about 3 cans of gold, wasn't it? The pink might be a thicker consistency.
That is because you wanted to spray the inside of the rims. We had 3x - 5x more space to cover. I only paint the face of my rims. With yours we painted the front and back of the face (double my rims) + the whole inside of the rim (which is more area than the face). I really don't think we can compare the two.
What you can't read my mind. See that is what happens when you put all the hidden cameras in the bedroom and bathroom instead of the garage. LOL I wanted to add that I did really like the GrimmSpeed gold paint, it seemed to cover very well. It is hard for me to gauge that paint because I don't own BBS wheels, that was my first time painting them. It is easier for me to judge my wheels because I have painted them a few times. When i think about how much area we covered, I think we did a good job with the amount of paint we used. Glad you're still happy with them!
