Painting my winter wheels..

[Can You Hear Me]

I am painting my 5 spoke winter wheels for the e30 once my new wheels come in. I cant decide between a few colors but thats beside the point : ) I have researched very well for how to do this and have the process in which I am going to do it down but cant decide on what brand paint to use.. I have seen that people get great results with dupli color rattle cans. Something about painting something for my car with rattle cans just doesnt rub me the right way. I have an air compressor and a 50 dollar paint gun that I picked up from lowes. I was wondering if there is anyway that I could put the gun to use in this project. Would there be any benefit from using the paint gun over rattle cans? I am willing to spend more money on primer/paint/clear if it will last longer and be more resistant to chipping. I have searched here and many other places but most DIY's that I see people use the rattle cans and if this is going to give me the same results as using my gun then I will just use the cans! Not putting down anyone who uses them at all. Just trying to get the best finish possible.
Thanks guys
-Nick

PS: Once I am done I plan on making a in depth thread for other people who want to do this them selves. I dont know if autopia would be the website to post this on? If it is let me know were to put it and I will.. If not just let me know : )

[Monte78Carlo2k1]

In my opinion because I am use to using a gun versuses a rattle can. You can get both good results with that said though its all in the preperation to primeing and between priming and painting. Materials and their quality matters as well.

My advice would to start off with a test panel to see the difference between rattle and using a paint gun.
Nonetheless sounds like a fun project! I too have been throwing the idea around to painting my stock wheels on my LSX. I can't decide between three colors so it has yet to happen.

[Can You Hear Me]

You should do it man! I think the wheels for the e30 get here tomorrow.. As soon as these are off I will be prepping these for painting! I cant seem to find a place that would sell paint for wheels ( is this any different than normal paint for cars? aka: paintscratch.com) that is sold is cans to put through the gun. Everything that I have found is sold in rattle cans. I am trying to do either a gold/bronze or white with Time attack black stripes around the wheel. Havent quite figured out yet how I would get the TA stripe to make a perfect cirlce around the wheel. I have just about every size painters tape i would need from 1 inch (what I want to the stripe width to be to 4 or so inch tape.
Thanks everyone
_Nick

[JohnZ3MC]

Wurth makes a silver spray paint that perfectly matches German silver wheels. I've seen a few how-to articles of guys redoing their Audi and BMW wheels and they turned out amazingly good.
Autogeek even sells a couple of finishing packages including a primer, the Wurth silver spray and a spray clear coat.
Go to Autogeek and have a look and see if those products might meet your needs.
-John C.

[Can You Hear Me]

John- I will check that out for my 5 series actually.. between the PO and getting tires mounted I have a pretty good amount of curb rash and scuffs that really stick out. Looks like I will be painting a lot of wheels soon!
-Nick

[JohnZ3MC]

Originally Posted by Can You Hear Me

John- I will check that out for my 5 series actually.. between the PO and getting tires mounted I have a pretty good amount of curb rash and scuffs that really stick out. Looks like I will be painting a lot of wheels soon!
-Nick

For the curb rash, get a tube of the finishing glaze Bondo makes. It's perfect for correcting the curb rash and the tube is reasonably cheap so you won't break the bank getting a huge amount like some shop would.
Show us a pic. of your good looking wheels when you're done,
-John C.

[Can You Hear Me]

Originally Posted by JohnZ3MC

For the curb rash, get a tube of the finishing glaze Bondo makes. It's perfect for correcting the curb rash and the tube is reasonably cheap so you won't break the bank getting a huge amount like some shop would.
Show us a pic. of your good looking wheels when you're done,
-John C.

I will do that. I will probably be painting the winter wheels before I paint the wheels on my 5'er. That way i can practice before working on my nice style 42's : ) I will probably start painting the wheels this weekend and taking pictures. Ill keep you guys posted. Do you think I can purchase this bondo finishing glaze at lowes?
-Nick

[JohnZ3MC]

Nick,
I'm a Canadian guy so I don't know what Lowe's is. I sort of have an idea, but not really. I buy the bondo stuff at a Napa store locally.
Any store that has a half decent autobody section would/should have it.
It's really easy to work with too. It spreads well, dries quite fast and sands down extremely smooth.
-John C.

[Can You Hear Me]

John- Think like.. Home dept. Just a huge hardware store. Nothing special. I will check out the clostest Napa or any other autobody store near me. I plan on starting this on friday possibly. Hope I can make a good DIY thread for other autopians to follow and paint any extra wheels they have sitting around!
-Nick

[Monte78Carlo2k1]

Any good autobody parts store will have what your looking for. It shouldn't cost more the 10 or 12 bucks. Just take your time and make sure you spend extra time sanding. Any imperfections will show in your end result! I had to repaint a fender because I didn't slow myself down to make sure that an edge and a spot was perfect!
There winter wheels so take all the time in the world it will pay of in the end.

[JohnZ3MC]

The DIY thread is a good idea. Quite often someone asks that very question so it'd be great to just refer them to your article/thread.
Good luck,
-John C.