painting center caps of my wheels

D4cmaN · 04-20-06, 01:57

i just bought a set of wheels and the center caps look fugly. i want to give it a new finish, chrome or some sort of bling to match the polished lip of my new wheels. can i do this by shopping around autozone or kragen using spray paint? any recommendations on what kind of paint? supply store?

lbls1 · 04-20-06, 05:46

Don't try to match a polish finish with chrome centercaps. Chrome and polished aluminum are different textures, and the difference will show in some angles, and especially when the polished surface starts to oxidize a bit. Your best bet would be to either see if you can get a brushed aluminum center cap and have it polished, or go with a metallic grey centercap. The contrast will look much neater in appearance IMO; But of course that's just off the top of my head without seeing the composition of your wheel. Pics??

D4cmaN · 04-20-06, 09:25

if its nothing i can do with supply store paint, im just gonna leave as is. but speaking of the wheels, what should i do before i have these installed to prevent corrsion or any damage to my rims in the future? i heard of chrome peeling, rusting, etc and i sure as well dont want any horror stories with my new wheels. is their any sort of clear coat i can add on top of the finish that wont harm my wheels but protect it?

lbls1 · 04-20-06, 09:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by D4cmaN

heres the cap:

the wheel:

if its nothing i can do with supply store paint, im just gonna leave as is. but speaking of the wheels, what should i do before i have these installed to prevent corrsion or any damage to my rims in the future? i heard of chrome peeling, rusting, etc and i sure as well dont want any horror stories with my new wheels. is their any sort of clear coat i can add on top of the finish that wont harm my wheels but protect it?

If they're polished, you wont have to worry about rust. If you neglect the wheels, however, you will see oxidation residue that will resemble a cloudy appearance. I would, based on experience, seek a professional wheel restorer or painter, and have the wheels powder-clearcoated. It will help protect the finish from scratches and light nicks. You will need to polish them occasionally, unfortunately, with special polishes formulated to work with polished surfaces with clearcoat (like blue magic, flitz).

Very nice, btw. If all else fails with the center cap, and if you can't get it polished, then I'd go with it in black base/clear or gloss to match the wheel center. The centercap, as is, doesn't appear to look bad, but its hard to tell just by pics.

mdsmithers · 04-21-06, 05:10

I'd put a few layers of Klasse SG on those and you'll be protected. Keep em clean and and polish/seal as needed.

D4cmaN · 04-26-06, 08:08

would it help any if i put 2 layers of meguairs gold class car wax for now? then a sealant later on?

is klasse SG available at autozone/kragen?

mdsmithers · 04-27-06, 09:46

A sealant won't bond to a wax. So if you need to apply the wax as a stop gap, that's OK, but then keep in mind, you'll need to start over when you go to the sealant. Wax won't protect as well as the sealant and it doesn't handle the high temp as well either. Klasse is not available OTC. I believe there are other sealants out there, I think Meg's has one, so you might check for Auto Body Supply stores in your area, they usually carry meg's. Poorboys makes a wheel sealant as well.

lbls1 · 04-27-06, 07:51

A wax will work on wheels as well as a sealant. Sealants will last longer, but wheels will oxidize regardless of what you have on them. The lsp is suppose to slow down the process, but on polished aluminum, oxidation is a given. You will need to re-polish them periodically (if you are dilligent maybe once every month to two months). A wax's sheen will dissipate sooner than the sealant, but the wax residue will still be on the surface, which is the main ingredient that offers protection.