I've been wanting to paint my wheels for a while now. I was about to have them powder coated when I had the car in the body shop for a cracked bumper but the body shop wouldn't do it. They don't do it there and had to outsource it to another shop. The other shop gave them some bs about how powder coating would make wheels more brittle so the owner didn't want to mess up my wheels. I appreciated the concern but really wanted to get them done. The wheels look ok from 6 ft but have a little scrapes and scratches but mostly I want to change the color to a gun metal grey or platinum. So now I'm thinking of painting them myself with wheel paint. I'm just wondering what type of prep I need to do and what combination of primer, paint and clear will produce a professional look. I also wonder how durable this would be. I'm no longer interested in powder coating and please do not suggest plastidip. This is not a Honda Civic.

 

Hopefully this can help and shed some light

DIY: Painting your stock rims - MY350Z.COM Forums

Painting OEM Rims - 6MT.net Infiniti G35/G37/GTR Forums

 

It's not BS but the process will soften your wheels, not make them more brittle. The jury is out as to whether it's a real concern. If the powdercoater uses no more 300 ºF, as some do, then the heat treatment of the wheels probably won't be affected much.

There is a thread in the wheels section (imagine that) dealing with this very issue.

 

Thanks Kenny!!!

 

I'd highly recommend SprayMax 2K clear.

Spraymax: 2K Clear Glamour

It's an activated catalyzed clear in a can. I used it on the last couple sets I've painted and it holds up really well. You can get it on Amazon. Our local paint supply store carries it as well. It's sort of expensive but worth it if you want professional results.

 

I personally would recommend against painting your wheels yourself. I did mine myself, and while the finish looked great, the durability is terrible. Just lightly bumping the wheel with a lug wrench when removing them would result in a chip.

I sanded them down, sprayed several layers of primer, multiple layers of paint, and another several layers of clear and they still chipped at the slightest bump.

This is just my personal experience, as suggested maybe a different paint would work better.

 

With patience and prep, the outcome will look great and be durable. Also, painted wheels are easy to touch up.

 

Do the proper prep with cleaning, sanding...etc you'll be fine.

 

If one is to paint our rims with spray paint, what would you guys recommend as far as a color and type that would closely match the stock, hyper silver?

 

I actually want to go a little darker. like a gun metal. I think the stock color is too light. I've seen a lot of newer cars with the color I'm looking for: Nissan Maxima, Lexus IS.

 

Here are mine after powder coating.

The color is black base with metallic anthracite.

 

^looks good. I'm gonna repaint my stockies to original silver since I'm going to be running CR

 

Good prepping is more important than painting.Because that is ground base and all quality later comes from good prep