Painting Aluminum Wheels?

[Mini-L320]

Anybody painted Aluminum wheels before?

 

Im thinking of painting mine. I have the Ansen Slotted Mags. I want them to be Flat Black :cool:

 

Whats the Process in doing so?

[metalmonkey47]

Anybody painted Aluminum wheels before?

 

Im thinking of painting mine. I have the Ansen Slotted Mags. I want them to be Flat Black :cool:

 

Whats the Process in doing so?

 

 

I never have but helped a friend do it. All we did was cleaned it up with some paint prep stuff left over from my car, sprayed some self-etching primer on it and then sprayed the paint.

[Sealik]

Anybody painted Aluminum wheels before?

 

Im thinking of painting mine. I have the Ansen Slotted Mags. I want them to be Flat Black :cool:

 

Whats the Process in doing so?

 

 

Oics are part of the....process :D

[metalmonkey47]

Oics are part of the....process :D

 

We wuz dumazzez and didn't take oics :( If I had known someone was gonna ask, I woulda gotten them

[Sealik]

I have some....can't be bothered on the aluminum upkeep.

So....I decided to get some powdered coated recently....380 bucks :huh:

Not

Probably just clean em, etch..... then slather in the spring... :P :D

[datzenmike]

Paint does not stick to aluminum. Period. It can be made to stick but not easily. There is always a thin layer of 'rust' aluminum oxide that is hard to remove and keep from forming before you can get the primer/paint on. Here: http://www.ronjoseph.com/painting-aluminum.htm

[Braden]

i have painted quite a few aluminum motorcycle casehalves, and what not, never had a problem if you use some duplicolor or similar self etching primer.

[RedSquare]

Rustoleum now sell spray primer for aluminum. Comes in the silver pro series cans. I'd powdercoat.

[Pacific coast Datsun]

Anybody painted Aluminum wheels before?

 

Im thinking of painting mine. I have the Ansen Slotted Mags. I want them to be Flat Black :cool:

 

Whats the Process in doing so?

Alot of this depends on the condition of the rims now.

To clean & prep you can spray on some Eagle one wheel cleaner & work that in with super fine [0000] steel wool. Rinse then repeat a few times front & back.Once they're dry youll want to shoot a few coats of primer. Rattle can primer will work fine..i prefer Dupli color brand. Shoot a few this coats & after it's dry lightly scuff again with the steel wool then shoot your flat black. Remember a few thin coats will look better than 1 or 2 thick coats.

[datsunaholic]

If you put wash primer (etching primer) on immediately after cleaning, it works wekk, BUT you have to clean them up to the point that they'd be looking pretty good already. I've painted a bunch of aircraft engine case halves, never had a problem of the paint coming off (except where impacts happen) when properly primed. I've used a couple different brands, but the PPG DX1791 worked the best. Real expensive though, and you have to apply paint within 24 hours of priming. Plus I think the 1791 isn't available to general public anymore.

[Mini-L320]

Yeah so my Mags are in Decent shape. So I guess alot of sanding and cleaning and sanding then. I've never painted on aluminum so thats why I asked you Ratsun People :D .

 

Im only looking to paint the inner Wheel, so I can have that nice Flat Inner and a nice Silver Lip around.

[Chris#51EPGraham]

Anodize them!

 

Are there shops around that can handle large parts like wheels? Anodizing

is essentially a controlled/induced process of oxidation to which colors

can be added. Black anodizing can be rich jet black, but it'll have a dull

shine. It's very durable and I'm pretty sure not very expensive.