Brian's Duplicolor 3rd Gen Wheel Painting - A How To Story

[BrianSD_42]

Are you guys painting the inside of the wheels? If so how? Got all my material and planning to start one wheel at a time tomorrow.

How? One of the steps is using soap and a 3M scrub pad to remove all dirt, grime, grease and also scuff up the surface. That should be done for the inside of the wheel as well.

Skid forward to the step where you are ready to begin painting ....

For each coat including primer, spray the inside by painting into the "inside of the wheel" but only along the parts that are visible when looking at the wheel once mounted.

Basically on my wheel I painted just the section that would be visible from the outside then skipped a few inches and did the next section. It doesn't hurt that my wheels were already black.

If you want to make it easy, after the primer just paint the whole inside black, at least one coat BEFORE painting the curb side part of the wheel.

// sorry for the overly long explanation

:girl:

 

[ARC]

How? One of the steps is using soap and a 3M scrub pad to remove all dirt, grime, grease and also scuff up the surface. That should be done for the inside of the wheel as well.

Skid forward to the step where you are ready to begin painting ....

For each coat including primer, spray the inside by painting into the "inside of the wheel" but only along the parts that are visible when looking at the wheel once mounted.

Basically on my wheel I painted just the section that would be visible from the outside then skipped a few inches and did the next section. It doesn't hurt that my wheels were already black.

If you want to make it easy, after the primer just paint the whole inside black, at least one coat BEFORE painting the curb side part of the wheel.

// sorry for the long rant

:girl:

Thanks. I think I'll start by spraying the "inside" with a satin black direct to metal paint I use on most parts. Then do the outsides with the whole process.

That should only add about an hours worth of work and dry time for two coats of that before starting the outside.

 

[Jaketino]

When I did mine, I used the exact same method as I did for the outside. I used primer for 2 coats, then painted 4 coats baking them in the sun for about an hour between each coat. I did also have a week off of work so maybe I'm a bit of a different story. Lol. After the backs were done I switched to the fronts but gave them an extra 2 hours between coats in the sun for the last 2 coats. All so I didn't need to buy new wheels.

 

[poleclimber63]

I actually put some tape around the outside of the logo but left about 1/2" gap between the tape and where I was painting red. You don't really want the tape right against the logo because unless you have a good seal it may slip under the tape and spread like a spiderweb. This happened to me on the first one and I tried to wipe it away fast.

All you really need is a steady hand and a good set of precision paint brushes.

For your polished aluminum wheels (pictured above) I would suggest removing the caps, cleaning them, then hand painting in a coat of primer .... then about 3 coats of red paint.

I used Duplicolor Chrysler FLAME Red.

Funny, I did the same last year. I basically followed the instructions from the manufacturer... sand, scuff, clean with mineral spirits, 4 coats of primer (light), 3 coats of paint (light and last heavy), and 2 cc... I hand painted the logos...

 

[BrianSD_42]

Here is what Duplicolor Flame Red looks like:



















:bat:

 

[LittleCaesar]

I hope someone doesn't run off with your red Dlinks again. Looks good.

 

[ben550]

@BrianSD_42 I was checking out different wheel painting threads and found yours. Looks nice. How have your wheels held up with the duplicolor?

Anyone know what the closest rattle can match would be to the OEM silver color of the 3rd and 4th gen wheels? Its almost a flat chrome finish. Most silver rattle cans seem to be darker...

 

[BrianSD_42]

Duplicolor wheel paint silver is a great OEM like color.

Duplicolor wheel paint graphite is great and that is what I used above.

Duplicolor wheel paint black is ok but I compared it to powder coated black and the PC was a much better black.

But for silver and graphite the duplicolor "wheel paint" looks as good or better than PC.

Yes mine have held up well. Multiple scraps from rocks have taken the wheels down to the metal but the paint hasn't flaked. It has held up well.

 

[Miyota]

Great write up, I will use this for when i do the wheels on my 3rd gen. I have only had it for 6 months but it there is a list of things it needs.

 

[TheDurk]

@BrianSD_42 I was checking out different wheel painting threads and found yours. Looks nice. How have your wheels held up with the duplicolor?

Anyone know what the closest rattle can match would be to the OEM silver color of the 3rd and 4th gen wheels? Its almost a flat chrome finish. Most silver rattle cans seem to be darker...

I did two of mine in 2010 and two in 2011. They all still look great. I used the same paints and almost the same methods as Brian (see my post upthread). My offroad is dirt, mud, snow or beach, so they haven't gotten scratched like you rock-lovers out there.

 

[ben550]

I did two of mine in 2010 and two in 2011. They all still look great. I used the same paints and almost the same methods as Brian (see my post upthread). My offroad is dirt, mud, snow or beach, so they haven't gotten scratched like you rock-lovers out there.

Wow, that is a long time to be holding up well. That's what I wanted to hear. I wouldn't want to have to touch them up/redo the job every year or two...

You did both of yours the graphite color?

 

[TheDurk]

Wow, that is a long time to be holding up well. That's what I wanted to hear. I wouldn't want to have to touch them up/redo the job every year or two...

You did both of yours the graphite color?

Yep:

to this: Duplicolor Graphite with Duplicolor ClearCoat

What may look like imperfections are reflections, they really look nice. It needs a wash or I'd take a new pic for you.

 

[TheDurk]

Well, when I went out just now, I snapped a pic. Even dirty, they look pretty good. If my maintenance log is right, this one was painted in 2010 and put on the front, rotated to the rear in 2011 when I did the other two, and came back to the front in 2013. Time to rotate again. Arggh.

 

[digitalferg]

Awesome thread. Thanks all! I'll be doing my wheels in the next few weeks.

 

[Jidaran]

[MENTION=65101]BrianSD_42[/MENTION] - thanks for the detailed thread! I'm interested in doing the exact same process that you did (though I haven't decided between graphite and stock silver, and I'll probably just paint over the Toyota emblem on the caps.)

I think my wheels and caps are in far worse condition than yours were:

Questions for you (or anyone else with relevant experience):

For the wheels, should I just wire wheel all the paint off, then sand till smooth, then wash with soap, and pick up where you were on step 2?

For the caps, is there a good chemical to remove the paint that won't eat the plastic?

Sorry if these are dumb questions, I have almost no experience with automotive painting.

 

[BrianSD_42]

Thanks for shout out. This is is just my opinion but I would avoid using a wire brush until needed as a last resort. The wheels are aluminum and scratch easy. Instead I would try and use rough sand paper or sanding blocks/sponges to remove all the flaking rust paint. You don't need to take it to the bare metal to prime over.

For the plastic caps I just sanded mine down as much as I could and soaked/wiped with a good amount of paint thinner.

 

[Jidaran]

Thanks for the info - really looking forward to getting this done.

 

[eddielasvegas]

Did you just hand sand? What grit?

This is on my to do list over the next few days so any tips or hints is appreciated.

Thanks,

Eddie

...For the plastic caps I just sanded mine down as much as I could and soaked/wiped with a good amount of paint thinner.

 

[henlybenderson]

Thanks for the info - really looking forward to getting this done.

Hey Jidaran, did you ever get around to doing this? I've got a set of rims in about the same condition as yours, wondering if you had good luck with just sanding them down or if you had to do anything else...

I'm collecting the paint to do this whole thing, going the lazy route and leaving the tires mounted on the rims though.

 

[BrianSD_42]

Hey Jidaran, did you ever get around to doing this? I've got a set of rims in about the same condition as yours, wondering if you had good luck with just sanding them down or if you had to do anything else...

I'm collecting the paint to do this whole thing, going the lazy route and leaving the tires mounted on the rims though.

Leave the tires on is best way actually. Unless you are going to PC the whole wheel. One time I rattle can painted a wheel (like this thread), let it dry 2 whole weeks and then mounted the wheel. The paint was still messed up because it takes a long time to fully 100% harden and mounting the wheel can mar the paint, even if its been drying 2 weeks here in San Diego. So just paint it with the tire on. I put tape on the tire rubber to block the over-spray.