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Plastic wheel covers, how to remove and paint?

Posted: Mon Oct 02, 2017 5:51 am
by ralphgonz
I have a 2009 Vibe with what I thought were chrome or polished aluminum wheel covers. On closer inspection they appear to be plastic (?), with decorative (fake) nuts around the perimeter. I would like to remove them for painting but am confused about how to get them off without breaking.

They are NOT held on by the lug nuts and they appear to wrap the actual hub metalwork. Can I just pry them off around the edges with a screwdriver? Are they glued in place!?
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Re: Plastic wheel covers, how to remove and paint?

Posted: Mon Oct 02, 2017 8:09 am
by ehoff121
One of our 2nd Gen members could confirm, but I'm pretty sure the only plastic on that wheel is the center cap. The rest of the wheel is aluminium alloy.

The mark at 9 o' clock in the second picture is the Japan Light Wheel Alloy certification.

Re: Plastic wheel covers, how to remove and paint?

Posted: Mon Oct 02, 2017 10:33 am
by ralphgonz
Very curious! Are you sure the JWL mark doesn't refer to the underlying wheel, and that it is still clad in chrome-plastic? Based on some chips around the edge and the sound it makes when you hit it with a screwdriver it really seems like one of these plastic-clad designs: https://etools.org/Cladwheels. Also see this topic: viewtopic.php?t=28448

Re: Plastic wheel covers, how to remove and paint?

Posted: Mon Oct 02, 2017 12:20 pm
by ehoff121
Learn something every day! I didn't know there were chromed plastic cladded wheels. That mark probably does refer to the aluminum part.

I wouldn't try to separate the cladding. How would you get it back on? :?

I've been refinishing my 1st gen 16" alloy wheels with the tire still on using the Rustoleum High Performance Wheel paint products. I think they make a chrome spray if you want to try it: http://www.rustoleum.com/en/product-cat ... s/metallic

Re: Plastic wheel covers, how to remove and paint?

Posted: Mon Oct 02, 2017 12:50 pm
by ralphgonz
I think that's exactly what I'm going to do: remove the wheels from the car, mask off the tires, remove the center cap, and spray paint them. I'm actually looking to get away from the chrome look and go to black. My first time doing this so hope this is the right process...
  • rough them up with 0 or 00 steel wool
  • apply a spray adhesive promoter (Dupli-Color Adhesion Promoter)
  • spray paint (Dupli-Color gun metal wheel coating -- EDIT I ended up using silver color)
  • matte topcoat (Dupli-Color wheel top coat)

Re: Plastic wheel covers, how to remove and paint?

Posted: Mon Oct 02, 2017 6:16 pm
by tpollauf
ehoff121 wrote: I didn't know there were chromed plastic cladded wheels.
Same here. I thought they were 100% aluminum but just polished! Also these were suppose to be rims available on the 2009-10 AWD models only!

Re: Plastic wheel covers, how to remove and paint?

Posted: Mon Oct 02, 2017 8:45 pm
by SeattleJeremy
Good old GM Chrome Tech :ugeek:

Re: Plastic wheel covers, how to remove and paint?

Posted: Tue Oct 03, 2017 7:26 am
by ehoff121
ralphgonz wrote:I think that's exactly what I'm going to do: remove the wheels from the car, mask off the tires, remove the center cap, and spray paint them. I'm actually looking to get away from the chrome look and go to black. My first time doing this so hope this is the right process...
  • rough them up with 0 or 00 steel wool
  • apply a spray adhesive promoter (Dupli-Color Adhesion Promoter)
  • spray paint (Dupli-Color gun metal wheel coating)
  • matte topcoat (Dupli-Color gun metal wheel top coat)
Does the adhesive promoter's directions say you should rough up the surface first? I'd be worried about all those scratches showing unless it is a filler, too...

Maybe a sandable primer? That should take care of steel wool swirls.

Re: Plastic wheel covers, how to remove and paint?

Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2017 8:03 am
by ralphgonz
To set the record straight, there are essentially 3 layers as shown here where the previous owner hit a curb: The alloy hub itself, the plastic wheel cover which appears to be glued to the hub, and a thin layer of aluminum/chrome foil wrapping the wheel cover:
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So what you're looking at is real aluminum (foil) on the surface, and I found it polishes up real nice with fine steel wool. I'll post photos of the results from painting it later this weekend.

Re: Plastic wheel covers, how to remove and paint?

Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2017 4:17 am
by ralphgonz
I got cold feet about painting the wheels a dark or black color, because I still like the lighter metal color and because I was concerned that scratches and wear would be more visible. So I went with silver color.

Here is the wheel prepped for painting. Someone at work suggested this trick using playing cards to mask off the tire:
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I applied 3 coats of Dupli-color adhesion promoter, 3 coats of Duplicolor silver wheel coating, and a couple coats of Duplicolor matte wheel clear coat (I'm not sure how important the clear coat is, and left it off the wheels on one side of the car because I was in a hurry.) Here is before and after.
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Re: Plastic wheel covers, how to remove and paint?

Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2017 4:21 am
by ralphgonz
Here are before and after photos showing three changes: (1) painting the wheels silver, (2) painting the front grille trim black, (3) painting the roof rack plastic boots black.
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Some people might prefer the "before", but I'm happy with the results!

Re: Plastic wheel covers, how to remove and paint?

Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2017 11:25 am
by ehoff121
Maybe it's because I'm re-painting my wheels, but I like the new look!

Nice job!!

Re: Plastic wheel covers, how to remove and paint?

Posted: Sat Nov 11, 2017 5:34 am
by ralphgonz
To complete the look, I also "dechromed" the Pontiac emblem and the fog light surrounds (in addition to the grille surround done earlier) by masking, spraying adhesion promoter, and spraying black.
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Re: Plastic wheel covers, how to remove and paint?

Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2019 5:50 am
by ralphgonz
Topcoating is worth it! All the wheel covers still look great EXCEPT this one that did not get any topcoating. The silver paint started wearing off about 6 months in, and here it is after 14 months with the shiny chrome showing through:
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Re: Plastic wheel covers, how to remove and paint?

Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2019 4:56 am
by zbyers
great work. the wheels look nice.

Re: Plastic wheel covers, how to remove and paint?

Posted: Sun Apr 21, 2019 5:53 pm
by Jbenrod
You might have had better adhesion by just sanding the covers with a 400-500 grit and spraying a sealer or maybe even just the paint itself.

My guess is that the Dupli-color adhesion promoter does not work unless you are applying it directly to plastic - and not on top of the previously painted surface of these wheel covers. I purchased a can of that product and after further research, never used it. The technical department at Dupli-color did not seem to know if you can use a urethane paint on top of their adhesive promoter. They said if using their adhesion promoter, to use only their brand of paint for the final coat which I wasn't going to do so I just ended up going with a different system.

Fwiw, I had very good luck refinishing some old plastic wheel covers by sanding to remove most of the paint, filling in any large scratches or blemishes with a glazing putty (that is the red product in the first picture), then sealing the covers with an epoxy sealer (i.e. epoxy primer that is thinned down) - this step is not pictured; and then a final top coat of a single stage silver urethane.

However, one can easily have $80-100 just in material cost as I did. After two years, the paint has not come off except a small area where I ran up against the curb (which would have damage an alloy wheel as well).
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Re: Plastic wheel covers, how to remove and paint?

Posted: Sun Apr 21, 2019 6:16 pm
by ralphgonz
Your wheel covers look great!

The title of the thread is a little misleading. As noted above, my wheel covers are indeed plastic but they are wrapped in chrome, so the Dupli-color adhesion promoter was applied to the chromium surface. The product is intended for plastic or chrome.

The remaining three wheels still look great so the procedure I used was ok as long as you apply that final topcoat. That said, there is possibly a better procedure to get paint to adhere permanently to chromium.

Re: Plastic wheel covers, how to remove and paint?

Posted: Sun Apr 21, 2019 6:28 pm
by Jbenrod
Oh now I think I understand, that one cover that doesn't look so good you did not apply the Duplicolor matte wheel clear coat as a final step. That is interesting as I would never have thought it would have made such a significant difference as it did in your case.

It's all a learning process for all of us, trying new ideas and materials, and figuring out what may work best. All while hopefully keeping the cost low or at least reasonable... :)

Re: Plastic wheel covers, how to remove and paint?

Posted: Sun Apr 21, 2019 7:28 pm
by Bookworm
Jbenrod wrote: Sun Apr 21, 2019 6:28 pm Oh now I think I understand, that one cover that doesn't look so good you did not apply the Duplicolor matte wheel clear coat as a final step. That is interesting as I would never have thought it would have made such a significant difference as it did in your case.

It's all a learning process for all of us, trying new ideas and materials, and figuring out what may work best. All while hopefully keeping the cost low or at least reasonable... :)
Pulling the covers off completely and living with black wheels? :)

Re: Plastic wheel covers, how to remove and paint?

Posted: Wed May 25, 2022 2:13 am
by ralphgonz
After two more winters, much of the paint is worn off of the remaining wheels, which look like a crappy patchwork as a result. In hindsight the best way to dull the chrome look might be to sand it.

I might sand them at this point to remove the remaining paint. I'm a little nervous to do this while the wheels are on the car though, because of getting grit into the disk brakes...

Re: Plastic wheel covers, how to remove and paint?

Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2022 9:25 am
by Bookworm
I managed to get a clearance set of 4 plastic wheel covers for under $10. Definitely a better bargain than spending hours and $ sanding, prepping, painting, and putting old ones back on :) (I was originally just going to paint the steel wheels and call it a day)