Anyone painted their steelies?

[binary]

For the present time - I'm stuck with my steelies. They're faded and if nothing is done - probably start rusting this fall when the salt arrives.Has anyone primed and painted their steel rims? Any luck?

[P-Fernandez]

hmm.. ive thought about it, but nahh.. my steelies are 5 stars right now

[Indy500]

Quote, originally posted by binary »For the present time - I'm stuck with my steelies. They're faded and if nothing is done - probably start rusting this fall when the salt arrives.Has anyone primed and painted their steel rims? Any luck?Good question, I was thinking the same thing.

[Mavrik]

other then repaint them black, I wouldn't. I use hubcaps all winter so painting my rims would be weird.

[1oldbanjo]

Binary: I sold my steelies for the Vibe - but I have recently painted two sets of steels wheels for winter tires. For my wife's car I sandblasted them and had them powdercoated black and for my S10 I scuffed down the original paint, wiped Rust Converter in the seam where the rim meets the center, then primed and sanded a few fust spots and sprayed them with silver wheel paint and clear coat.The powder coated wheels were the easiest - but as nice as powder coat is it does have some weaknesses. The powder does not seal joints well as the powder does not penetrate into or seal seams - so the wheels are getting rusty where the rim and wheel meet. Also the powder coat does seem to be a little brittle and it does chip. You must also take the tires and valve stems off the wheels and get the paint removed prior to powder coating. The painted wheels for my S10 look really good for coming out of a spray can and I expect the seams to be much better sealed as a result of the rust converter I put in the seams prior to painting. The rust converter is the product that looks like thin white milk when you put it on and it has a chemical reaction and turns rust black. I brushed it into the seams and immediately took a paper towel and wiped the excess off the wheel so the converter was only down in the seam. After it dried I then sprayed the seam with primer, then sanded the wheels and sprayed them with the silver and clear.I have seen previous posts on how quickly the paint comes off the Vibe steel wheels. I would recommend for your wheels that you wash your wheels very well using something like Castrol Super Clean to get rid of any oil, then wipe the wheels down with a wax and grease remover or enamel reducer to get any stubborn grease off. You shoud do the cleaning prior to doing any sanding so that you don't just rub the grease/wax around and contaminate the sandpaper. Next you should scuff the existing paint using a scotch bright pad or 400 grit sandpaper. Next use the Rust Converter in the seam to convert any rust that has started and seal the seam to prevent any more. If the existing paint is in good shape you may not need to use any primer - but primer should be used if you have any metal or rust showing. Finally you can paint the wheels using a satin black or chassis black paint (you don't want gloss black). If you can find a black wheel paint in a spray can use it as it will probably be better suited for spraying on wheels that have been used and will be less apt to fisheye when spraying and will probably be better at resisting chipping and brake dust. If you can't find a black wheel paint I think I would use an enamel paint as it will be less brittle than lacquer. Mask off the tires and spray the first one or two coats pretty lightly to help the paint adhere before applying a third wet coat for coverage.Good Luck - Dave