DIY Refinishing Wheels- Opinions please.

Just bought these wheels, and want to refinish them in matte black. Thing is, I love the motorsport and bmw recessed into the wheels, and don't want to paint over that. I thought to put some clay in each letter, so i can paint over it, then just remove the clay and that will still be in silver.

can anyone give a suggestion as to what would go in and out of those letters the easiest? thanks i will post pics when i am done.

PS this is for my snowtires, not going to be used as my "rims"

-brendan



btw, not my house.... fs pic

Originally Posted by simsima325

Just bought these wheels, and want to refinish them in matte black. Thing is, I love the motorsport and bmw recessed into the wheels, and don't want to paint over that. I thought to put some clay in each letter, so i can paint over it, then just remove the clay and that will still be in silver.

can anyone give a suggestion as to what would go in and out of those letters the easiest? thanks i will post pics when i am done.

PS this is for my snowtires, not going to be used as my "rims"

-brendan



btw, not my house.... fs pic

I would send them to be powdercoated and then mask off the letters and respray them. I am guessing that would be the cheapest way since these are just for snows

Originally Posted by 16hr Day

I would send them to be powdercoated and then mask off the letters and respray them. I am guessing that would be the cheapest way since these are just for snows

Far cheaper, are the sand paper and spray cans of primer and black matte that I am purchasing. No powdercoating for winter wheels, they are only on the car for 3 months out of the year.

If you use clay, you still need to make sure that it lines up perfectly with the top of the rims. Sand paper would get cloged, so you need another way to sand the clay until it perfectly fills the letters and lines up.

How about wax?....something like candle wax. You melt the wax until it's
liquified and pour it in the recessed parts and let it harden, then scrape
off the excess with a credit card (or something similar) and you're good
to go.

Originally Posted by skysky

How about wax?....something like candle wax. You melt the wax until it's
liquified and pour it in the recessed parts and let it harden, then scrape
off the excess with a credit card (or something similar) and you're good
to go.

Thinking outside the box, I like that but I fear the wax will be a b!tch to get out when all is said and done.

Originally Posted by simsima325

Thinking outside the box, I like that but I fear the wax will be a b!tch to get out when all is said and done.

After the painting is done and dry, just heat the wax with a hair dryer (or
something similar) and soften it up a bit. It should come off easily. Just
don't overheat it and damage the paint. What do you think? Remember
to post pics.

my friend who is helping me with this just had the idea of putting a little grease on the insides of the letters, with a q-tip, so anything that we put into the letters will come out easily when we want it to

I will def. post pics. my winter setup is gonna be more baller than my summer setup

The other way is to paint the whole thing then "fill" the letters afterwards with your colour of choice.

Mark

Originally Posted by simsima325

my friend who is helping me with this just had the idea of putting a little grease on the insides of the letters, with a q-tip, so anything that we put into the letters will come out easily when we want it to

I will def. post pics. my winter setup is gonna be more baller than my summer setup

Man, I ain't yo ferrnd

Let's just do it with the grease and clay like we discussed. It'll be fine.

i personally think they are nice rims, I would be proud to roll on those as is for winter.

I got crappy black steelies.

I like the clay idea. Fill up the letters up, and then go over the clay with a bondo spreader (or credit card) to make the clay "flush".