How to improve appearance of rims
01-Dec-2003, 10:36 AM
#1
Registered User
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Posts: 24
How to improve appearance of rims
Hi there,
Since I'm a poor college student, I can't afford to purchase snazzy-looking Konig rims for my wheels
...
... the best I can do for now is to clean the existing rims. They are slightly rusted (very very minor though). I'd like to remove the rust and maybe paint the rims (silver). Any idea how this can be done? Do i need to remove the rim from the wheel or something like that?!
Thanks!
Since I'm a poor college student, I can't afford to purchase snazzy-looking Konig rims for my wheels
...... the best I can do for now is to clean the existing rims. They are slightly rusted (very very minor though). I'd like to remove the rust and maybe paint the rims (silver). Any idea how this can be done? Do i need to remove the rim from the wheel or something like that?!
Thanks!
:
01-Dec-2003, 11:53 AM
#5
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Posts: 24
hmm what are stock rims? (new to this entire car thing) please enlighten this ignoramus here :P
yeah there is slight rust on the rims. it's the ones that came with factory specs. i bought this car 2nd hand
yeah there is slight rust on the rims. it's the ones that came with factory specs. i bought this car 2nd hand
01-Dec-2003, 12:00 PM
#6
stock rims = factory wheels = steelies (cuz they are made of steel)
anyways, bottom line is... no matter how you strive to make them look decent, they will always only be factory spec. IMO, just sit tight and save up some cash for some nice used rims... you'd be surprised at how cheaply you can pick up a set of wheels these days.
anyways, bottom line is... no matter how you strive to make them look decent, they will always only be factory spec. IMO, just sit tight and save up some cash for some nice used rims... you'd be surprised at how cheaply you can pick up a set of wheels these days.
01-Dec-2003, 01:41 PM
#8
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Ontario
Posts: 18,367
As B said, stock rims are the black rims that has little circles all around it. If you really want to paint them, it is not that hard.
First, jack up the car and remove the wheels. (loosen the nuts first when the car is on ground, then jack it up and loose them more). If you only have one jack, you will have to do it for each rim one at a time, which is what I did.
Now you have 1 rim off, the hub cap will come off. It isn't attached to anything. Now, get some steel wool and some grease remover and spray that sucker and start scrub it away. Wear rubber gloves while you are at this. Also, get some rust remover solution and use it, too. The grease remover is just to get the oils and whatnot off the wheel(s).
Now, since you are doing this on your own, you don't have the proper tool to do the tire mount like how they do it in the shop (release air pressure and make the tire lose on the rim) so it will be hard to have tape paper down on tires. On the same note, it would be rather hard to stuff paper in the gaps between the tire and the rim so here is what you do. Get a large piece of paper and cut a hole in it and cover the wheels with them. You can try to stuff some paper inbetween the edges but they won't stay too well. If you are painting it black, then that won't be a problem since the tires are black, too. IF any other colour, then you will need to scrub the excess colour off the tires.
You do a light coat one way, and move on to the next direction. Basically, you (look down at the rim, with can directly facing down):
Spray from left to right (or right to left) and top to bottom. Say you do left to right so you are going East direction. Then you move to the next side of the rim (think of it as a square) and repeat the same motion. You do so because steelies have bumps on them, up and downs and by spray in one unify direction on all 4 sides you are guaranteed to cover all surface. Leave the paint dry for 30 minutes and apply a 2nd coat. I would do at least 2 coats. 3 is fine if you wish. Key thing to watch out for it don't go over one particular spot all the time. A light coat is always better then a heavy spray.
After that, spray clear coat in the exact same manner, and at least 2 to 3 coats. When I did mine this summer, it was a pain in the *** simply because I had to take off 1 rim at a time. If you are brave enough, you can use 2 Honda factory jacks on either side to shave off some time.
A stupid way is to take off one side, and put on a spare tire. Then take off the opposite. This way, you can do 2 at a time which will be faster and you can rotate them afterwards.
Basically, in this project, you will need 1 can of Black Rust Proof Paint (if you want another colour, go buy that separately and spray over the black), and 1 clear coat. Basically, 1 can can cover 4 wheels evenly with 2 coats each. And you will have JUST about enough of it. All labours are free of cost. You won't spend more then 20 bucks at the most. And that's Canadian money.
Personally, I think refinished black stock rims look nice. If you like, you can try bronze or gunmetal.
First, jack up the car and remove the wheels. (loosen the nuts first when the car is on ground, then jack it up and loose them more). If you only have one jack, you will have to do it for each rim one at a time, which is what I did.
Now you have 1 rim off, the hub cap will come off. It isn't attached to anything. Now, get some steel wool and some grease remover and spray that sucker and start scrub it away. Wear rubber gloves while you are at this. Also, get some rust remover solution and use it, too. The grease remover is just to get the oils and whatnot off the wheel(s).
Now, since you are doing this on your own, you don't have the proper tool to do the tire mount like how they do it in the shop (release air pressure and make the tire lose on the rim) so it will be hard to have tape paper down on tires. On the same note, it would be rather hard to stuff paper in the gaps between the tire and the rim so here is what you do. Get a large piece of paper and cut a hole in it and cover the wheels with them. You can try to stuff some paper inbetween the edges but they won't stay too well. If you are painting it black, then that won't be a problem since the tires are black, too. IF any other colour, then you will need to scrub the excess colour off the tires.
You do a light coat one way, and move on to the next direction. Basically, you (look down at the rim, with can directly facing down):
Spray from left to right (or right to left) and top to bottom. Say you do left to right so you are going East direction. Then you move to the next side of the rim (think of it as a square) and repeat the same motion. You do so because steelies have bumps on them, up and downs and by spray in one unify direction on all 4 sides you are guaranteed to cover all surface. Leave the paint dry for 30 minutes and apply a 2nd coat. I would do at least 2 coats. 3 is fine if you wish. Key thing to watch out for it don't go over one particular spot all the time. A light coat is always better then a heavy spray.
After that, spray clear coat in the exact same manner, and at least 2 to 3 coats. When I did mine this summer, it was a pain in the *** simply because I had to take off 1 rim at a time. If you are brave enough, you can use 2 Honda factory jacks on either side to shave off some time.
A stupid way is to take off one side, and put on a spare tire. Then take off the opposite. This way, you can do 2 at a time which will be faster and you can rotate them afterwards.
Basically, in this project, you will need 1 can of Black Rust Proof Paint (if you want another colour, go buy that separately and spray over the black), and 1 clear coat. Basically, 1 can can cover 4 wheels evenly with 2 coats each. And you will have JUST about enough of it. All labours are free of cost. You won't spend more then 20 bucks at the most. And that's Canadian money.
Personally, I think refinished black stock rims look nice. If you like, you can try bronze or gunmetal.
how about those EDM 15" wheels from prezmir - is he gonna ship 'em?
02-Dec-2003, 09:08 AM
#16
Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: on a race track
Posts: 17,846
Originally posted by 94EG6HB
$200 for 15" old school 5 stars with rubber in the classifieds..
$200 for 15" old school 5 stars with rubber in the classifieds..
as for what to do with stock steelies.... man the look of them all rusted and on a car is sexy ... I still roll on the stock rims.... and I save the good ones for when I race....
05-Dec-2003, 03:38 AM
#18
Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Southern California
Posts: 6,405
i painted my steelies flat black and they came out sweeeeet. if you gonna paint em paint em black cuz i dont think silver steelies looks that good.
/ŻŻŻŻŻŻ\
/ ____ \
| / ooo \ |
| |o ( ) o| |
\ \ ooo / /
\ ŻŻŻŻ /
ŻŻŻŻŻŻ
.... great steelie huh? he he
/ŻŻŻŻŻŻ\
/ ____ \
| / ooo \ |
| |o ( ) o| |
\ \ ooo / /
\ ŻŻŻŻ /
ŻŻŻŻŻŻ
.... great steelie huh? he he
