Plastidipped wheels - UPDATED - PICS

[minmat11]

I thought I would keep myself busy as I wait for the warm weather to come, so I decided to plastidip my 19's. The advantage of using plastidip over regular spray paint is that you could easily peel it off if you don't like it or just grow tired of it.
There are a few scratches that need to be smoothed out before spraying the wheels, thus the sand paper. I bought three cans of black plastidip, one glossifier to get that shiny finish, a brush to clean the wheels and sand paper (grids 120 & 600). I just got home from ace hardware and snapped a few pictures. I'll upload the rest when I finish the wheels!





* UPDATE *


Alright. I just now finished painting my wheels. Took about 4 hours to completely finish everything, I tend to be a perfectionist when it comes paint jobs so it may take less time. In addition to the plastidip cans and sandpaper, I used a set of notecards, vinyl gloves, face mask, brush and cloth towels.
Here is a walkthrough of what I did:

#1 Two of my wheels had some scratches and a few small dents that needed sanding. First, I used the 100 grid paper to sand off the corrosion and scratches. After sanding for a good half hour, I proceeded to use a finer paper (600 grid) to smooth out the areas that were sanded.

These are all the things I used.


Sanding the scratches down.


#2 Wash every wheel thoroughly. I used a bucket of hot water mixed with soap and a little degreaser. Use a brush to scrub off any grime or dirt from the wheel (specially brake dust). Wash the inside of the wheel as well; that's where most the brake dust tends to accumulate.

Scrubbing the spokes and outer lip.


Washing the inside of the wheel.


#3 Hose the wheel down with water then wipe everything down with a dry cloth until it's completely dry. (This is very crucial). There should not be a single drop of water lingering around. If you have access to a leaf blower or even hair dryer, give that a shot. Once you have dried all the wheels, start to put the notecards in between the lip of the wheel and the tire. I did this so that the plastidip didn't get on the tire. This is optional of course; it just helps to a cleaner install.




#4 Start plastidipping! Shake the cans well and make sure you do it in a warm place, otherwise, the spray will shoot drops of paint instead of a smooth application. I used 5-6 coats of black plastidip per wheel. Start out with a very light coat on each wheel. Keep your distance when spraying (6-8 inches). Allow 10-15 minutes in between coats. (don't worry if the wheel doesn't look dark after your first coat. It's not supposed to). I didn't think I would need a face mask but I had to use one after I sneezed black paint out of my nose! So as safety equipment, I highly recommend it.

1st coat


A quick video of the first coat.

2nd coat


3rd coat


4th coat


5th and 6th coat



#5 I turned the wheels around and painted the inside/bottom of it (pretty much anything that will be visible to the eye). BE PATIENT and take your time with the coats. If you happen to spray a bubble, use your thumb to gently flatten it right away.

This is what my wheels' surface looked like after all the black coats were applied. Smoooooth


#6 Again, allow at least 20-30 mins after the black plastidip is applied in order to apply the glossifier.

No glossifier


After glossifier



I apologize for the last pictures, I just got done and it's already pretty dark out. I will put my summer tires/wheels on this weekend. I will take new pictures then. Until then, I hope this write up helps! Plastidip ftw!

I put my summer tires/wheels on a few days ago and loved how they looked! But! I decided to peel the plastidip off of the lip to see what it would like. I'm not sure if I will keep it this way but I'll see. Here are some pics:





And if you have never seen how easy it is to peel off plastidip, here is a quick clip!

[wasupdu]

Cant wait to see how they turn out. I've been wanting to tackle this on my other car for awhile. Please let me know just how easy it was along with lots of pics !

[minmat11]

Originally Posted by wasupdu

Cant wait to see how they turn out. I've been wanting to tackle this on my other car for awhile. Please let me know just how easy it was along with lots of pics !

I'll keep you posted!

[MZHammer]

Nice! This is something I have been planning to do this spring too. I am thinking gunmetal with glossifier on my OEM wheels. Some of the YouTube vids claim the glossifier is a little tricky, so I am going to re-watch Fonzy's instructions before I get started. Plastidip is quite expensive here....@ $20/can, so I have some online shopping to do too. Let us know how it goes.

[minmat11]

Originally Posted by MZHammer

Nice! This is something I have been planning to do this spring too. I am thinking gunmetal with glossifier on my OEM wheels. Some of the YouTube vids claim the glossifier is a little tricky, so I am going to re-watch Fonzy's instructions before I get started. Plastidip is quite expensive here....@ $20/can, so I have some online shopping to do too. Let us know how it goes.

I would be careful with gunmetal. I tried it on a demo wheel at the store today and it looked like a very light grey. If you're looking to get a dark gunmetal steel finish, plastidip just came out with a new finish. I can't remember the exact name, something along the lines of "charcoal or carbon". That finish is a lot better looking than their gunmetal in my opinion. I'm going for a blacked out finish with a little gloss (not a big fan of matte), but to each his own. I'll post pictures and maybe a couple videos when I get it done!

[MZHammer]

Originally Posted by minmat11

I would be careful with gunmetal. I tried it on a demo wheel at the store today and it looked like a very light grey. If you're looking to get a dark gunmetal steel finish, plastidip just came out with a new finish. I can't remember the exact name, something along the lines of "charcoal or carbon". That finish is a lot better looking than their gunmetal in my opinion. I'm going for a blacked out finish with a little gloss (not a big fan of matte), but to each his own. I'll post pictures and maybe a couple videos when I get it done!

Hmmm...thanks for the advice. My original choice was black, but then I started chickening out, worried the car would look too murdered. My buddy had the wheels on his VW done in matte black and they look a touch dirty (and not in a good way...lol) in certain light. Back to the interwebs for more research, I guess. May end up with gloss black after all. Looking forward to your pics.

[baege]

http://www.zpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=760516


a thread that provides an example of a colour mix...

[minmat11]

Yeah I saw the silver metalizer as well. It's a good look if you want that gunmetal finish. I personally want a deep black, just not matte. But mixing those seems like a real good idea.

[MZHammer]

Those look great. How did the dip hold up? Winter driven?

[baege]

Originally Posted by MZHammer

Those look great. How did the dip hold up? Winter driven?

I sad goodbye to the coupe in April 2013 (still miss the connection I had with that car), so I only had the car about 6 months after the plastidip application. Drove the car sporadically in the winter and the plastidip was in pretty good shape when I sold the car, but there was some slight pulling away from the edges of the rims.

[torchmedia]

Nice writeup!

Are those TSW wheels?

[minmat11]

Originally Posted by torchmedia

Nice writeup!

Are those TSW wheels?

Yes sir! TSW Mirabeau. and thanks!

[minmat11]

Originally Posted by wasupdu

Cant wait to see how they turn out. I've been wanting to tackle this on my other car for awhile. Please let me know just how easy it was along with lots of pics !

Just got done!

[MZHammer]

The wheels look great. Nicely done! Did you find applying the glossifier tricky at all, or not really a big deal?

[minmat11]

Originally Posted by MZHammer

The wheels look great. Nicely done! Did you find applying the glossifier tricky at all, or not really a big deal?

I think the glossifier was the easiest part. I did two coats on each wheel. I can't wait to put them on.

[Arsonism]

I'll have to edit in with some I did in anthracite/pearlizer/gloss. Came out well, underestimated how close I should be when spraying and corrected as time went on. Peel off was as easy as advertised even on wheels. For cleanup and removal I found a piece of rubber or an eraser actually removes unwanted dip best.

[elerner61]

I'm on the 2nd winter season on my dipped OEM rims. They've held up fine with 3 coats and I touched them up with another coat before I put them on again this year. I get a surprising amount of compliments on them. My 16 year old Son loves them.

[minmat11]

Originally Posted by elerner61

I'm on the 2nd winter season on my dipped OEM rims. They've held up fine with 3 coats and I touched them up with another coat before I put them on again this year. I get a surprising amount of compliments on them. My 16 year old Son loves them.

That's awesome! I can't wait to put mine on this weekend.