How to paint wheels (also body work)

[trademe900]

I am totally clueless when it comes to painting a vehicle.

roughly could someone please describe how you paint:

1.wheels

2.bodywork (carbon fibre and plastic if they differ)

do you have to remove all other paint first???

thanks a lot,

Todd.

[billnit]

Todd,

1 - Take wheels to powder coater. Will shot blast and coat in colour of your choice for 30-40 per wheel. Hard wearing finish and looks good.

2 - Take to a pro. Will probably cost 2/3 of what you will pay to get yourself the kit needed to make a half decent job, and as it's your first time it wont be the best finish. You should be able to get some knocked off for doing some of the prep - repairs, decal removals etc if the painter is OK with this (sometimes they prefer to do this themselves...)

[royster81]

i agree with what billnits saying as you just can't get the same finish at your house unless you have the right tools and knowhow and if it all goes wrong you can tell the paint shop to do it again until it's right.

i have had poor experiances with powder coated wheels but i am perpared to give it another go,i found my rear wheel chipped very easy compared to my gold painted versions,and it's not like the powder coating was thin or anything.

my 2p for what it's worth is just take it to the pros,you'll be far happier with the end result

[Simon_Ed]

i painted my wheels but they're for my race bike so i'm not overly concerned about the finish, bought some wet and dry,primer,peugeot metallic grey, and some lacquer.....



its not the best but like i say its ok for what i need

[Cammo]

I've had good results painting my wheels with spray cans, perhaps not perfect enough for some but it's hard to notice the flaws.

If you're a tight arse like me you can get a decent result for a lot less money if you're prepared to give it a go.


Getting a really good finish on bodywork is not something that I'd attempt at home when starting off though.

[JimmyRVF]

i need to find away of painting my rear wheel ( or atleast the outward facing side ) on my 35 , unfortuntaly i dont have the gear to get the wheel out or a stand so i gotta work out how to do it with the wheel still in place , lotta masking tape and news paper me thinks

[Simon_Ed]

i'd strongly recommend not doing it on the bike cos paint gets everywhere, get a jack out of your car and try that or at least something to get the wheel off, you don't want paint all over the exhaust and panels, took me a few hours to paint mine but it makes a difference to get the tyre off, prep it all first, some wet and dry,then primer, make sure all the surface is nice and smooth, then paint, i put about 3 coats on then after it dried about 3 coats of lacquer

[CMSMJ1]

i need to find away of painting my rear wheel ( or atleast the outward facing side ) on my 35 , unfortuntaly i dont have the gear to get the wheel out or a stand so i gotta work out how to do it with the wheel still in place , lotta masking tape and news paper me thinks

Dude...don't do it!

Get a stand instead of paint and just clean it

What is wrong with it that you want to spray it so badly? Where you at? If you are local to me you can gladly borrow my rear stand..

[Cammo]

What is wrong with it that you want to spray it so badly? Where you at? If you are local to me you can gladly borrow my rear stand..

A saint in vfr clothing...

[JimmyRVF]

yea i know , it was gonna be a last resort anyway

and as for why it needs painting so bad , looks like after years of riding the paint on the wheels as literly worn away in places around the rim and its also thinned on the spokes so although they are spotless ( dirt wise ) they still look dirty where the base metal in showing through the paint.

Im still trying to find a recomemded powder coater in my area