porschemikeandnancy

Mine have road rash (before I bought the car) and just old worn out paint.

I'm happy to try and tackle this myself. I've seen them do this on the cable show, Wheeler Dealers. Ed China often resprays body panels and other parts from a spray can (if it is a localized area - say after removing a dent).

Key seems to be proper preparation.

I would remove each wheel, mask it off from wheel rim to outer edge of tire. And mask the inflation tube. Lay it flat on ground. Lightly sand the entire outside face. Then spray it - two coats.

Anyone try to do this? Any cautions/advice. Would it be wise to apply a clear coat after the "color" layer.

The local alloy wheel refinisher wants approx. $190/wheel - that's without removing the tire from the rim. They described essentially the same process to me. But they did say they would break the seal between tire and rim on the outside edge. Then re-inflate tire without rebalancing. That price does not include painting the inside of the rim - just cleaning it.

Thanks for your input.

BobbyT

I've done three sets, and have never been completely satisfied with the results, but I think I'm expecting too much from rattle cans and DIY. If you don't pick them apart, they look pretty good from ten feet. You are right about preparation, it is key.

The trick is to spray the paint wet enough so it "flashes" or flows, but not so thick that it sags or runs. Wheels are more difficult than a flat surface.

3X5 cards stuck into the crack between the tire/wheel, then taped together, can be a good way to mask that part.

Clear coat probably provides better gloss than color coats alone.

TMc993

There are DIYs on this. All I've read suggest deflating the tire and breaking the bead so you can mask the wheel(s) completely.

My wheels had some rash courtesy of the PO and I decided I could/would do the refinish myself. It looked fairly straightforward to me, so I ordered the appropriate filler, primer, paint, clear coat, etc. and set aside a couple of days to do the work.

I'm not a paint and body guy, and in the end, the results were mediocre at best. I ended up having the wheels professionally refinished, which is what I should have done in the first place.

If you're good with filler, sanding, paint, etc., You'll probably be okay. But if you aren't, you'll be better off letting someone who knows what they are doing do the work.

Just my experience and opinion....

Good luck,
Terry

cgfen

go for it
pretty easy ('cept for the sanding part)
but
you'll get better final results if you can shoot paint from a gun, not a can.

Craig

Stealth 993

I just did this on some wheels. It really depends on what you want out of them. It also isn't that cheap to DIY, you need a lot of stuff, and time.

The ones I did, are going to be redone by a shop soon...

Crimson Nape Racing

I've painted more sets of wheels than I can count. they have all turned out very nice and professional looking; the key is how many coats / attempts it took to get it that way. wet sand, wipe down with paint prep, tape of the tires, put several light coats down, then curse when the final coat runs and repeat the previous steps. Lacquer dries faster so you don't have to wait as long to sand the runs out and paint again....

996scott

not hard at all but you need to take your time. there are a lot of threads on it. mine turned out nice. Not perfect, but pretty darn good.

element

has anyone tried the 2k clearcoat? its a spray can with hardener that is added via a button on the bottom. I have a door fix project to do for my wife and thinking of touching up my rims later.. plan is to sand, fill, primer, paint, clear, sand, clear, sand clear till it looks decent. I wet sanded and polished some pretty good scratches out of the wifes bumper and thinking I could do the same to get a good finish.

phil.

3healey

Rattle cans tend to work better when they are used held upright. You may want to prop your wheels up rather than lay them flat.
Good luck with your wheels. Post some pictures when you're done.

H.H.Chinn

I'm too much of a perfectionist. I'd most certainly have the tires dismounted. Doing so will allow easier handling of the rim for refinishing the curb strikes. I have a small hobby size airbrush but nothing suitable for shooting large quantities of automotive paints. I would recommend Eurotech in Kirkland, or Rillo's Restoration in Kent for excellent paint work. Then you won't have to worry about the clear failing later on down the road.

boxcarracer

I painted and polished several sets when I was into VWs at least 5yrs ago.
Time and patience are key. I would take on the task again but I'd definitely put more time into the work so the end product reflects the car the wheels are on.

Ed Hughes

A complete respray seems like a walk in the park to me. Several years ago, I painted asset of fully polished Fuchs, keeping the lips amd pedals polished. Required the requisite scuffing where needed, and perfection where not. Then, there was taping off everything. Used Wurth black wheel paint and primer, amd they looked great.

So, spraying wheels on a 993 one color? Walk in the park.

matt777

I did this a couple of years ago. https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...ferrerid=18268

IIRC took most of a day and $100 in paint. It was a primer + base/clear paint that I sprayed through a mini HVLP gun. I'm pretty happy with the job. I did give my 356 wheels a rattle can paint job too with the tires on and it turned out pretty good. I used a self etching primer first.

coreseller

I refinished some painted alloy wheels for one of the kids' cars last fall, was frankly shocked at the results, turned out much better than I expected. We bought them w/o tires so didn't have to deal with masking, sanded down the curb rash, scuffed down the entire wheel then thoroughly cleaned with water and Simple Green. Let completely dry then put 3 coats of Duplicolor Wheel paint on followed by 2 coats of Duplicolor Clear Wheel paint. We let the paint cure for 30 days before having the tires mounted, still looks fine. They took 3 cans of color and 2 cans of clear, cost was ~ $35 IIRC.