Wheel opinions for the IS

[Evan]

From a guy who tried to spray his rims - if you want them black just powder-coat them and do it right the first time. You will save a lot of time and heartache in the long-run.

No way, spray job done right is everybit as durable as an OE finish. If you halfass it with a coat of krylon, well no shit its going to suck. I have a set of wheels I painted that I tracked for 2 years and they still look great.

I might ask your advice if I decide to go this route then Evan. What kind of prep work did you do on the wheels? I'm guessing you sanded them up a little to get the initial coats to stick?

I was thinking 2-3 coats of color per wheel then 1 coat of clear on top of that after some good prep. I guess the prepping is where my questions come in.

Ive actually been meaning to start a thread on it, Ive painted 6 sets of wheels or so and Ive tried lots of different things to see what works best.
Like any kind of painting the prep work is the most important.
If the wheels are used, they need to be impeccably clean. Use naval jelly or rust remover gel to take any stuck on pad deposits.
Sand using fine sandpaper. Paint should be dulled but not scoured. Aim for a even flat finish. Cant be glass smooth or the paint wont stick though. 600-1000 grit maybe? I dont remember exactly. Get all the crevices and tight areas. This is what is going to dictate the smoothness of your final finish. This is the most time consuming process. On my ATS I took about 5 hours or so doing it.
Clean, dry, and wipe down with acetone
You can spray with primer here and re-sand but I dont think its necessary.
I spray with a light initial color coat, then 2 more medium coats. (Usually 2 cans of spray - maybe more for blingin 17s)
Then I do 2 coats of clear. 3 would be better in fact.

I like the Duplicolor wheel specific paint and clearcoat a lot. Shine is good and its super durable. And it comes in bronze
The ceramic engine paint that I use for gold is more matte and doesnt shine as well.