Unfortunately, not always a domestic motorist is able to purchase new alloy wheels. Most often you have to buy used ones, and not always their condition can add proper attractiveness to the car. But this does not bother car owners. They know that the main thing is that there should be no mechanical damage, and painting alloy wheels will not require large investments and is quite possible at home. And indeed it is.
In the simplest case, painting car rims DIY requires only the presence of a simple tool, the right material, and most importantly, desire and patience. And sometimes, you can do this without even removing the rubber.
Painting options
The most common currently are the following ways of painting car rims:
- Aerosol painting.
- Painting with acrylic paints using a compressor.
- Painting with liquid rubber.
- Powder coated rims.
The latter method is used quite rarely, since it is almost impossible to paint the discs with powder paint yourself. This is due to the need for special expensive equipment.
All other options are quite suitable for painting alloy wheels with your own hands, so each of them should be considered in more detail.
Painting car rims with acrylic paints
To date, this method of painting alloy wheels is the most popular. Working with acrylic paints does not require special skills, but essential tool available in almost every garage.
Necessary materials and equipment
So, for painting rims you will need:
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Preparatory work
First of all, the wheels must be cleaned of dirt and washed well. After that, it is necessary to clean their surface from old paint, especially in those places where it began to lag behind the disk. At home, the easiest way to do this is with a drill, with a special nozzle.
But the technology of painting discs involves not only the restoration of the paintwork, but also the partial restoration of the surface. All existing large scratches and chips are polished with sandpaper in two steps, first with a large abrasive, then with a fine one. This will avoid rubbing marks. If large defects remain on the surface of the wheels after grinding, they must be puttied.
At the final stage of preparatory work, the disc is cleaned of abrasive residues and thoroughly washed with water. There is one more nuance. If it is planned to paint the car rims without removing the rubber, then you must first seal the surface of the tire with masking tape and newspapers. The result should be as shown in the photo.
Padding
Painting of wheel disks is impossible without their preliminary primer. The starting layer will allow the base coat to be applied more evenly, in addition, it will adhere better.
Before application, the surface must be pre-dried with a building hair dryer. This should be done very conscientiously. Just one drop of water can cause a defect in painting, which will ultimately affect the appearance of the wheels and the service life.
After that, the surface must be degreased with a solvent. For the convenience of priming and painting, the disc is suspended with a piece of strong and soft wire.
Before priming, it is desirable to heat it with a hair dryer. This will ensure the uniformity of the first layer. Application is carried out using a spray gun, from a distance of 25–30 cm. An important point is the consistency of the primer. If it is too liquid, smudges are inevitable.
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In no case should you immediately apply a thick layer of soil. To obtain the appropriate quality, it is better to do this in 3-4 doses. Apply each subsequent layer only after the previous one dries. Typically, this takes 30 minutes. You can speed up the process a little with a hair dryer.
Painting
After the primer dries, you can start painting alloy wheels. It is also carried out in several layers. Therefore, it is very important to take your time and let each of them dry completely. The paint should also not be too thin. You can check its quality by applying a test layer on a suitable metal product. Properly prepared paint should not leave smudges.
For maximum quality, the number of layers should be at least three. Particular attention should be paid to hard-to-reach places, as a rule, they are the worst stained. In the absence of a compressor, you can paint the wheels with a spray can filled with paint. However, high quality is difficult to achieve. Therefore, this method is used mainly for painting stamped discs. Visually, the process of painting car rims with acrylic paint can be seen in the following video.
Liquid rubber: advantages and self-painting
Now more and more popular is the treatment of wheels with liquid rubber. This material has a lot of advantages, and first of all it is:
- A large number of creative shades, however, it is impossible to paint the wheels in chrome.
- Wear resistance is not worse than with powder coating of discs.
- Hides all scratches and chips.
- There is no need to turn to specialists, you can easily paint it yourself.
It is worth noting that the big disadvantage is the price, but it pays off with high quality.
Necessary materials
The following tools and materials are required for painting discs:
- Raw rubber. Unlike regular paint, it is better to use spray cans, the quality will practically not suffer from this.
- Solvent.
- Gloves and respirator.
Sooner or later, every car owner faces this problem: the paint from the rims has peeled off, and they need to be renewed. It doesn't matter why it happened. Maybe the coating of the disks was of poor quality initially, or it simply worked out the required resource and began to fall off. Perhaps the car owner bought the wheels from his hands, and even then their condition left much to be desired. The reasons may be different, but the result is the same: you have to paint. You can entrust this to specialists in a car repair shop. But painting alloy wheels is not a cheap pleasure. Or you can try to solve the problem yourself, with your own hands. How? Now we'll tell you.
Do-it-yourself alloy wheel painting options
As a rule, casting is painted with polymer acrylic paint. It is used because of the specific conditions in which alloy wheels are operated. They are periodically exposed to salt and special road chemicals. Rocks hit them. Depending on the season, they are affected by elevated (or vice versa - lowered) temperatures. High-quality polymer paint successfully neutralizes all these effects. It has high wear resistance and durability. So wheels painted with this paint are guaranteed to last 2-3 seasons.
The second option is liquid rubber. This is a relatively new trend, which, nevertheless, is gaining popularity. The reason is high practicality. The surface covered with liquid rubber has the same wear resistance as acrylic. Even if the rubber is chipped or small scratches, they will not be conspicuous, as the rubber perfectly hides minor defects. The range of its shades is also very rich, polymer paints are seriously inferior in this respect. Plus, coating a disc with liquid rubber is somewhat easier than acrylic paint.
Option three: painting "under chrome". It is impossible to carry out real chrome plating of alloy wheels at home: you will need special galvanizing equipment, which the car owner simply does not have. All he can do is coat them with a chrome effect. The procedure takes place in two stages: first, a black primer is applied to the disc, and an imitation of chrome is applied to it. This is a rather time-consuming process, so below we will talk about painting with acrylic paints, since in a garage this option seems to be the easiest.
Materials and necessary tools
- A container with acrylic powder paint of the required shade (or a can of polymer acrylic paint).
- Spray.
- Bank with a primer.
- Varnish jar.
- A piece of medium grit sandpaper measuring 5X10 cm.
- Electric drill.
- Metal nozzle-brush for a drill.
- Solvent container.
- A piece of thick wire 1.5 m long.
- Building hair dryer (if there is no building hair dryer, a household one is also suitable).
- Rags.
- Respirator, goggles and rubber gloves.
Sequencing
- The discs are removed from the car.
- The surface of each disc is cleaned with a drill with a metal brush. The most polluted and rusted areas are processed manually using sandpaper. After cleaning, the surface should be free of any traces of rust and old coating, it should have a dull steel sheen.
- The disc is carefully wiped with a rag soaked in solvent. This will degrease the surface to be painted.
- Now the disc being processed is slightly warmed up with a building hair dryer (under no circumstances should the primer be applied to cold metal).
- After warming up, the first layer of primer is applied to the disc. It should be applied from a distance of no more than 30 cm. When applying, special attention is paid to the consistency of the primer: it should not be very liquid, as streaks appear.
- After applying the first thin layer, the primer is allowed to dry. This takes at least half an hour. Then a second layer of primer is applied, followed by a half-hour drying again. Finally, the third, final layer is applied. Drying can be accelerated by using a hair dryer.
- As soon as the primer is completely dry, paint is applied to the disc using a spray gun. This is also done in three steps with half-hour pauses for drying each layer. At this stage, it is important to monitor the uniformity of the paint application and the absence of streaks. If they are, then the paint is too thin and cooked incorrectly.
- Finally, a thin layer of varnish is applied to the dry painted surface of the disc. It is applied with the same spray gun, which is pre-washed with a solvent.
Important Points
- If the car owner is faced with a choice between conventional spray cans of paint and a normal spray gun (or even better - a compressor), then preference should be given to the spray gun. A spray can is convenient, but it is far from always possible to achieve a uniform coating when using it.
- When applying the first layer of primer, close attention should be paid to hard-to-reach places on the disc: grooves, holes, grooves, etc. All this should be handled with great care. If this is not done, all further efforts will go in vain, as the paint always starts to peel off in places with the thinnest layer of primer.
- When working with paint, special attention should be paid to safety. work space should be well ventilated. There must be no open sources of flame nearby. A fire extinguisher should always be at hand. And of course, paint work should be carried out only in a respirator, glasses and gloves.
Related videos
The main thing when painting discs is to take your time and let each coat of primer and paint dry completely. Drying with a hairdryer is recommended only for the final, third layers of both primer and paint. It is better to dry earlier layers without a hair dryer, in the open air. But in general, even a novice motorist can apply paint to a disk. All that is required of him is to carefully observe the proportions indicated on the can when preparing the paint so that it does not turn out to be too liquid.
During the winter operation of the car, all its parts, including rims, are subject to strong exposure to reagents that are sprinkled on the roadway. The paint from such exposure gradually cracks, flakes off, and after a few years the discs lose their attractiveness. This is especially true for stamped discs made of steel, on which traces of corrosion also appear. What to do in such cases? The disks are inherently in a completely good condition, throw them away and buy new ones, no matter what the hand rises, this is in principle not advisable in terms of financial costs. best way out is the restoration of the paintwork. Even if you turn to a specialized workshop for this service, this operation will still cost less than buying new discs. But you can do otherwise, you can do everything yourself. Moreover, this does not require special materials, no special skills or abilities, you will learn everything along the way.
In order to paint the wheels on a car with your own hands, you need to make preparatory work, as well as choose a paintwork material.
What paint to choose
Today, two types of paint are used to restore discs:
- Powder;
- Acrylic.
The powder composition has certain advantages, for example, paints of this type are more durable and more resistant to mechanical stress. In addition, powder coating is used in the manufacture of alloy wheels at manufacturers' factories. However, despite these advantages, the technology for applying such paint is quite complex and requires the use of specialized equipment (heat chamber and sandblasting). The fact is that a dry powder is applied to the disc, which is fixed on the surface under the influence of high temperatures. There is another drawback of powder paint - when using it, you can paint the product only as a whole, and not its individual parts.
When using an acrylic composition, motorists will not have to face such problems. Acrylic paint has a brighter and more saturated color and palette, so you can choose the most suitable shade that will be combined with the color of the car body. Painting car rims with an acrylic composition also has disadvantages. These include low resistance to environmental influences.
Based on the foregoing, when deciding how to paint the rims, it is better to give preference acrylic compounds. You can find such paint in any specialized store. When choosing a manufacturer, remember - it is better to purchase paint and varnish from the same company.
IN Lately for painting not only disks, but also body parts, another covering material began to be used - liquid rubber. In terms of cost, number of shades and mechanical strength, it is comparable to acrylic paint. It is even easier to apply than acrylic. The most famous brand is Plasti Dip liquid rubber.
In addition to paints and varnishes, you will need other materials.
Necessary equipment and materials
If you have chosen the powder coating method, then first of all you will need a sandblasting machine, which is used to thoroughly clean the worn disc from old paint, dirt and dust. In addition, with this device you can perfectly level the surface of the product.
Advice! Sandblast can be replaced conventional drill with various abrasive nozzles.
You will also need a heat chamber, which is necessary for "baking" powder paint. It is impossible to replace this type of equipment at home, so you will have to fork out or still use a cheaper staining method.
Painting car rims with acrylic paint is a simple and cheap way bring old discs back to life. To do this, you need to prepare:
- brush;
- Washing powder or regular dish detergent;
- Sandpaper of different abrasiveness (from 200 to 600);
- Automotive finishing putty;
- Several cylinders of primer;
- A bottle of varnish (transparent);
- Can of solvent 646;
- Protective gloves, respirator and goggles.
As you can see, the second method requires much less financial costs, especially since most of this list is already in your garage. After everything is ready, you can proceed directly to work.
Automotive wheel painting technology
First of all, make sure that the room in which you will work is well ventilated. Acrylic and varnish are not the best combination for health. Wear goggles and gloves to avoid chemical burns and remove the wheels from the vehicle.
In order not to stain the wheel tire, it must be sealed with masking tape along the rim. The adhesive tape should be applied as close as possible to the edge of the rim while sticking it into the gap between the rim and the tire.
There is another option, you can remove the tires from the disc completely. If you are afraid to do it yourself, then you can contact a car service, this service will cost you inexpensively. Next, you need to prepare the surface of the disks for further processing.
Surface preparation
Use a brush and detergent to thoroughly clean the surface of old paint and varnish. To degrease the disc and remove paint residue, use a solvent or anti-silicone.
Advice! To get rid of worn paintwork material in hard-to-reach places, use an awl or a thin screwdriver.
After that, go over the surface with sandpaper. At this stage, do not rush, it is better to sand every millimeter of the disc for a long time and carefully. First use coarse sandpaper, and at the very last stage - the finest. The surface to be treated must be periodically watered to get rid of the remnants of the sanded material and to better polish the disc.
Advice! It is also not worth cleaning discs with fanaticism, since minor roughness and cracks in any case will hide layers of paint and varnish.
Of course, on the old disk there will be numerous chips, dents and other defects that are eliminated with the help of automotive putty. When it dries, go over the surface again with fine sandpaper and water the disc with water.
Primer
The degreased and cleaned surface must be primed. To do this, you need to start applying the primer first on the inner surface of the product, and then move on to the outer part.
Advice! Shake the primer can periodically while spraying.
In order for the repair (painting) of the disks to be performed efficiently, try not to rush. The primer must be applied evenly, while holding the liquid container at a distance of 25-30 cm from the surface. After you have applied the primer, let the disc dry and repeat the procedure (2-3 coats will be enough). In order not to wait a long time after each application of the primer, you can use a regular hair dryer. In any case, it is better to start painting wheels only the next day.
Painting and varnishing
Before using varnish and paint, carefully read the instructions for use of these materials, as the drying time of liquids may vary depending on the manufacturer.
Dried and primed dices must be placed on polyethylene so that dust and dirt do not stick to them during staining. The paint application technology is the same as for the primer - we start with inside products and then go to the outer part. Apply 2-3 coats of paint, leaving the surface to dry for 15 minutes after each procedure. After that, wait 20-25 minutes and apply varnish. After the first application of varnish, check the surface of the discs for unevenness. If you find them, then go over them with fine sandpaper. Then, it remains only to apply the final layer of varnish and wait until the product is completely dry (6-7 days). This completes the restoration of the disks.
In custody
Now you know how to paint rims with your own hands. As you can see, this process does not take much time, and the money is many times cheaper than in a car dealership. Most importantly, do not allow dust to settle on a freshly painted surface, as this will greatly spoil appearance products. In all other respects, just work calmly and carefully and the result will please you.
Photos taken from a video posted on the channel My OBZOR. Thanks to the author!
Wheels are a very vulnerable spot in any car. It is they who take on the maximum impact: impacts of oncoming stones, curbs, tree branches. Alloy wheels are especially susceptible to wear; when hitting an obstacle, they can not only bend, but also crack or scratch in some places, and their appearance becomes unsightly. However, the situation can be corrected; for this, special paint for discs is used.
Wheel rims are painted for two main reasons:
- if the disks have lost their original view and require restoration.
- painting for decorative purposes - for example, luminous paint for wheels will give the car originality and make it stand out from the crowd.
In the second case, special colors are often used that attract attention, often used paint for discs with a "chrome" effect.
Types of car paints
Painting wheels is not only a decorative move, but also protection. Modern coatings are able to reliably protect the metal from corrosion. There are several types of such paints, they all differ in composition and purpose.
Powder
Powder paints for painting wheels are popular with motorists due to their durability and high resistance to different kind influences. Among the serious advantages are the possibility of applying to almost any type of titanium, steel discs.
The disadvantage of powder paints is the need for special equipment - the dye in the form of a powder according to technology should be melted at a temperature of about 200 degrees. That is why powder technology is not suitable for aluminum - aluminum wheels can be deformed.
The staining technology involves cleaning the stamp from the old coating by sandblasting. Then the surface is thoroughly degreased, covered with primer and a dye is applied in a special spray booth.
It will take at least a day for the paint to dry completely. Carry out such work in garage conditions You can do it yourself, but it's not profitable.
Acrylic
Acrylic paint works well for painting wheels. This option is the best choice. It is very convenient to use acrylic, and you can apply it yourself - the dye is sold in an aerosol, but you can also work with an airbrush. It is possible to paint disks with aerosol acrylic paint quickly and efficiently, and at the same time inexpensively.
Among the main advantages, one can single out the complete protection of the surface from the effects of precipitation. Road reagents will also not be able to harm the painted surface. But it must be borne in mind that acrylic has an average durability.
Spray paint for discs is chosen in most cases because of its affordable price and ease of use - the spray allows you to get a high-quality result as quickly as possible.
Before applying spray paint, it is imperative to treat the disc with abrasive materials. Next, the contents of the can are thoroughly mixed (the can must be shaken for three minutes) - thus achieving uniformity of color. Then in without fail make a test spray on any other area, if the paint is sprayed well and evenly, you can apply it to the discs.
Compared to powder dyes, the advantage here is the possibility of quick drying - the painted surface dries in just 10 minutes. The choice of colors is also extensive, spray paint is available in any shade, but silver paint (chrome-like) is popular.
If you add a little phosphor to acrylic, you can get luminous paint - the wheels will glow in the dark, which will attract prying eyes. The brightness of the glow depends on how strongly the phosphor is “saturated” with light.
Rubber
Rubber paints are in great demand among those who like to highlight their car, tune it in every possible way. The reason for the great popularity of such coatings was their versatility. They can be used not only on metal, but also on plastic, glass. The coating can be either matte or glossy, this gives customers the opportunity to choose what they want.
Also available in rubber fluorescent paint that glows. The composition contains a special pigment - a phosphor, which accumulates light during the day, and begins to emit it at night. It turns out an interesting glowing effect.
Applying dye to cast wheels is very convenient. Spray aerosol paint for wheels in two or three layers of small thickness. The surface will be smooth and even. The process may take an hour or more. In this case, the primer of the discs as preparatory stage can be skipped.
In the video: painting wheels with Plasti Dip liquid rubber.
Popular Products
Body
body paints are an alkyd one-component composition, produced in aerosols. The product has increased strength and wear resistance, has good adhesion.
Body paint is distinguished by affordable cost, low consumption (the optimal number of applied layers is two or three). Ideal as a paint for stamped rims as well as cast versions. It should be applied with a spray gun. How much material is needed to paint one wheel is usually indicated on the bank, but the consumption is small.
Motip
Unlike Body enamels for Motip discs, these are acrylic-based compounds designed to give an attractive appearance. Products from Motip have all the advantages of acrylic paints, the compositions protect the surface from various influences, and are characterized by high adhesion.
The palette has black, white, golden colors. The texture can be matte or glossy. All products are supplied exclusively in cans.
How to paint: the enamel is sprayed onto a cleaned and degreased surface, holding the can at a distance of 30-40 cm. The material is ideal as a paint for alloy wheels.
As an analogue, you can use Kudo products - these are spray paints based on good quality liquid rubber.
What paint to paint depends on the goals - if you need to give the surface gloss and shine, and not just protect it from corrosion, then it is better to use acrylic and rubber coatings. Disc painting glowing paint will make the car doubly original.
How to paint wheels yourself (2 videos)
Paints of different brands (25 photos)
If you need to paint stamped steel wheels, you need to do it urgently and preferably without removing the rubber, then this method will definitely suit you. True, the wheels still have to be removed.
And here is the result you should get in the end.
So, let's start with the tools and materials that will be needed to prepare the discs and paint them.
- Bulgarian;
- Korshchetka (nozzle to grinder);
- abrasive skin;
- rust converter;
- Acrylic primer*;
- Paint* (or base for metallics);
- Lacquer* (if we paint metallic);
- Anti-silicone or other degreaser;
- Clean wipes.
- Plastic
*Try to take paint materials from the same manufacturer in order to avoid their incompatibility and, as a result, bitter disappointment.
Those who own painting equipment and tools will certainly use them. And in this article I will show you how to paint stamped steel wheels using spray cans with acrylic primer and paint.
If you want to paint the rims in a metallic color, then instead of the usual acrylic paint, you will need a base (base) and varnish.
Let's go ... Jack up, remove the wheels, put the car on stops or fix it in another convenient way.
This is the disc we currently have.
The first longest and dirtiest part of the job is to clean the rims of dirt, rust and peeling paint. To do this, you need a grinder with a nozzle in the form of a brush (it is also possible to use a drill). And also an abrasive skin with a rather large abrasive P80-P180.
Other cleaning methods are not excluded, such as sandblasting, but then you will most likely need to remove the rubber from the rims.
Depending on corrosion, use brushes of varying degrees of hardness.
The discs should be cleaned until the rust is completely destroyed.
Don't forget to tape or masking tape around the nipple nipple to protect it from damage.
As a result, after stripping, you should get something like the following.
If, after cleaning the stamped disc mechanically (grinder, drill), there are places where the brush did not reach, then use an abrasive skin and achieve the desired result with handles.
Now you should blow out the disk with compressed air from debris, if you, of course, have a compressor in the garage. If it is not, then use a clean rag or napkin with a degreasing compound.
Follow the manufacturer's instructions on the converter bottle.
The next step is the application of acrylic primer. To do this, protect the rubber from spraying the primer.
You need to do this by slipping thin plastic rectangles under the rim, which can be cut from any stationery folders or other material. In the end, you can just carefully seal it with masking tape. As an option, to protect the rubber, you can apply a thin layer of grease, which can then be easily washed off.
Now you need to degrease the surface of the disc with a clean napkin and, after shaking the can with a primer, apply the first layer of soil with broad gestures, without stopping, trying to cover the previous one by one third.
Before applying the second layer, you should wait for the primer to dry out (interlayer drying 3-5 minutes at +20 o).
We apply the second layer of soil. It is better to do this perpendicular to the first layer, not forgetting the edge of the rim.
If two layers of soil completely covered the surface of the disc, then this is enough, if not, then another 1-3 layers should be applied.
Remember! The primer, like the paint in aerosol cans, is made more liquid than when using an airbrush in conjunction with a compressor. Therefore, try not to allow streaks! It is better to make more thin layers than one thick one that can run.
After the primer has been applied, there are two options for applying paint:
1. "WET"
If, after applying the primer, there are no streaks, inclusions of debris and other paint defects on the surface of the disc, then after 20 minutes you can start applying the first layer of paint.
2. "DRY"
This method is used if it is necessary to correct the resulting defects.
The applied primer should be dried for at least 2-3 hours, depending on the ambient temperature. Forced drying can be used to speed up the process.
But, we work fast, so we use the first method - we will paint the wheels wet.
The next step is putting it on the disk acrylic paint. In our case, it is black.
Paint as well as primer should be applied in several layers (usually 2-3). Overflow paint can also leak, so if you are not confident in your abilities, then it is better to apply more thin layers.
After applying the last layer, you should get a similar result.
If you want to paint stamped steel wheels in a metallic color, for example, silver, then instead of paint, you should apply the base of the desired color and a clear varnish on top.
And one last piece of advice.
If dust from paint or soil has nevertheless fallen on the rubber, then you can erase it with an ordinary scotch-brite.
About painting alloy wheels in the near future.
Happy painting! If you have any questions, feel free to ask below in the comments.
