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Originally Posted by Tex_h2
What were the steps you took to paint. Did you remove the rim from the tires...or did you just mask everything around the area?? What did you use for your prep work??
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I left the tires on the wheels. I took the wheels off the vehicle to make it easier to paint.
I prepped by cleaning each wheel and then lightly sanding with 320 grit sandpaper.
I had some rock rash on a couple of the wheels which I tried to smooth out before painting.
I used gorilla tape (duct tape) and taped around the edge of the rim. Then I used a garbage bag and cut out the middle and taped it around the wheel.
I cleaned the wheel once more to make sure all the dust was cleaned up.
I sprayed each wheel with 3 coats of paint as recommended on the can. I waited 10 minuted between each coat and sprayed 2 light coats and then a heavy coat. I paid extra attention to the inside of the spokes and the edge of the wheel to make sure I got even coverage.
I also sprayed the lugnuts while the wheels were off the vehicle. Those I cleaned up and put then in a large box and hit them with 3 coats of paint.
For the ends of the axles and wheel bolts, I used the back center of the wheel as a template to cut out a piece of cardboard to protect the brake rotor from overspray. The axles had to be cleaned with a wire brush and steel wool before I could paint them. I also sprayed a coat of primer to help the paint stick to the rough metal. Then 3 coats for the axles and wheel bolts.
I used about 4 cans of spray for 5 wheels, lugnuts, grill, and H3 emblems. The wheels and emblems turned out exactly how I wanted them. The grill is a slightly different color gray and doesn't have the gloss that the wheels do. The lugnuts will obviously lose some paint as I change and rotate tires, but should be easy to touch up too.