Painting my FSVT wheels

[tigerpwr]

Here's my quasi-how to, 3rd set of wheels i've painted, 1st set that were alloys.


I got them with some crappy black paint that was scratched and peeling:

Then had them sandblasted at a local place for $15/wheel:

A couple coats of primer for the entire wheel:

After the regular primer, I took some sandable filler primer and made a couple passes over the front of the wheels. I wetsanded with 320 grit to make a smooth finish and lessen the chance of scratching/chipping the paint off due to an irregular surface.

I let the wheels sit for a day or two then put on 3 coats of dark argent silver pepboys "high-strength" wheel paint. This was shortly followed by a high temp clear (2 good coats per wheel). I used 1 can of regular primer, 1/2 can of filler primer, 2 cans of wheel paint, and 2 cans of clear.


Now i'm ready for tires! Check it out:

 

[Matt2kSVT]

Man, that's pretty sweet! Looks like you did it right. Can't wait to see them mounted.

 

[tigerpwr]

Yep, thanks me too..I've got a mountain of parts (literally) to install:

LCA's, Koni yellows, H&R race, front sway bar end links, strut mounts all around, and the FSVT wheels (with some 235/45R17s)


Looking forward to a long weekend soon!!

 

[Dyoel182]

I really like the way they looked after the sandblasting. I would have been tempted to clear coat them as is.

 

[tigerpwr]

If the paint can't hang after a couple years (aka next set of tires), I might try and see what bead blasting would turn out. I saw some aluminum racing wheels that looked great bead blasted.

 

[TourEnvy]

Clearing raw aluminum will turn them grey, Its really not that Impressive.

 

[BAD SVT]

Yep, thanks me too..I've got a mountain of parts (literally) to install:

LCA's, Koni yellows, H&R race, front sway bar end links, strut mounts all around, and the FSVT wheels (with some 235/45R17s)


Looking forward to a long weekend soon!!

235s? will they fit, considering u're lowering the car also?

 

[TRicker]

i have my car on eibach's and FSVT wheels. 225/45/17's are about half a centimeter from rubbing on the strut in the rear. the front has some room left, it seems. if you go with a lower profile tire, you can get another size wider on there. if i go wider, i'll just have to space my wheels out 1/4" or so.

 

[tigerpwr]

Tires i'm getting are free (only available in that size), so we'll see. I happen to have some 0.25" spacers laying around too. What kind of tires are you running TRicker?

 

[Tex]

Looks very nice. With 235's, I would worry more about rubbing on the fenders, so your spacers would only make the problem worse. You could always roll your fenders.

 

[WiredMotorSports]

I like the color. Did you think about powdercoating them? theres a place local to me that did some of my old rims for 100 otd. And my VC for 30

 

[tigerpwr]

Thanks for the compliment on the color, but i prefer not to powdercoat aluminum alloy wheels. I live in LA where the streets might as well be unpaved, also - im kinda on a budget with the car. Spent less than $200 on this project, and that's including the purchase price of the wheels!



Teaser pics (no full body shots until the suspension is installed):

they're 235/45R17 Goodyear Eagle LS2s - definitely not the best tire, but I couldn't beat the price! There's also about 0.2 mm of space between the rear sidewall and the rear strut :shocked:.

 

[Redlineracer12]

Yeah usually 235/40/17's are the biggest people go, and even those are close to rubbing.

 

[tigerpwr]

Man, that's pretty sweet! Looks like you did it right. Can't wait to see them mounted.

 

[blowns281]

looks very nice!

 

[kscontourkid]

that color is awesome! most people go a shade darker but honestly that looks just about perfect. i like the lighter.

 

[tigerpwr]

Thanks, I initially wanted them to be a bit lighter like this:

but the darker color seems to fit the car well. Stock silver would have been too bright.