I have a set of Momo wheels on my 308. They are silver with a red center cover and the yellow Ferrari horse cap in the center of the center covers. I don't like the center covers being red and would like to try and paint them silver to match the wheels. Is this something I could do myself with reasonably good results? Are there quality paints available in a spray can that won't wear off in a couple of weeks? I do not own a paint sprayer. The center covers I'll be painting are about 5 to 6 inches in diameter. Thanks
Have you looked into powdercoating? There is a guy in san antonio who does it. Even the clear powdercoat comes out smooth as glass...Last you a little better and stand up a little more against scratching...
It should not be too hard of a job to get good results spray painting center covers. You can find many variations of light silver metallic paint, and even a few shades by Dupli-color in a polyurethane made specifically for wheels. I painted my entire Simmons Wheel with the Graphite shade, and then went over it in a clear coat (out of a can). You will not ever get a perfect match with aerosol can paint, but you may be surprised at how good it could turn out. If your centers are not too large and not co-planner with the surrounding wheel were they mount, a small miss match will be difficult to see, and will not be as irritating as the red. Buy a couple of colors, paint something (like the spray can cap) - and hold it up to the wheel. What are the centers made of? Plastic cannot be powder coated, as the part must be baked to melt and flow the powder, and if you cannot remove the cavallino emblems, that would be a problem too. A few pointers on painting: Clean, clean, clean the parts. Use Simple Green or Purple Stuff cleaner with water, or some other mild degreaser. You will not ever get a good job with out very clean parts. Be sure to rinse off the cleaner well also. If the centers have large areas that are very glossy you may need to hit it with some #600 grit paper to give the paint something to bite into. Dont go crazy, just dull the surface and dont use anything courser than #400 grit. Use the 3M blue tape (home depot) to mask the emblems if you cannot remove them. Lay parallel strips of tape over the badge, lightly burnish it, then take an x-acto knife and carefully cut around the edge that the label is mounted in or if on top of a surface the edge of the badge. This is not as hard as it sounds, and will give you a much better paint edge than trying to put the tape down in a circle. If the wheel is glossy, Id use the clear Dupli-Color wheel coating over the silver. If not the sheen coming out of the can may be a better match. Here are my Simmons wheels in Graphite Gray (used to be white- ugg) Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Hey - just found this when I was looking to see what colors they have... it is a video instructions for their products and they show painting a whole wheel. Good advice too - re: lots of thin coats with spray paint vs one heavy one..check it out: http://www.duplicolor.com/training/wheelcoating_training.html
One more question - Seems to me I might get a longer lasting finish with a clear coat of polyuethane, but I am I safe to put that over an enamal spray paint? I've painted the covers using duplicolor silver spray paint. I tried the paint made specifically for wheels, but the color didn't match up well. I then tried Dupli Color silver, and the match is pretty good. I think I'll give them a week or so for the paint to get good and hard, and then try to clear coat it. I have the Dupli-color clear coat for wheels, but I'd rather use a clear polyurethane as long as it's compatible with the enamal paint. Desinr - where did you get the Dupli-color polyurethane in clear ?
Do paint shops do powdercoating? Where do I look to find someone who does it? Also, can this be done to match a specific color?
Your average paint shop does NOT do powder coating it is more of a specific job. Yes you can get custom colors for powder coating. I used to dabble in it a bit years ago--back then it was so expensive. Now the pirces have really dropped---do a search on google and I am sure it will bring up a ton of places or try this----- http://www.customcoaters.com/
Contact RIMPRO. www.rimpro.com They appear to be nationwide, but I think all the work is done at a central location. They just re-trued and re-finished my 308 wheels. I asked for a little darker color, but they insisted they had Ferrari silver and that would be best. They did a beuatiful job except for one thing. They did not de-burr the wheels very well after machining and now that they're powder coated I don't want to touch them, so if yo use them you may want to mention something.
The DC clear is sold with the other wheel paints - any bling-equiped parts store. You can test the compatibility of the poly on a painted test scrap. If this matches I'd run it. What is the center cover made of? If it is metal you can powder coat - but you will need to check the color samples on that as well - they only come in so many colors. If the part is plastic -you can not powder coat. Hey post a pic of it when you are done...
