Custom Car Rim Paint

I had some mild to bad curb rash on my Audi A3. I had looked at getting new larger rims, but those were thousands of dollars, plus if I went for larger, I’d have to get new tires as well. That didn’t seem like a good way to spend money. I found some videos on YouTube that offered a solution. The DIY paint job. I think the total cost me about $150 in supplies, but it took a solid 48 hours of actual work and wait time.

While I was at it, I wanted to paint the brake calipers. Since the calipers need high heat paint, and since it’s never easy color matching different paints, I decided to do it all with high heat paint. I bought 4 cans of black, 3 cans of green, and 2 cans of primer. I also got a filling primer, but that ended up being a pain in the ass, so I don’t recommend it. You’ll also need a few cans of clear coat, an insane amount of blue painter’s tape, and some old newspaper. Depending on how deep the curb rash is, you might need some metal bondo. I wish it came in a smaller amount, because I barely touched it. I’m assuming you already have sandpaper. You’ll need to work your way up from 80 to 120 to 320, and then 2000 for the final wet sanding. I happened to have a drill sander bit, and that worked out amazingly.

The first step, obviously, is to remove the wheels. In my case, I could only take two off at a time. One of the wheels was difficult to remove. I found that some brake cleaner didn’t really help, but penetrating oil was magic.

Next, you want to clean all of the oil and grease off. A wire brush will help a lot. You don’t need special cleaning solution. Just a few drops of dish soap in a bucket, and you’re good to go.

Once everything is clean and dry, it’s time to fix blemishes. Start by sanding off the existing clear coat. You can also sand down mild curb rash. Be sure not to sand one area too much. Go back and forth along the surrounding area, as well. You want it to look even. For deeper cuts, you can use metal bondo as a filler. Follow the directions, but wear gloves, because this stuff gets every where. Wait for it to dry, then sand more.

Start with 80 grit to get any large burrs down. Them move your way up to 120 and then 320. Rinse and dry. I decided not to paint the inside of the wheels because it wasn’t visible enough, I was running out of time, and I was worried I wouldn’t have enough paint.

A few people online recommended using cards to mask off the tire. We found that they kept falling out, so we just used newspaper to mask it. That worked perfectly. Spray on a few layers of primer. I found that 3 coats was fine. As with any spray paint, follow the directions for waiting between coats. Then wet sand with the 2000 grit paper.

Since I wanted two colors, I needed to decide which to do first. I decided to do the green color first, then the black. So the first step is to paint everything green. Three layers was good.

The next step was an absolute pain in the ass, and I hated every second of it. The tape. Be careful, take your time. This step matters more than you’d really expect. Any mistake here will show on the final product like a giant neon sign.

 

 

 

Now paint three coats of the black. Once you’re done, you can remove the tape, which is a really satisfying feeling. Though it is kind of frustrating to spend hours putting the tape on, just to peel it off and throw it away.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We’re almost done. With the tape off, but the newspaper still on, apply a few layers of clear coat to protect it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The process is basically the same for the brake calipers. Clean it as best as you can. We found that using a trash bag cut in half, along the seem worked well to protect the rest of the car from over spray. Cut a small 2 inch hole in the middle, then stretch that round the caliper. Tape off any areas that aren’t covered by the plastic that you don’t want to be painted. If you get a little on the discs, it’s not a big deal because they’ll get worn off with usage.

Three layers of primer, three of green, and three of the clear coat. Be careful when you peel off the tape and plastic. As I removed them, some flakes of paint fell off the bag, onto the caliper and it was hard to remove.

 

As an extra touch, I painted the bolt covers as well as the center cap.