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Painting wheels silver


Jelorian

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So I've decided that the only mod that I want to do on my 5th gen is the paint the wheels silver to match the frame.   I plan on taking the wheels off, cleaning them, wet sanding them, masking the tires and bearings and then use spray paint in a can that is specific for wheels.   I know that some of you guys have done this as I've seen pics and it is what inspired me to do the same.

 

I'm just wondering which paint you used and how close of a match was it to the frame?  There seems to be a lot of shades of silver out there in spray paint.

 

Thanks!

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I used Colorite base / clear in spray cans.  It's not up to a urethane paint's durability,  but I'm in my 4th year with it and it's held up with only a few rock  chips.  It's definitely better than home center paint and I thought it was better than any  Duplicolor paint I've used.  

 

edit - Just remembered that I used Eastwood's Argent Silver wheel paint to do the wheel covers on my Camry.  It's held up fine,  but it has a lot of orange peel.  That could have been operator error, not sure. 

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I do a lot of tire installs for myself and friends, not as a business but because where I live there are not really many options for installs, and if you are not on a HD you are not welcome anyway. So I paint my wheel weights to try and match the rim.

 

Just painted these last night for a buddies VFR, his rims are kinda steel/silverish. He spooned his own rubber on, we'll just balance in my garage. The color is called steel, Just a note,  the cap color is quite a bit darker then the actual color if its not obvious in the pic. Hopefully the second pic shows somewhat of the actual color.

 

I have painted my own rims with Rust-oleum's White and Black appliance epoxy with good results. They also offer a stainless steel option, which I have not tried, but may be a better match for all I know.

 

Hope this is of some help.

 

DSCF3442.JPG

DSCF3443.JPG

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1 hour ago, Cogswell said:

I used Colorite base / clear in spray cans.  It's not up to a urethane paint's durability,  but I'm in my 4th year with it and it's held up with only a few rock  chips.  It's definitely better than home center paint and I thought it was better than any  Duplicolor paint I've used.  

 

edit - Just remembered that I used Eastwood's Argent Silver wheel paint to do the wheel covers on my Camry.  It's held up fine,  but it has a lot of orange peel.  That could have been operator error, not sure. 

 

Thanks for the info.  I was debating powder coating but decided that painting would be more cost effective as well as easier to touch up.

1 hour ago, FromMaine said:

I do a lot of tire installs for myself and friends, not as a business but because where I live there are not really many options for installs, and if you are not on a HD you are not welcome anyway. So I paint my wheel weights to try and match the rim.

 

Just painted these last night for a buddies VFR, his rims are kinda steel/silverish. He spooned his own rubber on, we'll just balance in my garage. The color is called steel, Just a note,  the cap color is quite a bit darker then the actual color if its not obvious in the pic. Hopefully the second pic shows somewhat of the actual color.

 

I have painted my own rims with Rust-oleum's White and Black appliance epoxy with good results. They also offer a stainless steel option, which I have not tried, but may be a better match for all I know.

 

Hope this is of some help.

 

DSCF3442.JPG

DSCF3443.JPG

Thanks for the pics and info.

 

I guess the best way would be to buy a few cans and see which one comes out closest to the frame color.  Now that I have your pics as a reference I can decide on a few more other "colors" to try.

 

I was thinking paint + clear to protect the paint but then I did not want the wheels to be glossy.  Maybe there are matte clear coats?

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I have used Rustoleum to paint my clutch cover and the exhaust cover behind it... Antique Bronze Metallic... very dark grey.  However, I want to do my wheels in some other (lighter bronze-ish maybe).... not sure if I would clearcoat, but my covers turned out well.  I found the paint to take a very long time to "harden" on some other parts.... so I put my parts in a 200-ish F. oven for an hour or so.  Works well to harden the paint, which will further harden with age.  Hope I can get the wheels in there......... other thing I'd recommend is lighter coats, two should do it, but this paint doesn't like to be put on thick.  First coat just get everything covered lightly...

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So I casually mentioned I was thinking of painting my wheels to my buddy who is helping me get my 01 and 02 up to snuff.  He asked if I was going to take the tires off first and I said, maybe not and just mask the tires.  He said that the first time they try to put the tires back on, the edges of the paint will start to get destroyed.  Made sense to me since the edge of the paint would be sort of exposed there and the tools to mount tires are rough on wheels.  So now I am thinking that powder coating might be the way to go if I'm taking off the tires off anyways.

 

How have your spray jobs held up to tire mounting?

 

 

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4 hours ago, Jelorian said:

So I casually mentioned I was thinking of painting my wheels to my buddy who is helping me get my 01 and 02 up to snuff.  He asked if I was going to take the tires off first and I said, maybe not and just mask the tires.  He said that the first time they try to put the tires back on, the edges of the paint will start to get destroyed.  Made sense to me since the edge of the paint would be sort of exposed there and the tools to mount tires are rough on wheels.  So now I am thinking that powder coating might be the way to go if I'm taking off the tires off anyways.

 

How have your spray jobs held up to tire mounting?

 

 

That depends to an extent on what tools are used to mount the tires and how much care is taken.  I do my own so can control that - I have levers with Delrin pads on them and with some tire mount lube have left the painted lip of the rim in good shape.  That is with the Colorite paint.   I've done 4 sets of tires since the re-paint and I've been happy with it.  The typical bike shop may not be as careful, so as always YMMV. 

 

If you go the P.C. route, consider you'll need to have the wheels stripped and replace the bearings on the front (maybe not bad maintenance, anyway), so there is an extra cost involved beyond just the coating.  Also, if you end up not being quite happy with the shade, it's far more difficult to change than with a re-spray.   

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I spray my own wheels, sometimes before mounting tires and sometimes after.  If you release the air pressure prior to masking the tire, it will back off of the rim and you can slide the tape down towards the bead.  This also allows the paint to feather out down into that area and not create a ridge of paint that is susceptible to damage.  The nice thing about spraying after is you get the life of the tires for the paint to cure before putting tools on them.  But I also mount my own tires because I prefer not to pay people to damage my wheels.  Sometimes I will paint the first coat (especially the lips) without tires, then mount and mask and do the final coats.  That comes out real nice.

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Thanks for your advice and suggestions.  I

18 hours ago, Cogswell said:

That depends to an extent on what tools are used to mount the tires and how much care is taken.  I do my own so can control that - I have levers with Delrin pads on them and with some tire mount lube have left the painted lip of the rim in good shape.  That is with the Colorite paint.   I've done 4 sets of tires since the re-paint and I've been happy with it.  The typical bike shop may not be as careful, so as always YMMV. 

 

If you go the P.C. route, consider you'll need to have the wheels stripped and replace the bearings on the front (maybe not bad maintenance, anyway), so there is an extra cost involved beyond just the coating.  Also, if you end up not being quite happy with the shade, it's far more difficult to change than with a re-spray.   

Thanks for your advice.  I don't have the means to do my own tires myself and at this point I don't ride enough to justify getting the equipment to do them myself.  

 

With the powder coating, yeah I definitely have to consider the costs of media blasting them to get to bare metal as well as replacement bearings.  

5 hours ago, Captain 80s said:

I spray my own wheels, sometimes before mounting tires and sometimes after.  If you release the air pressure prior to masking the tire, it will back off of the rim and you can slide the tape down towards the bead.  This also allows the paint to feather out down into that area and not create a ridge of paint that is susceptible to damage.  The nice thing about spraying after is you get the life of the tires for the paint to cure before putting tools on them.  But I also mount my own tires because I prefer not to pay people to damage my wheels.  Sometimes I will paint the first coat (especially the lips) without tires, then mount and mask and do the final coats.  That comes out real nice.

Never thought of releasing some of the tire pressure to gain some space for the tape.  Nice tip.  I'll post back here if and when I decide to do it.  I just want to ride now.  Hahah.

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One other suggestion - if you do go the paint route and tape around the wheel to protect the tire, remove the valve stem (easy-peasy), and the have a buddy lean their upper body weight on the section of tire your working on - that will allow you to get something well behind the lip of the wheel to prevent overspray on the tire.  Taking the stem out makes it easier as the air can escape as the tire is compressed.  It won't move much, as the bead won't be broken from the rim, but it's just enough.   When the tire is released it will come back up enough to hold whatever you have in place.   Also, if you're a Costco member, back in the paper products section they use very thin sheets of card stock to separate layers of product - the toilet paper pallets are one prime source - it comes in 36" by 45" sheets and is perfect for that kind of project.  It's heavy enough to prevent leakage, but still very thin and will easily fit in between the tire edge and lip of the rim.  You can cut it with a pair of heavy scissors to match the radius of the wheel.   Costco gives it away - if I need some, when I go in I grab 2 or 3 sheets and put it in my cart.  They've never said a word about it.   It's also perfect for making templates, for putting under my Camry which leaves a few drips here and there and for shooting targets.  If you aren't a Costco member, maybe a buddy or family member can take you. 

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On 7/8/2020 at 2:51 AM, Jelorian said:

So I've decided that the only mod that I want to do on my 5th gen is the paint the wheels silver to match the frame.   I plan on taking the wheels off, cleaning them, wet sanding them, masking the tires and bearings and then use spray paint in a can that is specific for wheels.   I know that some of you guys have done this as I've seen pics and it is what inspired me to do the same.

 

I'm just wondering which paint you used and how close of a match was it to the frame?  There seems to be a lot of shades of silver out there in spray paint.

 

Thanks!


Get them powder coated. They're still cheap and you'll never need to touch them up. Besides you need that durability for wheels. Also, if you have a red bike, get gold wheels ;) 

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If you paint your wheels silver they will always look dirty, unless you wash your bike after every ride. Most bikes come with black or dark colored wheels for a reason. Light colored wheels require constant cleaning to look good, unless you don't care about them looking dirty.

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A while back one of the members posted results of using Dupli-color Hyper silver wheel kit. I think he used it to refurbish his footpegs and brackets. Sorry, I can't find his thread. In any case, he reported great results. It should be within your budget. The kit only cost something like 20 bucks. I have no experience with it...and yeah, it's silver (re samaki above) but fyi here's the dupli-color link: https://www.duplicolor.com/product/hyper-silver-coating/ Good luck.

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On 7/10/2020 at 2:29 PM, Jelorian said:

Thanks for your advice and suggestions.  I

Thanks for your advice.  I don't have the means to do my own tires myself and at this point I don't ride enough to justify getting the equipment to do them myself.  

 

With the powder coating, yeah I definitely have to consider the costs of media blasting them to get to bare metal as well as replacement bearings.  

Never thought of releasing some of the tire pressure to gain some space for the tape.  Nice tip.  I'll post back here if and when I decide to do it.  I just want to ride now.  Hahah.

I am surprised at the number of people who choose paint over powder coating.  With paint, you do have more varieties of colour. With powder coating there is a  more limited colour selection but I think they have enough of a selection to meet your needs.  I don't think your frame is painted, rather powder coated. 

 

I have powder coated mine once on the rear and twice on the front. The powder coater people should media blast before they apply their product even if you bring it is already sanded. I would think even finger prints may adversely affect the finish, powder or paint. The only reason I powdered my front for a second time is that I think the guy who did it the first time, powdered over a spot that should have been left alone, and that resulted in me forcing my rotors back on over a layer of powder and resulted in warped rotors. 

 

I think the powder coating is by far your best cover for your wheels. I know it is more expensive but not so much that it should be performed. I don't see the need to replace the bearings but they do need to be removed.  Having said that, for the cost of the bearings, and the neglect on replacement we generally give the give them, I would and have replaced them at this time anyway.

 

You have to decide based on your financial situation at the time. BTW.  That front wheel had 6 to 8 years on them and about 80,000 km (50.000 miles) and there were only a couple very small nicks in them. White wheels show the nicks very easily.

 

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Reasons that I don't powder coat:

 

- I have too many bikes that I want to change.  It's far too much money for me, I want to spend what I have on parts, not powder.

- Bad mask jobs.  Seen it many times.  I know there are shops that can do it right, but many are lazy on their mask jobs or can't even follow specific instructions. 

- With good preparation and the right products, a paint job can look great, be very durable and easily touched up if something happens. 

- I can do everything right at home, in my shop.  If I fuck up, it's on me.  I hate paying somebody to fuck up my shit, I'm pretty OK at it.

 

 

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 Powder coating isn't cheap but I trust it to last. Make sure they leave the old bearing in or mask the bearing housings and the brake disk mount surfaces. New bearings for the front wheel is maybe $30. Matte Black is the best color for rims in my opinion. Matches brake dust.

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16 minutes ago, VFR Capt.Bob said:

 Powder coating isn't cheap but I trust it to last. Make sure they leave the old bearing in or mask the bearing housings and the brake disk mount surfaces. New bearings for the front wheel is maybe $30. Matte Black is the best color for rims in my opinion. Matches brake dust.

I caution against using a bearing for masking.  I've seen the powder coat chip off in big chunks where you don't want it to when driving it out if everything else was not masked properly.

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Duplicolor High Performance Wheel Coating Silver HWP101.  Its been on there 6 years, still looks fine and you can wash and scrub them if need be. I painted the mirrors as well. Very close to the same color as fork and I think it is close to the same as frame. The frame on my 2000 is extruded alum and they just clear coat it. 

I originally tried the silver body paint I used (House of Kolor)  and it flaked off. 😞 The Duplicolor wheel coating was easy, just clean them well, then deflate the tire, I use the cardboard from a 12 pack of Coke and cut it into some 12" long arcs and slipped it between the deflated tire and rim as a mask.  If you don't rotate the tire while deflated, you don't have to rebalance.  I have only tested this theory to 110 mph though. 

front_wheel_and_mirror_silver.jpeg

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