Objective

I would like to clean up my rims to make them look nicer. I am planning on painting the rims white and adding some baby moon hubcaps like in the following photo.

Rims/HubCaps

Painting Rims

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-TNsO33eqQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJLTJSjAqFk

Process

• Remove tires from vehicle
• Clean with soap and water
• Use Isopropyl alcohol to remove any grease buildup
• Sanding with sanding wheel and wire brushes
• Blow off dirt
• Clean withIsopropyl alcohol
• Add cards (from a deck of playing cards) wound the edge of the rim
• Tape off valve stem if not already removed.
• Paint with self etching primer. Required when painting bare metal. Two coats 5 minutes apart. Wait 20 minutes before proceeding.
• Paint with primer
• Paint with acrylic paint
• Paint with clear coat (required?)

Supplies

My Process

Sanding Rims

Since my tires are going to be replaced, I removed the valve stem and any weights in order to sand the entire surface of the rim.

I sanded down the rims using a 3M Paint & Rust Stripper sanding wheel followed by various wire brushes. 

Priming

So, initially I tried a primer with filler. This did not work well. Should have used a self etching primer. So, I stripped the paint and started over. 

First with grey self etching primer followed by white primer.

Paint

Finished Result

Some slight chipping of the paint occurred when changing the tires. Need to touch up.

References