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I'm planning on painting my rims this weekend black. Been looking around at what other's have done but have a few questions I'd like to ask you experts if any of you have suggestions or whatnot. I want to paint my rims flat black so I went out and picked up Duplicolor flat black wheel paint, some primer and Duplicolor clear coat. I know the clear coat is there to help preserve the paint longer and also give the paint a bit more glossier look. I found this DIY: http://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=606643 and it's kinda the way I want my rims done. Because he didn't finish off with clear coating it, was wondering if it would make much of a difference whether or not I apply the clear coat? Any suggestions/theories would be great! Thanks in advance!

 
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to answer in short, yes, you definitely need to apply the clearcoat.

a few reasons why...

clearcoat does a number of things such as protect your paint from scratches/chips. if you scratch or knick your clearcoat, its easy to buff of polish out, if you scratch or knick the paint, youre kind of screwed.

say you happen to apply more paint in one spot than another, and you just might no matter how hard you try not to, because youre working with black and its hard to tell how thick you have it in each spot. once the water, sun, rain, dirt, wind etc etc all start taking their toll, those lighter painted spots are the ones that will fade way way worse. thats why you see the patchy faded look on vehicles without a clearcoat on whatever has been painted.

also, if those are not enough reasons....clearcoat makes it look 100x better. it doesnt look like you have done it yourself unless you get real close up to it, and it will give an overall nicer look to the whole thing. havent you seen those cars that go past with one fender thats painted the same colour as the car, except it looks not only dull, but faded and just like ****? thats because clearcoat also helps protect from the elements...snow/water, etc. as well.

 
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I was watching my friend paint his rims with a glossy black paint then apply 3 layers of clearcoat, but figured that if I'm applying flat it wouldn't make much of a difference. Thanks for pointers unTuned! Will test it out this weekend =)

 
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I did my friends tc rims flat black and used clear and they seem more flat then glossy

 
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well youve got to remember that clear coat only enhances the glossy look. if your paint is dull, your paint is dull. clear coat isnt going to make it look really glossy if the paint under it is dull.

 
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i checked out the link. Good DIY,
I just have one question.
What kind of paint is not dull? Brand? i want black.
And how do u make it shiny?

 
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you buy gloss black paint. any brand will work, they just make different finish like low gloss, flat, hi gloss, etc. and clear coat either have a body shop spray it or get the alsacorp.com 'speed clear' in a can and use that. it has two part mix and you press a button on the back to activate it. its one time use (for couple hrs) and very expensive. and toxic so use it outdoors.