elitecivicex01

iTrader: (2)

well. after a lot of work, i finally got the just shy of 60 pics up. here's a lil write up on the experience since this will be posted on various forums (one of which requested a bit of a summary of the project):

materials used in project 10am to 8pm non-stop work *gAsp*:
2 cans of DupliColor Wheel-Paint Gunmetal Grey Metallic spray paint
2 cans of DupliColor Wheel-Paint Clearcoat
1 wooden paint brush end to pop out centercaps (cuz the project came out soooo sexy with silver lugs, silver valve stem caps, and unpainted silver centercaps!!!)
@ least 16 "discs" of 400-grit (i think thats right) sandpaper
painter's tape (the blue stuff found lying around the house)
stapler (for later when the tape decided to suck)
blood, sweat, & tears
digicam to document the "fun"
a REALLY close friend that lent me his fantastic painting skills & his time & dedication (THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH GARCIA!!!!!!)




pretty sweet weather we had Feb. 15th, so me and my friend Garcia decided to finally fulfill my gunmetal fantasies and paint my rims. as you can see from the pics, this was no walk-in-the-park 1/2 *** paintjob. we used the high quality stuff and the back-breaking labor involved in the prepping of the rims for paint.

started out the day @ 10:00am. jacked up the driver's side, took off the dirrrrrty stockers and Dawned the hell outta them cutting the grease and everything to a NICE and CLEAN finish. washed 2 driver's side rims inside and out...including the backside which prolly stained my driveway they were soooooo dirty!!! OMG!

after the rims were all clean and dry 100%, the prep work began. both Garcia and i grabbed a rim and a stack of 400 grit sandpaper (thats what it said on the back but i swear it was a "finer" grit...idk *shrug*.......so the stack (usually b/t 4-6 sandpaper discs per rim) was handed out and off we went. started on the surface and lightly applied pressure to scuff the rim inside and out (that said, being the surface, the curves, the crevices, the whole 9 yards basically!!!...we don't play around!) so the paint would have something to adhere to. another thing we had to contest with i later found out from Garcia was the protective coating the factory placed on the rims to protect them from the elements, brake dust, etc... that had to go. once the rims were smooth as a baby's bottom and the coating FULLY removed, we transported the rims to the top of the driveway and thought of something to construct to safely paint without removing the rim. duh.

ended up with the brilliant idea (thanks to Patrick *GreyFox* on OF for the idea previously homie!!!) to use index cards longways to allow for maximum protection and manuverability as you can see pictured. worked out great. used painter's tape (blue stuff in the pics) to cover the valve stem and to keep the index cards together (later used staples cuz apparently when paint got all over the cards, the tape ceased to work properly so staples were opted for this time around). constructed a pretty nice circular pattern with the index cards as a shield for the rims/tires and a nice spatter shield for OUTSIDE of the rim/tire period. worked perfectly minus the occasional wind gusts.

once the first rim was done, the first word that came to mind would have to have been DARK! OMfG was it dark!!!!! but for some reason i decided the hell with it cuz that metallic flake in the paint was just ungodly sexy and i was happy with it overall. after the rims were painted, we cleared the HELL outta the rim. like 1/2 a can per rim. multiple coats, couldnt really tell you how many exactly. but those things are GLOSSY & protected to say the very least!!! *YAYYY!*

okay, so 2 down, 2 to go. took some random snaps of our "work area" in front of my garage with our "windbreaker" TV box and the blanket for bigger gusts for posterity sake and even one or two of Garcia's magic paint skills in person.

after the 2 rims were put back on the car, the jacked lowered and sent to the passenger side, Garcia had to leave for a bit to run some errands. i was left with the task of washing the passenger rims to perfection, sanding them both down and fully prepping them for Garcia's return a couple hours later. in the meantime, Scott decided to stop by to kill some time before school. he had just washed and waxed the Jeep and it looked some kinda sexy in black.

once Garcia returned, we were DEFINITELY losing light....but the rims were all prepped and ready for paint. it was getting a lil cool outside, so the paint application method was starting to get worse as was the required drying time...so that sucked, but we made do with our time and resources. after a QUICK trip to Discount down the street in Mom's 3G, Garcia had to go again...this time for the night...to a Magic Game. the 2 passenger rims were completed with paint but needed clear-coat still yet. i was left with that scary task...so needless to say the 1st rim was a test/trial, the 2nd rim was just shy of PERFECTION (for spray paint, thats an accomplishment!!!), and #3 and 4 were ummm no comment. i had to clear coat the last 2 rims in the dark, in my garage with artificial lighting and like 10 minute drying spells which was soooooo boring. i tidied up the place a bit b/t coats and eventually was set. put the other 2 rims on and lowered the jack. took a look (at what i could see @ the moment) & snapped a couple quick pics b4 the battery on the camera didnt like me anymore.

went inside, took a shower, and went to the local meet(s) to see the reaction. every1 loved it. i was surprised. matter of fact, today @ work i was taking a few more pics (as you can see with Frankie's Evo also pictured :wink: @ the bottom) and i noticed that somehow my rims came out a cross b/t gunmetal and bronze...it looks 100% custom crazy cool IMO! i was pretty pleased with the turnout. i just CANNOT wait until i can wash my car and wax it and clean the rims. gonna be a sexy a$$ photoshoot in the near future i promise!!! :smile:

welp, thats my story, and here are the pics to go along with the story. for the haters:

Cliff Notes cuz OF.com hates me & my detailed threads
=========================================
painted my rims
took pics
documented the experience
went to the car meets
went to work
took more pics
came home
posted pics & this thread
the end.
:fawkdance
































check out the siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiick positive offset on my lip. :bowrofl: jk






























































































































































no, the rim isn't flat...its just under pressure from the OTHER side being jacked up. :smile:

RHCP0801

iTrader: (3)

it looks alright i guess

diskreet

iTrader: (1)

looks great, but damn thats alot of pics haha. good job

you might want to paint the center caps completly. that would looks awesome then

AzNmiKex215

iTrader: (2)

i really dont think its a good idea to have your car jacked and held in the center like that. You really should have the jackstands on each end under the designated jack points.

not bad though, atleast its not painted hubcabs. (ive seen a lot of that around here lately.)

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

wow looks great.

elitecivicex01

iTrader: (2)

been there. done that *digs up nostalgic old pic*

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

yuck lol. the rims are much better. maybe paint the center cap the same color and then paint the H red?

rutscivic

iTrader: (1)

shoulda painted those calipers while you where at it

elitecivicex01

iTrader: (2)

yeah seems to be hit or miss on the centercaps. owell. i love them as is and really sets off the colors given the lugs and the valve stem caps. i was maybe thinking going with red lug nuts and then doing the paint thing for the center caps..but its plastic first of all and secondly i doubt i could color match it & make it look non-rice attempted to get a red "offical" H on there. idk.

i like it as is but thanks for the constructive criticism and suggestion. appreciated.




you know...i was really thinking about that too. but i have an Si rear-disc conversion yet to be installed so i think ill hold off. im DEFINITELY NOT painting them red though. that is ungodly rice and clashy for my setup (no offense to others on my opinion)...but i was thinking a lighter gunmetal or a silver. idk. we'll see in the future once i get that rear-disc conversion going.

es2k2

iTrader: (5)

looks really good..

MrXclusivE

iTrader: (8)

^^^ ur avatar rocks dude, photochop??

ragingSPAM

iTrader: (8)

u have dry spots on ur rims...do u know how to paint properly?...heh...oh well not bad for ahome projector tho

Willabee

not bad for a home-doneup paint on your rims. the glossy finish is dope

lxcivic2k1

I personally like the white center with the dark H....but I guess thats just me.

Nice job btw.

Victorious

iTrader: (5)

i think it looks great
thx so much for the DIY and pics

8thgencivic

Nice rubbers you got on those stock rims *droolz @ falkens*

Supa_Fli

i never really cared for the dark rims but the glossey look is really nice
it looks really good man nice move

a4turboss

man thats looks nice wish i could do that to my stock rims

Devani

iTrader: (2)

i like your 50 inch TV

tfnaaf

iTrader: (2)

WTF is up with the jack stand NEXT to the car!

shroomster

I dunno. I guess I've always associated gunmetal/bronze rims with being dirty. as in unwashed silver rims. good job anyways.

cubanmike26

iTrader: (9)

I always thought that to do this job the tires had to be removed, nm that now. Very nice man! Looks way better than the stock color.

DDragon7

Damn that looks nice, I assumed you did the other side of the rim as well, since I dont see any pics of it.

familycar

iTrader: (4)

not too bad the paint looks a little patchy and uneven. but not bad for a driveway job

04|5spdCivic

i'm gonna go with the evo...




...nice paint job...loser...lol jk man. turned out really nice but i woulda done them a diff color.

when i painted my wheels then had to have them powder coated the spray paint was extremely unbeliveably hard to get off and made a really big mess so dont ever try getting the spray paint off of there yourself.

cubanmike26

iTrader: (9)

I think the best way to get stuff off anything is using a sandblast machine. That thing will take everything off the wheel, even the wheel itself if you are not careful..but it could get expensive.

elitecivicex01

iTrader: (2)

fyi, the rims are DIRTY in the pics. dust and brake dust likely. i JUST washed the car but it's PITCH BLACK DARKNESS outside @ the moment so pics would be utterly useless now. those "dry" spots some1 mentioned are from ME putting my FINGER on the rim to see how it felt and how dirty they got on the ride to work my first day of having them on.

thread coming within the next week to show the cleanliness of the job. and yes, all 4 rims were done. lol.

04|5spdCivic

if you sand blast alluminum/alloy wheels they will get pitted, get little tiny holes all over them. you have to glass bead them and thats what the shop did to get the paint off my wheels. it took them 6 continuous hours to get them ready to powder coat.

elitecivicex01

iTrader: (2)

My Rallye Red Civic EX coupe next to a stocker EX coupe. SMALL WORLD MUCH!? no flash...a lil blurry.



My Rallye Red Civic EX coupe next to a stocker EX coupe. SMALL WORLD MUCH!? with flash...a lil dark.



outside of Don Pablo's for dinner to show my friend Des the *bLiNg*



my friend Geoff's GF Desiree @ dinner tonite. Don Pablo's. me, Des, Geoff, and Scott (late arrival). Des is sad cuz her Arctic Blue Pearl RSX type-S rims are not painted. but soon my friends. sooooooooooon.

hahahaha, totally kidding, but i TOTALLY snapped this shot without a hint of
notice & i thought it was FUNNNNNNNNNNNY!!!! she will likely get me back
by quoting something funny i said about a "Beeper" joke @ dinner.
LMFAOROFLOL!!!!!! <3 y'all!!!



down low. sitting pretty.



shot of the paint & front end. front shot all CLEAN.



Driver's side front rim.



Driver's side rear rim.



Passenger side front rim.



Passenger side rear rim.












2 LAAAAAAAAAARGE pics to show the metallic nature of the paint and clearcoat combo. nice & clean & gotta love the excessive usage of TIRE WAXXXXXX :biggrin: . :smile:

rjngo

iTrader: (3)

sorry but i don't like it...looks cheap!