b__sosick Posted June 8, 2005 Share Posted June 8, 2005 I, being on an extremely limited budget, came up with the idea of just painting my current wheels. They are extremely dirty from brake dust (the former owner obviously never washed her) and i've already spent hours trying to clean them and make them look presentable. I'm close to saying fudge it and painting them black. these aren't the ones aren't mine, but the kind i have. (stole pic from cardomain) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auxilary Posted June 8, 2005 Share Posted June 8, 2005 Why not take them to a shop and have them bead blasted for like 60 bucks? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparks280zt Posted June 9, 2005 Share Posted June 9, 2005 i got my powdercoated gloss black, but kept the lip and polished the lip up, look pretty sweet in my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Here comes trouble Posted June 9, 2005 Share Posted June 9, 2005 If the outer lip cleaned up pretty good then paint the centers black if not paint em all..but rough them up withn fine sandpaper before painting... when the budget improves then you will have more choices...In my opinion those are about the best looking Nissan mags. here is an image of a rear drum brake you requested http://www.zparts.com/tutorials/brkdrum/brkdrum_remove.html http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/larryjohnson97438/album?.dir=/392a Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b__sosick Posted June 9, 2005 Author Share Posted June 9, 2005 thanks you guys! I didn't even think about keeping the lip how it is. I don't know why I love that style, and now i'll be sure to sand them down before painting them. Any suggestions on paint? also, thanks for the suggestion auxillary but the thing is I wanted black/gun metal wheels. I just don't want to pay up to 600 a wheel to do so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auxilary Posted June 9, 2005 Share Posted June 9, 2005 right, but you still need to clean your wheels prior to painting them. It's a lot faster to have them run through an industrial size blaster (make sure the abrasive is a soft one, check with the guy running the blaster. last thing you need are chips and nicks that leak air out!) than to clean it out manually. Then sand it, primer it, and paint them However, at that point, it's a better idea to powdercoat them black. Chances are teh same place may do both. Problem is you'll still wind up spending 300 bucks total if you powder coat them. Blasting them and rattlecanning seems a logical choice if you want sub 100 dollar clean black wheels Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bastaad525 Posted June 12, 2005 Share Posted June 12, 2005 When I still had my '81 ZX with the orignal wheels I painted them. They too just would not clean up, they were coated with brake dust, also they were peeling, a yellowish clear coat over them (was this supposed to be on there?) was peeling off and looked really horrible. I considered having them sand/bead blasted but figured it'd be a pain getting the tires removed, dropping them off for a few days (mind you at this time the ZX was my only car) then getting the tires remounted and balanced. So I just pulled them off, masked off the tires, and painted them silver... I forget what kind of paint I used, unfortunately, I think it was automotive paint. I also went over them with a clear coat. They looked great, like brand new. However, they were kind of hard to keep clean... though I guess no harder than they were before I painted them! Once brake dust built up on them getting it off was a pain. For a while I was seriously considering getting some of those dust shields that Motorsport Auto sells that keep brake dust from getting on the wheels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim240z Posted June 12, 2005 Share Posted June 12, 2005 A good coating of Pam, or some other non-stick cooking spray will keep brake dust from accumulating.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b__sosick Posted June 12, 2005 Author Share Posted June 12, 2005 thanks for the advice my wheels are just caked with brake dust. the previous owner didn't exactly baby mckenzie. btw that's her name. clever, huh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony240ZT Posted June 12, 2005 Share Posted June 12, 2005 Here is how I painted my wheels for my old `73 240Z Turbo. I polished the outer lip and the caps, then painted the spokes gun metal gray Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b__sosick Posted June 12, 2005 Author Share Posted June 12, 2005 oh man that's beautiful those look exactly like mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b__sosick Posted June 12, 2005 Author Share Posted June 12, 2005 btw, define "polish". you mean, scrub for hours and then apply a polishing substance? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Here comes trouble Posted June 14, 2005 Share Posted June 14, 2005 B... if you have an electric drill... go to Harbour Freight and get yourself a small buffing wheel and mandrell to fit the electric drill and some buffing compound.. if not get some automotive rubbing compound (where the car waxes are) and a cotton rag and do it the old fashioned way............ and the gun metal gray looks great on that wheel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b__sosick Posted June 14, 2005 Author Share Posted June 14, 2005 Fortunately, my dad is an electrician and has any tool I don't. And I'm sure he'll let me borrow his drill for such an important use . Thanks for the advice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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