heffe2001
Active Member
I have a set of OEM bullitt wheels that have seen better days. They all have curb rash, and a few blemishes here and there on the spokes (a few spots have chunks out of the clear coat). I started repairing one of them a few weeks ago, and ended up having to remove the clear coat from the machined lip. I was able to repair that rim well enough to where you can't tell it had rash on it unless you get within a foot of the rim. I took some mothers and polished up the non-cleared machined part, and it looks much better than the ones that still have the clear.
My question is, if I wanted to repaint the spokes, should I strip off the paint that's there, or just sand and paint the centers? A few of the bad spots on the spokes are pretty large, and I'm not sure if I could sand that out and you not be able to tell it (really should be filled, it's not down to the metal, but the clear is completely gone there, you can easily feel the edge of the gouge). Stripping's no problem, just not sure if I'd be better off doing it or not. I'm also looking at going a shade or 2 darker (duplicolor graphite wheel paint).
These will never be show-quality wheels (my car will never be a show-quality car either, lol), but if I can get them looking good enough, it'll save me some bucks replacing them..
Also, if I do end up repainting them, I'm going to clear the spokes, but not sure if I should clear the machined rim or not. I'll have to keep polish on them if I don't, but they look so much better without clear...
This is the one I have done already. It's still wet from being rinsed off, but even if you saw it in person, you'd be hard-pressed to see the repairs on the lip. I'm also going to clean the insides and plastidip them black, and not going to have the knock-on weights used at all (plasti-dip AFTER wheel mount and balance, weights and all, lol). I'm also having to repair damage from the knockon weights. I've only got about 125 (one good tire amongst the 4, it's the one pictured below, probably has 50 miles on it) in the set of wheels, and I'd probably have about 50-60 in paint/stripper..
My question is, if I wanted to repaint the spokes, should I strip off the paint that's there, or just sand and paint the centers? A few of the bad spots on the spokes are pretty large, and I'm not sure if I could sand that out and you not be able to tell it (really should be filled, it's not down to the metal, but the clear is completely gone there, you can easily feel the edge of the gouge). Stripping's no problem, just not sure if I'd be better off doing it or not. I'm also looking at going a shade or 2 darker (duplicolor graphite wheel paint).
These will never be show-quality wheels (my car will never be a show-quality car either, lol), but if I can get them looking good enough, it'll save me some bucks replacing them..
Also, if I do end up repainting them, I'm going to clear the spokes, but not sure if I should clear the machined rim or not. I'll have to keep polish on them if I don't, but they look so much better without clear...
This is the one I have done already. It's still wet from being rinsed off, but even if you saw it in person, you'd be hard-pressed to see the repairs on the lip. I'm also going to clean the insides and plastidip them black, and not going to have the knock-on weights used at all (plasti-dip AFTER wheel mount and balance, weights and all, lol). I'm also having to repair damage from the knockon weights. I've only got about 125 (one good tire amongst the 4, it's the one pictured below, probably has 50 miles on it) in the set of wheels, and I'd probably have about 50-60 in paint/stripper..
