Painted My Chrome Clad Limited Wheels

I started with these. They have been sitting around for a while, so they looked pretty rough.


Taped up...


Sanded...


Color coat...


Cleared...


Before and after...


Finished...




Products used...


One the Jeep...









How they looked stock...

Wow. They look like a totally different wheel. Awesome.

Dave

I like!

Wow, that looks great. Those would look great on a Khaki Jeep.

That look is sweet man. Nice work. icon996.gif

Way nice,great looking wheels.

I just added a shot of what they looked like on the Jeep before.

Dave said:

Wow. They look like a totally different wheel. Awesome.

Dave

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Yeah, when I finished them, I thought to myself, "Man, this should have been a wheel option from Jeep instead of the chrome garbage."

bmrrwolfe said:

I like!

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Thanks!

HoosierJeeper said:

Wow, that looks great. Those would look great on a Khaki Jeep.

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Thanks! Although, I think they already look pretty good on the best color around...

ptsb5a said:

That look is sweet man. Nice work. icon996.gif

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ridenby said:

Way nice,great looking wheels.

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Thanks guys. I was very happy when I went to pick it up.

Nice job. Looks 100 x's better IMO.

Those look awesome!

Wow, that looks frickin awesome!

They sure look good. Let us know how they hold up.

What's next? Painting the chrome door trims?
Did you use a rotary tool to sand the wheels, there are some small areas that it would be pain to get with sandpaper.

04 Silver Renegade said:

Nice job. Looks 100 x's better IMO.

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staindvans said:

Those look awesome!

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ThunderbirdJunkie said:

Wow, that looks frickin awesome!

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Thanks guys!

jnaut said:

They sure look good. Let us know how they hold up.

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Thanks. I'll definitely be keeping an eye on them and will try to remember to post up a status in a few months. I'm anxious to see how they hold up through an off-road trip and winter. The Dupli-Color wheel paint is thicker than regular paint. It was actually a little hard to spray with it being so thick and the weird angle of painting a wheel. And I do detail/paint & body work on the side.lol It seems like it will hold up better than a regular spray. It isn't factory powdercoat hard, but I believe it will hold it's own.

I used the silver & clear Dupli-Color wheel paint to do my rear diff cover. Exact same process. It took a little beating on my last trip and it held up well. It scratched like any good paint would in that situation, but it didn't flake around it or go down to the metal.

hyedipin said:

What's next? Painting the chrome door trims?
Did you use a rotary tool to sand the wheels, there are some small areas that it would be pain to get with sandpaper.

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Weirdly enough, I kinda like the chrome door trim and the grille. I generally hate chrome anything on most vehicles. Maybe because it has been overplayed and splashed around too much on vehicles. But for some reason, I like the looks of the grille and door guards on my silver KJ. If it were any other color, I might be more inclined to go wheel color or body color on them. But since I have silver, I like them the way they are. In fact, I left the center caps and the outer wheel rings on the wheels alone so they would "flow" with the grille and door trim.

I've gotten rid of all the chrome on all of my other vehicles.lol The wheels and all were just too much for me. I've knocked it down to an acceptable level for myself.

I sanded them all by hand. If it were real plated chrome, I would have used a wheel. But since they are plastic chrome, I wanted to do it by hand. Those sanding wheels can get out of hand and groove an area of plastic. I wanted to keep it nice and smooth, so I did it by hand. It scuffed up pretty easily.

They look great.
I just used the same product on my spare to try it out. Problem was I got a lot of flaking, dont know why. (I cleaned, sanded and followed directions) Also, when I put on the clear, it left a white residue. I had to sand it down, AGAIN, and repaint the black. still flaked a bit...What would cause this?

family KJ said:

They look great.
I just used the same product on my spare to try it out. Problem was I got a lot of flaking, dont know why. (I cleaned, sanded and followed directions) Also, when I put on the clear, it left a white residue. I had to sand it down, AGAIN, and repaint the black. still flaked a bit...What would cause this?

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Thanks.

What did you clean them with?
What grit did you sand them with?
Did you use a primer?
How many color coats did you put on?
How many clear coats did you put on?
What was the temp and humidity when you sprayed them?

I cleaned them with isopropyl alcohol.
I sanded them with 120 grit and then 320 grit.
I cleaned them again with isopropyl alcohol.
I sprayed two light coats of Bulldog Adhesion Promoter, 5 minutes apart.
5 minutes later, I sprayed one light coat of color.
10 minutes later, I sprayed one medium coat of color.
10 minutes later, I sprayed one medium coat of clear.
10 minutes later, I sprayed another medium coat of clear.
10 minutes later, I sprayed a good wet coat of clear.
Let them bake in the sun.

Prep is key. Cleaning them with an agent that doesn't leave anything behind is a must. Also, using 320 and nothing higher is also key. There needs to be enough scratches and deep enough for the primer to adhere/etch into.

Also, making sure you remove all of you sanding dust is important.

If you didn't use a primer, then that is a huge problem. Color and clear coats don't always adhere well to what you are painting. It will usually flake off if you don't use a primer.

If it is a low humidity and hot area, the coats will dry to quickly and not adhere to each other and you can get flaking. Spray can paint doesn't do well in cold or hot temps.

I hope some of those suggestions can help you figure out your problem.

67Customs said:

Thanks.

What did you clean them with?
What grit did you sand them with?
Did you use a primer?
How many color coats did you put on?
How many clear coats did you put on?
What was the temp and humidity when you sprayed them?

I cleaned them with isopropyl alcohol.
I sanded them with 120 grit and then 320 grit.
I cleaned them again with isopropyl alcohol.
I sprayed two light coats of Bulldog Adhesion Promoter, 5 minutes apart.
5 minutes later, I sprayed one light coat of color.
10 minutes later, I sprayed one medium coat of color.
10 minutes later, I sprayed one medium coat of clear.
10 minutes later, I sprayed another medium coat of clear.
10 minutes later, I sprayed a good wet coat of clear.
Let them bake in the sun.

Prep is key. Cleaning them with an agent that doesn't leave anything behind is a must. Also, using 320 and nothing higher is also key. There needs to be enough scratches and deep enough for the primer to adhere/etch into.

Also, making sure you remove all of you sanding dust is important.

If you didn't use a primer, then that is a huge problem. Color and clear coats don't always adhere well to what you are painting. It will usually flake off if you don't use a primer.

If it is a low humidity and hot area, the coats will dry to quickly and not adhere to each other and you can get flaking. Spray can paint doesn't do well in cold or hot temps.

I hope some of those suggestions can help you figure out your problem.

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Great thanks alot for your help, here is what I did:

1. 320 grit

2. use the isopropyl alcohol

3. Rim was perfectly smooth, used compressed air to do final clean

4. NO PRIMER, maybe this is the main problem of why it flaked

5. Did not do that many coats, but it was flaking right after the first coat so I was doomed from the start

6. VERY..VERY hot and humid...In Tampa, gonna be that way for a while, I guess I just need to be more patient..Hate that one..

I know the clear goes on white, but it stayed white, don't know why.

So, I will get the primer and do the others, that is why I just did the spare first. Hopefully that will work.

Let me also describe what I mean by flaking. The paint is not falling off, it is not going on smooth..almost looks like little pepper sprinkles are on the rim. Don't know if that is still a primer deal, user error, or paint quality(dunno)(dunno)

family KJ said:

Let me also describe what I mean by flaking. The paint is not falling off, it is not going on smooth..almost looks like little pepper sprinkles are on the rim. Don't know if that is still a primer deal, user error, or paint quality(dunno)(dunno)

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Got a picture?

My first guess based on what you describe is because of the lack of primer and partly because of high humidity.

Sounds almost like really nasty orange peel

ThunderbirdJunkie said:

Sounds almost like really nasty orange peel

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Orange peel would be nicer as it would be smooth, but funky looking. This looks as if I seasoned it perfectly with Emeril's " special rim seasoning"