Had new tires mounted on my S-Lites and decided to Plastidip them while they were off the car. Prepped by washing them well with dish detergent, then wiping down with isopropyl alcohol. I'm not holding my breath to the longevity of it, but for $18 bucks and a few hours of my time, it's worth a shot.

I did two heavy coats, then 2-3 lighter coats to get a texture and hide some imperfections.


masked the center cap before I realized I could pop it out

 

Gotta say, that looks really good. Interested to see how long it lasts. For 18 bucks and some time wouldn't be too big a deal to do it once a year or so.

 

Pretty neat way to "try out" a different color of wheel before you pay $$ to get it done for real!! Looks pretty cool!

 

I've done the same with my R99s and my S-lites; love the black wheels. I went with the spray paint instead of plasti-dip but it looks like you did a good job of cleaning in advance, which leads me to believe you should expect very solid durability from them, just keep a can handy so if you take a rock or something it's a fast and easy fix.

 

plastidip ftw!!!

 

with all your plastidip projects you should change your name to plastidipknives lol

 

haha

 

Looks sexy!

I just tried this yesterday on my R84 V-Spokes- I did the front left wheel, and it came out great. I coated the entire inside and outside of the rim in an effort to prevent stuff getting up under the edges and causing it to peel...

...which ended up being a mistake, because the moment I put the wheel back on, the paint under the lug nuts started twisting around and peeled right up. Even after a good five or six coats of the stuff!

Did you run into any peeling issues or anything? I'm curious how you got such a sweet finish- especially since the lugs on the S-Lites are exposed.

 

I did my g/f rims with plastidip (toyota echo) and it's peeling off on the edge of the rims (where the tire rub when you turn) I guess with stiffer tire it wouldn't do that!

 

I plasti dipped my s lites a few weeks ago and they're holding up perfect. And TBH you did a MUCH better job than me. All I did was wipe my rims off with a rag! There was still soooo much dirt on it before I sprayed it. It still came out really good but definitely not that good.

Edit: here's mine with my plasti dipped S lites

 

Just curious, how do these hold up to washing? With the excessive amounts of brake dust, I'm just wondering how well they last. Most likely I'll try this, unless I can find a decent price on powder coating.

 

I've had mine down for a couple of months now and they've held up amazingly well. No chipping yet.

 

goot to know... ive got some clear chipping and plan on possibly going powdercoated soon.... this would be a great test run thanks for the pics all

as far as cleaning goes...im sure soap and water would do fine vs any sort of scrubbing...

and like MaxMCS said...what happens when you torque a lug down on them??? twists off? you scrape the extra off the spot where the lug seats??

 

one thing i will say - have fun getting new tyres fitted!

 

Looks good , but if you had sanded them down, before the alchool wipe it would increase the paint adhesion.

Good luck

 

I'll probably get sick of the look long before I need to tires The tires in the pics are brand new 215/45/17 Hankook Ventus V12 Evo K110.


True, but the reason I went with the Dip is the ability to return to the original surface

 

I was wondering if plasti-dip would work on the wheels... I want to do mine too... The have some scratches and a little curb rash in spots from the previous owner, but no rock chips... If I like the black look I may do some prep work and paint them for real...

I have the same grille as you and I am debating going black with the entire thing or leave the chrome edge... I still can't decide.

I also want to change my mirrors to black and eventually my roof too... I need to have my bonnett and front bumper resprayed...

 

It's fine. We have a local PSMINI forum member here that did their wheels like this and had to have new tires mounted. I little scuff in a couple of places, but all it takes is a few sprays here and there and it's fixed. The beauty of this stuff....

 

Just found myself a weekend project!!! Just need some jack stands big time! Then I am on it! btw driving a MC 10' courtesy car today and it is soooo sloooowww

 

Well it's been over 2 weeks and they look as good as day 1

 

I should be painting mine this evening.... ill update whenever i get them all done and on!

 

Ive got some pics to share

Sadly they wont be on until the coilovers are though



THIS is why im painting them.... :(









EDIT:

quick on the car shot. theyre a tad dirty

 

Using index cards for masking material is BRILLIANT! Trying to run painter's tape and newspaper around in a circle like that is a nightmare, but the cards just slot in there... too easy!

Max is in the shop right now (busted exhaust header and belt tensioner) but the moment he gets back, I'm pulling the rims off and trying this again. Since the centers of my wheels are covered by a larger cap, nobody will see the paint job under there, and I'm thinking of just masking out where the lugs would be... just to prevent a repeat performance.

Power to the Plasti-Dip!!

 

The only problem with the index cards is if you run a wide tire. The lip of the tire will push the car against the edge of the rim, so once you're done painting, there will be a noticeable silver ring on the very edge. That's why I opted to go with the tape (which wasn't much of an issue, each wheel took less than 5 minutes to tape up).

 

Yeah i couldnt use tape on the tire as Ive had waaay to much tireshine on them, which will not come off completely lol. Even after all my prep cleaning.

You can also use index cards to wrap the valve stem, which i did, and probably even insert lightly rolled ones into the lug holes to block them... I would assume youd need to remove them prior to the paint setting though

I pulled the valve stem ones off pretty early