I have this set (see pic below) of wheels in my storage building, and I'm kicking around the idea of painting them a Gun Metal color.

So, for those of you who have successfully painted a set of wheels, please give me some pointers. What type of prep needs to be done, what is a good quality of paint, once painted do I need to overcoat them to prevent chipping?

 

If you find a gun metal color wheel paint please post it here. The best I could find in a wheel paint was a dark graphite gray. As far as preventing chipping its really tuff with anything other than powder coated wheels.

I painted my Team Dynamic wheels with Duplicolor graphite gray and they turned out really good but the color is too dark.

Take a 300 grit sand paper and sand them well. Not through the base color layer but at least get them fully scuffed and clean. A 3m green scuff pad also works for this.

-take a tack cloth (important step) and fully wipe them down. (always before each spray)
-use a good primer and put a couple light coats of primer on.
-With your color coat - put several light coats of paint on followed by several medium to thicker coats. Its very important to error on the side of multiple lighter coats than fewer heavy coats to avoid runs. Also when spraying always start the spray pattern a few inches off of the wheel and stop spraying a few inches off as well. That insures a consistent coat. Never fan the paint can over the surface while spraying as it will get uneven and depending on the paint system (duplicolor in my case) it will leave a dusty film on top.
-If you are super meticulous I would then take 800 then 1000 and even high and wet sand the final color coat before putting on your clear coat.

Good luck,
k