Items needed to repaint your rims

When you want to change the color of the rims of your motorcycle or your car, or simply refurbish the color of your rims, you will have to get rim paints that are suitable for carrying out all the work of preparation, painting and clearcoats of the rim.

If you are not a body painting professional, it is natural that all these steps are not very clear to you: we have therefore written an article to clarify the important points, the products to be used and the material, in order to do a quality job.

Indeed, it seems easy to paint with a few cans of paint bought here in a store, but it is actually very difficult and complex to paint with a clean, perfect and lasting result. Then, if we apply to respect the rules of painting and the technical instructions, then we can obtain the same result as that of a professional.

Products to restore rim paint

To prepare the surface, you need abrasive sheets or abrasive sponges, dusting wipes, degreasing product and various masking adhesives or adhesive lines. The installation is very important : it is necessary to paint in a clean, dry, dust-free environment, with good air circulation. Avoid setting up near the ground, but place the parts to be painted at a sufficient height to paint comfortably and put the odds on your side. Painting rims is not like painting a flat surface.

Rim painting is more difficult to achieve because the surfaces are complex. The rims can be installed vertically and suspended, or horizontally on tripods. Once the rim has been prepared, sanded, cleaned and positioned on its support, you can then start applying the rim paint, which generally consists of 3 steps : the primer, the paint and then the varnish.

Rim paint primers

Intended to protect against corrosion, to stick to the surface and essentially intended for aluminum or steel, rim paint primers are specific products : they must be chosen with care in order to protect against any premature paint peeling.
Very often there is some confusion with rim sealers which are used to repair and perfect surfaces, but not to adhere to metals, which is not easy.

Clearcoats for rim painting

When spray painted, rim paint clearcoats are liquid and polyurethane types. They are never epoxy, because epoxy yellows in the sun ! Often confused with epoxy powder coatings and this is a totally different technology. There are a wide variety of automotive clearcoats that are suitable for rim paints and there are even clearcoats that can be used on raw metal rims.

Rim painting accessories

If marks, bumps, or scratches are present on the rim, you need to repair the rim with rim painting accessories, which are mastic glue, sandpaper, dusting pads, in addition to sealants of filling. If you want to paint rims in two colors, then you will need to equip yourself with a scalpel to make precise cuts, with masking tape and adhesive lines.

How to repair a rim ?