White Rx-8 wheels? My short DIY
 

Stuff you need:
-Acetone
-At least 2 cans of Primer (if the metal is bare use a Etching primer, if not use a standard automotive primer)
-At Least 2 cans of Colored Paint (in this case Engine Enamel, as it came in white and is a --high temp paint, so no chance of pealing due to breaking temperatures)
-*Note* screw the comfort grip spray can attachment i purchased, its useless.


Step one Purchase Rx-8 wheels, in my case a good condition set for 300 bucks.

Step two take them to a local machine shop and ask for Soda blasting, it takes off the paint and doesn't divot up the aluminum and you don't have to worry about stress fractures in the aluminum like when wheels get SandBlasted.
Sodablasting the 4 wheels = 100 bucks.


Now to start,

Tape off a good place to paint, i did it indoors because its too cold to spray paint in Ma allready.
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k1...DSC_0042-1.jpg

Gather Supplies:
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k1...z/DSC_0053.jpg

Place wheels to get painted:
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k1...z/DSC_0046.jpg

Use acetone to clean up the surface one last time before painting
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k1...z/DSC_0054.jpg
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k1...z/DSC_0056.jpg

Shake Self Etching Primer for 2-3min then spray light coats across the wheels
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k1...z/DSC_0065.jpg

Spray 2nd coat of Primer, its important to get good coverage as this is the base for the colored paint to hold.
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k1...z/DSC_0068.jpg

Next shake the White Engine Enamel for 2-3min to make sure the paint is well mixed, Then spray first coat
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k1...z/DSC_0070.jpg

Spray 2nd coat, its crucial now to make the coat smooth, otherwise there will be obvious high-and-lows
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k1...z/DSC_0072.jpg

Some Eye Candy Pictures:
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k1...z/DSC_0078.jpg

http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k1...DSC_0083-1.jpg

http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k1...DSC_0088-1.jpg


Let me know what you think, and ask any questions you please

ooooooh so pretty!

Small fail... you should paint the backs of the wheels first to avoid overspray onto the face of the rim when you paint the backs. That is uh, if you are going to avoid major fail and paint the backs at all, LOL.

Any clearcoat on them?

I probably wouldve done at least one coat on the inside, but i dont think its MAJOR fail. who here cleans the inside of their rims? it will just be dirty on the inside anyways.

No fail at all, only had the face of the wheel soda blasted, so the inside of the wheel still had its paint, the wheel's inside is a light grey from the factory.


No clear coat, we shall see how it holds up, i didnt want to clear them for risk of ruining the look.

Plus Engine Enamel is some damn thick paint.

No need for 1 coat, it still had the factory paint in there.

i like it

MOUNT EM AND PIX PLOZOZXOX

Alright more pictures in this thread:
http://www.mazdaspeedforums.org/foru...51/#post361373

But a few teasers.
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k1...t/DSC_0144.jpg
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k1...t/DSC_0070.jpg

It looks pretty amazing on CWP!!! Congratz I love it

^^^Thanks you, it deff came out real real nice

pretty sick i like!

No, it's not a major fail, just minor. I clean the inside of my rims every time I wash the car every week. Of course my wheels aren't stock and I can see the inner part of my wheels. Heck, I even wax the front and rear of the wheels once a year when I swap them out for the winter wheels. It makes cleaning them SOOOOO much easier.

Light gray is not white. I would know it was there and not perfect, so that's why I said major fail. With the larger openings between the spokes, I just wouldn't be able to stand it if they weren't white. No worries, looks good as a whole. :beerchug:

I think it looks killer man! I've always liked white wheels on white cars. Silver, polished, machined, chrome all look like crap on white IMHO. It just doesn't match and looks "Dirty."

Nice work!

i gotta say.. that looks damn sick!!

nice job!