Painting my stock rims

[pbajwabb]

My '68 is riding on the stock style rims but theyre beginning to dull and I can afford to replace them but I was just wondering if it is possible to maybe sand them and spray paint them white with a can of rust-o-leum. Will the paint hold?

[EZ Gruv]

I spray painted mine a couple years ago, they still look great!
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1977 Deluxe Westfalia - 2.0L FI Type IV, Completely Original
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[John M.]

Spray paint and a few coats of clear will look great.
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Current: 1972 Beetle - 96V EV
Previous:
1966 Beetle - Sea Blue - 1300SP
1966 Beetle - Sea Blue - 1600SP
1974 Beetle - African Red - 1914CC

[Baja Champ SE]

Thats what I'm going to do with mine. Strip down and spray them right. The PO thought spraying over multiple older coats of paint would work.
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-1972 Baja Champion SE Super Beetle "Frank the Freak"

SOLD
-1969 Deluxe Bus "Warhaul" aka "Project Whitestock"

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[keifernet]

[Cusser]

I got a roll of sheet metal from Home Depot and used that as my masking tool (painted mine with the tires on). Just be careful, it can be sharp. I'm sure there's other stuff that can be used as masking.
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1970 VW (owned since 1972) and 1971 VW Convertible (owned since 1976), second owner of each. The '71 now has the 1835 engine, swapped from the '70. Second owner of each. 1988 Mazda B2200 truck, 1998 Frontier, 2014 Yukon, 2004 Frontier King Cab. All manual transmission except for the Yukon. http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335294 http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335297

[bigyellowdogs]

i also left the tires on. and i used a ton of masking tape. it takes a little while to do it but once you get the hang of it you can get the tape on there pretty good. just rip little pieces off at a time and work your way around. i sprayed them with chrome colored spraypaint i got at kmart and in the little parts where the paint might have bled through i took a sharpie and blacked that out. took some aluminum polish to the beauty rings and hubcaps and for all of 4 dollars my wheels look super sharp again. super ghetto way to do it but they really do look nice.
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74 Super Convertible (Green Monster - Go Sox!)
75 Westy (Clementine) - Automatic For The People

[Baja Champ SE]

[pbajwabb]

Ive got whitewalls on there so ill probably just mask the tires and if a little white bleeds through, oh well. How much does a good can of spray paint go for? What have you guys had the best experience with?

[gatormike69]

Got a bike shop around here that quoted me 200 to powder coat all four rims and that was with them removing and reinstalling the tires. If ya can afford it, that might be a good way to go. Powder coating is very durable and should stand up well to time and the occasional lug wrench.

[big turn]

For a powder coat job, are the wheels sandblasted normally?

[chicagovw]

Prior to powdercoating all of the original paint must be removed-the shop that has done work for me uses media blasting rather than sandblasting. Two toning the wheels, as is correct for that '68, with powdercoating will be expensive but will look great and last. I got tired of the bumpers on my Mexi-which came body color with a black tape stripe in the center-getting scratched up in the city where everyone parks by feel, and had them two tone powder coated. The look great. Sadly, I was in a fender bender that also bent my powder coated front bumper-but that powder coating held up and only recently began to crack a little right where it got bent.

[EverettB]

[pbajwabb]

I sanded down my spare tire rim and painted it just to see what it would look like. Ill post pictures soon.

[Bugorsh]

If you powdercoat the wheels, be sure and have the powdercoater mask off the lug nut/bolt contact areas or sand the coating off those areas when you get them back from the powdercoater and before installing on the car. If you don't, it is possible for the lugs to loosen up while you drive which could lead to a catastrophe if you don't notice it in time.
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[gcbbug]

I took the tires off mine(well the tire store did) used a wire wheel on the ole drill and then sanded after. I bought a can of Rustoleum Automotive grey primer and sprayed 3 coats of that,then used Rustoleum Metallic Finish and sprayed at least 4 coats. I topped it all off with Rustoleum Crystal Clear Enamel spraying about 3 coats. Those wheels look better than new wheels I've seen. Especially after using a good coat of Maguires wax. It will also make a big difference if you replace any dimpled or dented hub caps.