Plasti-Dipping your Wheels(or emblems!)

[sbpphoenix]

First start with your supplies:

1 bottle of rubbing alcohol(big one from wally world is like $2)
8 rags(or microfiber cloths. one to clean and one to dry for each wheel)
2 inch painters tape. one roll will suffice, you can use more if you want to mask the tires and thinner tapes for intricate jobs.
and obviously your plasti-dip color of choice. i went with white. you'll need at least 4 cans total to get a good coating.

step one is obviously removing the wheel from the vehicle.

step two clean the wheel with the rubbing alcohol and one rag. dry off any excess with the second rag

step three (not pictured) tape off rear side of hub.
step three.five(optional) tape off tire(you should do this if you're using any color other than black, and probably still with black)

step four start first coat. wait about ten-fifteen minutes between coats depending on ambient temp. less time in heat, more time in cold.
remember to clean nozzle before each coat or it will get drippy and piss you off.

step five start to peel a section off the tire to determine coat thickness. if it comes off pretty easy, you have at least 4 coats on there and you're done, unless you want a thicker protective coating or purchased glossifier and want to shine the dip up. i went through about 3.5 cans for all 4 wheels.

step 6 unmask and peel excess off tire.

step 7 remount and torque to 100ft-lbs.

 

[Eric Smit]

Not necessary to tape it off with black, and I question the necessity of taping with other colors.

When I did mine, in black, I didn't even rub it off right then; I just drove it and it came off in the car wash. Apparently, plastidip doesn't stick well on rubber.

Also, when you can just rub it off with you finger, I don't know if you really need to tape it off. Not a big deal to tape it really, just my only contribution to this thread.

Concurrently, I did all four of my wheels with 1.5 cans, and they seem to be holding fine; just two coats. Were the four coats just for peace of mind?

AND, good post. I wrote one, but didn't have pictures.


-Eric Smit

 

[sbpphoenix]

i did like 6 coats or more, honestly. i dipped them because i noticed rock chips on the rear. i recommend the masking for ease of removal. i didn't spray the rubber as much as the wheel so when i went to peel it, it kept tearing. i got most of it off the fronts(didn't mask them, masked the rears) but i've been too lazy to clean the rest.

what kind of car wash, i'm dreading going to the ones that slap the **** out of the car 'cause i don't want it peeling off or some hand wash idiot trying to rub the wheels.

 

[River_Rat]

looks great. how is the white holding up? I'm thinking of doing my wheels white. Any problems with lugnuts tearing the dip? I noticed another member had some issues. also, how did you do the bowties in the centercaps?

 

[USAnarchy]

Im guessing he hand painted the green bowtie on.

If you put tire shine on the tires before you plastidip the wheels, the plastidip refuses to stick and comes off super easy.

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[sbpphoenix]

looks great. how is the white holding up? I'm thinking of doing my wheels white. Any problems with lugnuts tearing the dip? I noticed another member had some issues. also, how did you do the bowties in the centercaps?

the white is good, but it gets dirty fast. lugnuts didn't tear the dip, i put everything on very carefully. the bowties are vinyled in the middle, i dipped them, traced the inside with a stencil knife and peeled the dip off. that was the hardest part 'cause i kept effing it up.

 

[River_Rat]

thanks

 

[TilarP]

That looks pretty damn sexy. I've been wanting to do the same but can't find any white around my house!

 

[sbpphoenix]

you typically have to order it direct from plastidip or from dipyourcar.com

 

[Barnold]

You have to order any color but black.

 

[Eric Smit]

I went to one of the car washes that slap the piss out of your car.


-Eric Smit

 

[sonichatch]

i did my wheels in matte black, got it at home depot for $7 a can, took me 2.5 cans

 

[d.p]

First start with your supplies:

nicely done, and nice sig lmao.

 

[d.p]

oh and i used 2 cans and the only wear i have is from the tire machine at discount

 

[Eric Smit]

oh and i used 2 cans and the only wear i have is from the tire machine at discount

When I need to replace my tires I'm going to replace my rims.


-Eric Smit

 

[CoHPhasor]

When I need to replace my tires I'm going to replace my rims.


-Eric Smit

Wow - I didn't think the Sonic's wheels were 2-piece....

 

[Eric Smit]

Wow - I didn't think the Sonic's wheels were 2-piece....

-Eric Smit

 

[dvn]

Like Eric said, no need to tape anything. The dip will just peel right off the tires. A couple of mine actually came off in one piece! I tried the index card method on the first wheel and it wanted to peel the dip from the edges of the rim when removing the cards. Just let the over-spray get on the tire and peel it off when dry. Piece of cake!

 

[USAnarchy]

i plan on tackling this mod very soon, but really have not messed with removing the weights from the rim of the wheel.

I wonder how hard it would be to remove the rim weights and then carefully put them back after plastidipping. seems that a little grease pencil on the tire itself would let me mark where the wheel weights go back at.

 

[sbpphoenix]

You can dip over the weights

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