Enlighten my ignorance on wheel prep please

I have these 16x7 Alloys that I’m eventually going to put on my 1st gen. Being completely ignorant on such things, is it dumb or feasible to paint these? The truck they’re going on is no beauty queen, what do y’all think? Thanks

 

It's feasible if you can get rid of the pitting and corrosion.

 

As in any other paint work, prep will be the key to the final results.

The more effort in the prep, the better the odds for successful finish work.

Stripping off the wheel weights, removing the valve stem and breaking down the tires (or removing them) are required if you want the best detail.

 

Sand, prime, paint!

 

the problem is the clear coat is gone… the clear coat “seals” the base material. You can paint them but the paint will just peel off because moisture will push the paint off from behind. You could try an aluminum primer and it will look OK for a while.

 

I hope you got a really got deal on those wheels.

I've seen comp rock crawlers with nicer wheels, lol. Honestly not sure if it's worth the effort. Not for me anyway.

Install them and check for clearance issues and tire rubbing before you waste ANY time trying to re-finish them.

 

dont waste your time

 

Got the 4 of them with the tires for $100. Honestly for me ugly wheels are less likely to get stolen so it’s not a big thing for me. I was curious if there’s any skills I could pick up working on them more than I care about them actually turning out purdy.
I got them because they’re the 7” width I wanted and they were $100, With y’alls advice I’ll probably embrace the added theft deterrent and roll with them as is. They’ll compliment my beater-esque truck to a T. I agree with prep work being crucial to any such project

 

Sand blast them. Then powdercoat with a hammered coating to cover the pitting/imperfections. Then clearcoat.

200-$300 /set where I am. Its made old wheels look like new, you have OEM trueness, save a few dollars over new wheels which often give nothing but issues with reliability fit and finish.
Ive had 5 sets done and as long as the shop does it right, its well worth it. Ppl usually wont steal a set of factory wheels either. These are the hammered which covered nearly all the pitting if just a smooth single color powdercoat had been used:

 

Lightly sand the corroded areas to knock the highs down and PlastDip them. I have the OEM's on my '98 Ford Ranger 4x4 that had a clear coat that peeled leaving an identical surface. I didn't even bother with sanding and just went to town on 'em with PlastiDip and they came out looking pretty darned good. It's been sticking well for over 3 years now. I just recently hit them with another light coat to freshen them up and they're great!

I also dipped my new TRD OR oem wheels to see how they looked without the machined surfaces exposed and they came out beautiful due to the pristine surface underneath. I actually like the OEM's style w/o the machined surfaces so I may have these powder coated rather than spending $1200 on a new set. I'm shopping powder coat services now to see what results they can assure.

 

Thanks all, what are pluses and minuses of hammered powdercoat vs plasti dipping?

 

Powder coat is way more durable, but you can touch up plastidip any time.

I see 3 options-
1) Run them as is and not worry about it
2) Sand, prep, paint them yourself, but it probably won't last.
3) Get them professionally powdercoated, they can do the prep, but you'll pay for it.

 

Thanks all of you, I’ll run them for the time being while I make up my mind. I need to figure out my random miss first, but that’s another thread!

 

I highly advise against plasti-dipping wheels. Stripping/sandblasting and powdercoating is the way to go. Sand down any tangible imperfections before coating.

Harbor Freight would have everything you need to powercoat yourself, except a nice powder, assuming you have an oven at home.

 

My rims won't fit in my oven

 

Stop being poor!