Painting Factory Wheels Satin Black, w/pics

MotoTacoma · Sep 30, 2009

I have been debating having my factory taco wheels powdercoated black or spray painting them black. In the mean time I bought a gas saver and figured I could spray the wheels on that and see how they came out.

Although this write up is how I painted factory honda wheels, it can still apply to our taco wheels.

The finish on the factory wheels of the car were bubbling and peeling. As you can see in this pic. I have seen a few factory toyota wheels do this, including the ones on our taco's..

Items I used.
1. Mineral Spirits
2. Screwdriver
3. Sandpaper (I used from 60 all the way to 800 grit)
4. Clean rags
5. VHT Prime Coat, Black Primer
6. VHT Wheel Paint, Satin Black
7. I had vinyl decals cut to put on center caps ($5 for four, custom cut)
8. A bunch of small envelopes or index cards

What I learned..
-I had also bought/used clear coat. Using clear coat from a spray paint can only made the wheels look bad. I'm not sure if it was user error, the clear coat I used, or something else. But I had glossy spots and dull spots, after re-spraying 3 wheels mulitiple times I gave up, resanded and sprayed w/another coat of satin black. For me the paint w/out clear coat looked nicer.
-When painting the wheels black all imperfections show. With the car I wasn't too worried about making them perfect, but for the taco I would make sure I sanded everything thoroughly.
-Beforehand I had seen people use "Airplane Cleaner" to remove the factory finish. I couldn't find that product anywhere and thought using the sandpaper would be quicker. I'm glad I didn't use the "Airplane Cleaner" and I'm happy with the way my wheels came out.

1. Remove all wheel weights. After respraying the wheels I took mine to the shop and had them put on the stick on weights to prevent the spray paint from chipping. (So no need to mark where the weights were and save them.)
2. Clean the wheels. I used a rag and simple green, then a rag and mineral spirits to clean the nasty areas inside the wheel.
3. I used a screwdriver to chip away the peeling factory finish. I made sure to chip away any area that looked like it may start to peel soon, which was shown by discoloration.

4. Then I sanded the rough spots using 60 grit sand paper, then 80 grit, then 120, and so on, gradually up to 800 grit. I only sanded the inside of the wheels with 60 grit, because with these 14" factory wheels you can't see much of the inside.

5. After sanding I used a clean rag and mineral spirits to clean the wheel. Make sure the wheel is free of debris and anything that will prevent the paint from sticking.

Here is a pic after I had sanded the wheel. I had hosed this one off w/water which was a bad idea, don't do that, just use the miner spirits.

6. Prime the wheel. Do the inside of the wheel first. I did this by keeping the wheel upright and rolling it slowly while spraying the wheel. This allowed me to keep the can in an upright position which helps w/putting down an even coat. While spraying the inside of the wheel I didn't worry about over spray to the inside of the tire. If you are, insert the small envelopes or index cards between the wheel and rim, all around the wheel. This will prevent overspray on your tires. After you spray the inside, put the index cards on the outside and spray the outside of the wheel. I used one medium coat of primer. Follow directions on the can for time between coats.

7. Paint the wheel. Repeat #6, but with two light coats and one medium coat. Follow the directions on the can.

8. I allowed the wheels to dry for 3 days. I wasn't in a rush and wanted to wait a while to be on the safe side. Then I applied my center cap decals, took the wheels to the shop and had them balanced usinig stick on weights.

9. Mount the wheels and enjoy the new look.

Before

After

Good luck. If there is anything I missed let me know.
-don