Thoughts on finish of poly rattle can job

Had these media blasted, did some light sanding on bad spots, some deep corrosion I didnt feel like dealing with. At 5 feet away no one will know. But used 2 coats of SEM primer, 4 light coats of vht graphite, 3 coats matte clear. Spaced 10min/1 hour or 7 days apart in really light coats, 8 inchs.

I know your all saying orange peal but the coats were all dry before next coat. I'v seen other pictures and it might be the light but these rims look really weird. I'm thinking its something I'v done but Im also thinking its what VHT meant the paint to look like.

 

No one will be as critical of your vehicle as you and a little bit of road dust will make that look fine from 5 feet away. Looks way better than the set I painted did at the start and they still look good 3 years later.

 

Thanks. Yea it could be the media blasted surface that was un sanded ultimately. But I wanted a fast job that looked good and was structurally sound. No rust lines and it wont chip and look crappy.
This is from 3 feet away.

 

Nice work.

Any before pics?

 

Looks good!! Little bit of dirt on them & you won’t notice any imperfections

 

I think they look good! Much better than any wheels I’ve ever painted

 

Not real clear on your timing between coats.

Generally, you don't need to wait until a coat is fully dry to apply the next coat. You just need to wait for the coat to "flash off" before applying the next. When all is done, then you need to wait for full cure.

I used an automotive grade 2k Urethane system to paint my wheels. Primer (2 coats), color (2 coats), clear (2 coats). This took about 4 hours to complete the application. Then the wheels were allowed to full cure for 2 weeks before I had tires mounted. Pay no attention to the date in the picture. I need to reset the camera date.

 

So these were what they looked like before they were blasted, looked bad. I did ten minutes between coats, almost dry. Its that I didnt sand the rims after blasting. I was going to have them powder coated and have texture to them.
Now the texture kinda looks like I did a bad job.

This is my primer job, second shot

 

Looks like rattle can.

Ok....first there are no shortcuts to a good looking quality paint job.

If you want smooth final coat, you must begin with the bare metal prep. Media blast only removes, it doesn't prepare the surface for smooth paint. Need to sand with at least 180 ALO2 paper, prime, wet sand, prime, wet sand, color, wet sand, color, .......you get the idea.

The final coat is only as good as the first prep.

Some paint systems are able to bypass the sanding between coats. But, the final color coat needs to be wet sanded to allow a smooth clear coat. Then the clear should be wet sanded to an extremely fine grit. Up in the 4000-6000 range.

Good luck.

 

Yea I didnt want a glossy factory finish, I wanted a dimpled from the powder coat. I didnt have the time to do all that I wish I did, freezing. Could I sand down to base coat on the poly I have now?

 

When you say "base coat" do you mean the color or the primer coat???

Most paints need to be applied in temperatures above 65*F. The paint and object need to be at the same temperature.

If you mean to sand the color coat. This is a wet sanding process. Its messy. Keep the area flooded with flowing water, this will wash away the debris. The grit should be fine, think 2500 or higher. Sand until smooth. The object is to remove dust, bugs, paint nibs....... not to remove the color. Let it dry, then wipe with a clean cloth dampened with acetone. Take precautions, wear latex gloves. Finger/hand prints can contaminate the surface.
Spray your clear.

Note: if you sand through the color, then you need to back up a couple steps to respray that area and blend in.

Remember, the paint is only a few micrometers (thousandths) thick. You're not sanding a piece of Oak.

 

Thanks, yea I was thinking of smooth out base, color, but the aluminum is pitted so Im not sure what that would do.
Im also thinking what a bunch of coats of clear would do.

 

If the aluminum is pitted, then you need to start there.

Clear is like frosting on a cake. There are NO shortcuts.

My wheels started out heavily oxidized aluminum. Much time and energy was expended on the restore. Roughly about 5-6 hours each wheel to prep before primer. See pictures. The back side was in worse condition.

 

So you definitely know what your talking about and it sounds like you did a far superior job than I did but the pictures of the rims you provided that you painted look no different than mine. I don't mean to be confrontational, especially since you did all that work. But now that I look at all the pictures they all look the same. I bet if the trucks were parked next to each other you couldn't tell. That being said I really wish I read what Knute said before I started work on these wheels or I would have done what he said.

 

Understood. The "dimple" you are seeing is from the flake in the paint and the Satin clear coat.

I used a "flatener" product mixed with the gloss clear coat. I didn't want a shiny wheel, but wanted some light reflection. Pictures don't really show the surface very well. The final coat is smooth, no dimples.

I did the entire wheel, front, back and tire side. Wheel was stripped of TPMS, weights and rubber before the restore work began.

@hexnutter You are pretty well committed on your path. You can continue with a wet sand on the color coat then clear. Or you can go back to square one to start over with a complete strip, repair, prime, paint, clear process.

If, when the paint begins to fail, that will be the time to consider a complete restore.

My final product. Don't mind the white schmutz at the 10:00 o'clock position, its tire lube from the tire install.

 

Oh those look nice!
Toyo's on the way, Im just going to use em as is. Dinged the back of wheel with a piece of metal, it dented it and the paint stuck, paint would suck to sand. Although light touch up would be easy.
I really like how people paint their own wheels. The factory aluminum looks kinda boring and then paint it and bam from way down town.