Do you want to change the style of the car. Maybe you are just wanting to paint your rims a different color. Why not consider wrapping your rims or wheels in vinyl? Painting you wheels requires a lot of steps. In addition it is morose a permanent modification.
If you want a smooth layer of paint you’d need to use something like aircraft or automotive stripper. This would tear away at the paint that is already on your wheels. After that it’s clearing off all of the paint and sanding it down to a smooth surface. You can then clean and start spraying. It goes, a few primer coats followed by coats of the color you want and optionally clear coat. Seems like a lot for such a small modification.
If you do use aircraft thinner there is no going back to your original paint. So why not use a more temporary means of changing your rim color?
Plastidip vs vinyl wrap rims
You could use Plastidip. Although after a couple years the dip may start to fade away. It can be a painstaking task to remove the plastip. If you don’t put enough layers of dip on your wheels the rubberized paint may come off in chips.
From experience more coats of plastidip is better. If not you could spend hours trying to remove the dip. One trick is to soak the areas in WD-40 or Pb Blaster. Both of these sprays are petroleum based and help to loosen the plastidip.
If you are looking for an alternative you may want to consider wrapping your rims or wheels in vinyl. Vinyl is more or less a sheet of colored film. With a few tools like a heat gun, utility knife and a squeegee you can apply vinyl film yourself.
With a huge color selection you can pick your favorite and wrap your wheels at home!
How do you wrap wheels with vinyl?
Definitely do you research and make sure you are up to the job. You can cut a sheet of vinyl that is slightly larger than your wheel. From there you do some heating with your heat gun until the vinyl is stretched. Use your knife to slowly cuts bits away of the vinyl as you wrap it around the wheel. With some practice and patience you too can wrap your wheels. Check out the video below for a demonstration of how to wrap your wheels.
