Prepping?! I use a coarse wire brush in a electric drill to get off the paint, than, i use 80 grit to get the excess primer and **** off, and most of the pores and scratches out of the surface. From there ill move onto a lighter grit, from 150 to 220 than onto 400. For the lip...im going to have to do that by hand, like, it looks polished in the pics but, its really rough. I just used a fine wire brush on them, but it still looks great!!! I must've bought 75 bucks worth of useless junk trying to find a combination of drill accesories to get the job done. A dremel would work GREAT on the rim...if i had one, lol.



Here are some finished pics of the rim. The purpouse was to get a gunmetal finish with a polished rim. So i used primer, two coats of flat black, and than used a clear gloss finish coat for protection.



On these rims, so you dont get paint on the rim, you just tuck the masking tape under the lip...and after its all dry it just peels right off and your lip is un-painted. Looks like it was meant to be like this..

 

Unfortunately my car is still at the shop, so they wont be going on for about a month I guess. But I'll definately get pics when its done!!! I guess picture a red fb (with 5 lug conversion) lowered 2 1/2 inches with these rims on pirelli tires?!







More pics...

 

Sweet merciful crap, that looks ******* amazing!

 

Thanks colin!



Here's what they look like before...i cleaned it up a bit, actually..lol

 

Doesnt look half bad

 

were they relatively smooth to begin with? Mine have a sort of texture on them. Are all GXL the same from the factory, or are some smooth and some textured?



And did you use paint from a rattle can, or did you use an actual sprayer?

 

omg that's hot definately do a right up man..

 

For a low budget upgrade that looks great. when i started reading this article i thought why bother but it has come up a treat.



I am also curious as to wherther you used a spray can or a professional gun

 

The rims have a texture to them, its all porous and ****. The 80 grit works great at getting rid of it.



I used spray paint. Yep. I'm reeeeaall good at using spray paint. There are no runs, bubbles, or inconsistencies in the coating of the paint. Just clean the surface using methyl alcohol, dries rather quick, usually buff it a bit with a paper cloth than go at it with the primer, coat of flat black, another coat of flat black than a coat of clear. Brake clean can be used too, but if it pools on the surface, say buh-bye to the paint



Never touch the rim surface before painting. The methyl has worked great at getting rid of the grease left by my hands when im sanding it (even then try to avoid touching the rims) but if you touch the rim just before painting you might have a nice finger print right in the middle of your rim!



Make sure the clearcoat isnt a dull coat or it wont be shiny. Unless you like the dull look of the flat black...it does look pretty sweet after all...



The rims arent super-perfect, i mean, i did paint them outside, and the shed isnt exactly completely dust-free, so there are a couple of feint dust spots on them that you can barely see, lol.

 

Seriously those turned out figging amazing.



If you aren't taking your FB to rotorfest, let me roll on those puppies down there!



Wheels is the only thing I can't afford in time for rotorfest.. I'll have this blinging paintjob and amazing engine bay, and gay stocker bologna slicers with low-pro potenza SO2s