Plasti Dip Wheel Refinishing | Before & After (pics)

"Jcarr" (jcarr)
06/09/2014 at 15:30 • Filed to: Wheel Refinishing

For a little background, see my !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

Here's what I did with before and after pics to follow.

Took the wheels off the car, removed center caps

Chipped off as much loose/flaking clear coat as I could with a razor blade

Scrubbed them inside and out with Dawn dish soap to remove dirt, dust and grease

Let them dry in the garage overnight

Stuck 4x6" index cards between the lip of the rim and the tire to catch overspray

5 Coats of Plasti Dip True Metallic Aluminum at about 30 min between each coat

3 Coats of Plasti Dip Glossifier at the same interval.

Let them dry for 24 hours and then put the center caps back in and remounted on the car.

I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out given the minimal time and cost. I am a little concerned about durability and keeping them clean as the stuff seems to be very tacky/grippy, but I'll be careful with them and see how it goes.

One thing I will mention as far as procedure is to make your first coat or two a real light dusting. This helps the subsequent coats adhere. For the rest of your coats, do a wet coat with slower, smooth passes. This helps give it a smoother, glossier finish.

All-in-all, not too bad a project.

^Forgot to take an after shot of this one, so this is just after coat 2.

DISCUSSION (14)

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > Jcarr
06/09/2014 at 15:34

Looks very nice! Hopefully the durability is there to make it worth your while.

Chuck 2(O=[][]=O)2 > Jcarr
06/09/2014 at 15:34

They look great

dinobot666 > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs
06/09/2014 at 15:36

Easily last a year or two, if you don't happen to bash into any curbs or anything.

Rico > Jcarr
06/09/2014 at 15:38

That came out pretty good!

nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul > Jcarr
06/09/2014 at 15:38

That's a damn smart idea with the index cards. Beats the hell out of tape I'm sure

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > dinobot666
06/09/2014 at 15:40

I am planning on doing this, what if I do happen to hit a curb, how easy is touch up with plastidip?

ColoradoTaco > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs
06/09/2014 at 15:48

Very easy to touch up. Just remove, mask, and spray

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > ColoradoTaco
06/09/2014 at 15:51

Ah ok, you'd just redo the entire wheel?

chuck07 > Jcarr
06/09/2014 at 15:55

They look great. I didn't think you could get such a subtle look from plasti-dip, but at a quick glance people won't be able to tell that they aren't stock.

ColoradoTaco > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs
06/09/2014 at 15:55

Nah I'd just spray where needed. Although aside from hitting curbs you won;t likely have any spots get chipped away. I did my stock wheels in gold to use for the Winter and with all the sand they put down here I was expecting some chips but the dip held up very well.

Mustafaluigi > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs
06/09/2014 at 16:15

It would probably look better and be easier to rip the whole wheel off and reapply.

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > Mustafaluigi
06/09/2014 at 16:22

I would think it'd be easier to quickly spray to touch it up, but it'd probably look better to reapply on the whole wheel.

Jcarr > nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul
06/09/2014 at 17:12

Wish I could take credit, but....YouTube.

Klaus Schmoll > nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul
06/09/2014 at 17:49

The plasti dip set I got for my wheels even came with the cards.