Thursday, March 4, 2010

What kind of spray paint can i use?

Hi





I have a red mitsubishi lancer and it is done up quite nice but i really want my alloy wheels to be the same colour as the car... now i have looked at different spray paints but none of them actuslly says that it can be used on alloy wheels





could i just use a normal spray paint or is there a special one that doesnt wash off in puddles or what do i get





please can ye give me some advice on what to use.......What kind of spray paint can i use?
You've opened a can of worms here. Understand that ';alloy wheels'; are always clear-coated with another material so that the metal doesn't oxidize. So if you did nothing else, you'd be painting the clear-coat, *not* the metal! Further, different paint material types and clear-coat materials behave differently -- some stick well to each other, and some don't stick worth diddly.





There are several different products used to clear-coat wheels, and knowing WHICH one is important in order to select a paint that will properly adhere to that clear-coat. If the wheels are Mitsu originals, you may be able to get a dealer to inquire for you to try to determine what was being used, or what kind of material they use to re-touch them if they get dinged up. If they're aftermarket, go back to the manufacturer with your question. That information will in turn have to be used to make the correct selection of paint. Again -- if you pick the wrong paint vs. the clear-coat material, there's definitely a chance you'll get really poor adhesion of your new paint to the clear-coat.





Once you've figured out what *kind* of paint is compatible with your clear-coat, you'll need to clean those rims within an inch of their little metalic lives and rough up your existing clear-coat surface with a bit of #400 sandpaper or #0000 steel wool in order to further assure adhesion of the new paint.





The option would be to have the clear-coat stripped so that you'd be painting the raw metal.

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