Q: Painting OEM rims / removing chrome

[bergman]

Hello dudes, im going to repaint my chrome rims to a satin black color. So I talked to a local painter and he said I needed to sandblast/glassblast the chrome off.
So I talked to a guy that could blast my rims and he said that it would be hard if the rims where to have a copper layer underneath the chrome.

So my question is: Is there a copper layer under the chrome or is it just to remove the chrome?

 

[Ironhead]

I think it depends on what the rims are made of ,,certian metal has to have a layer of copper on it in order for chrome to stick ,,,sell the chrome ones ,,geta set of oems and then powdercoat them

 

[viperhauler]

did you have the wheels chromed?

oem is polished aluminum with clearcoat... which you can scuff and paint right over top of...

 

[Jfireboy1]

Just about to say same thing! Oem rims are a polished aluminum. Unless you had them chromed you shouldn't have a problem with just scuffing or sandblasting them.

 

[bergman]

Nice! Thanks for the input, the painter made me really uncertain ^^

 

[JRSVIPR]

Nice! Thanks for the input, the painter made me really uncertain ^^

Do they look like this?

 

[bergman]

Pic of one rim

Afaik its stock and nothing have been done with them.

 

[Ironhead]

Pic of one rim

Afaik its stock and nothing have been done with them.

go to diff painter ,,those only have a clear coat on them he could scotch brite pad them and powdercoat them no problem

 

[kickinassrt-10]

Yea your wheels are polished right now. Not too hard use a light sand paper or scotch bright them to scuff the surface then prime and paint. BTW you don't need to go crazy scuffing the wheels. The primer and paint will bond really well. I'm going on a year and half with no flaking, bubbling or cracking.

 

[NSDQ]

Ditto to what everyone has said. Got my wheels done about 3 weeks ago, took all of a day to sandblast off the curb rash and then powdercoat them flat black and they turned out perfect. Any reputable automotive paint place should be able to do your wheels no problem, but I personally went to a powdercoat shop that does only powdercoating, so not a automotive paint shop by default, but they do valve covers, wheels, and headers all the time. You'll love how your wheels and truck look once you get them blacked out. Good luck.

 

[bergman]

Atm im not sure what color to go with, i would like a flat/matte/satin black color. Afaik matte black is hard to keep clean, is it the same with flat/satin black colors?

 

[NSDQ]

Satin I believe is more glossy, similar to the factory paint. As of yet I've had no issues with my wheels looking dirty, in fact, the beauty of the flat/matte is that they look the same clean as they do dirty. Since they aren't shiny, you lose nothing when they are dirty. With the satin, I would imagine when they get dirty they won't be as shiny and that to me would be noticeable.

 

[rare03srt10]

Atm im not sure what color to go with, i would like a flat/matte/satin black color. Afaik matte black is hard to keep clean, is it the same with flat/satin black colors?

I went gloss black with mine. They do get dirty like any other wheel but not to bad. IMO im glad i went gloss cuz my plan was to go flat also but with the truck being gloss i think matching looks amazing

 

[bergman]

Checked a thread on srt10forum.com Black Rims - Dodge Ram SRT-10 Forum
Carl had some nice input, about satin vs flat. I have flat black stripes on my truck so flat black rims would looks nice together, but as carl says in some lights the flat looks gray so when considering the satin might be a better option.

 

[NSDQ]

Your wheels look awesome Justin.

Bergman, I'll go outside and take a pic of my wheels dirty. It rained here last night and earlier this morning and I drove a little bit today, so they should be a little messy, so I'll take a pic so you can see what they look like dirty and I'll post a pic of them clean for comparison so you can see how flat black clean and dirty would look if that helps you out with your decision making process.

 

[bergman]

Sweet!

 

[NSDQ]

Clean

Dirty

Can't hardly notice any difference, if at all, IMO

 

[bergman]

Yeah those looks good Jason!

Justin do you have a pic on your rims mounted?

 

[NSDQ]

Thanks man. Disregard my lack of center caps. I'm waiting until I start getting paid again to order new black center caps.

 

[bergman]

Hehe, think ill order the blck srt center caps from tony.