DIY: OEM Wheel Restoration (tires mounted), plus Hubcaps and Lugs -pic heavy

So I went to change to my winter rims and tires (stock tires) (175/65/R14) and was about to install them until I pulled them out of my garage to find them nicely rusted. I had not touched them since I took them off last spring, so they just rusted. Heres what they looked like after pulling out of garage:







Unfortunately, when I pulled them out, it was perfect painting weather, but these were in no shape ready for paint, so I had lots of work ahead of me and only colder weather to look forward too.

Another unfortunate issue I ran into was a lot of missing tools like no drill for my wire brush, so I had to do almost everything by hand sanding. I used a combination of different wire brushes, sand paper, and I even tried my mini wire brushes with my power dremel.








and that is as much rust as I was willing to remove before applying a dose of Rust Check Rust Converter by wiping it on with a rag and trying to soak it in to the rusty areas:


I did this to all 4 rims and gave them both 2 applications of the Rust Converter which cleaned them up very well. It doesn't actually convert the rust back to metal, but it reacts and makes it a stable surface for painting and will slow future rusting.
Be sure to wear gloves as this stuff is corrosive:

This didn't burn or anything, but it stained my hands for 2 days, there still a bit stained.

Heres some more pics of me scrubbing rust and the tools and products I used:




Then after my final application of the rust check rust converter, I let it cure for 24 hours then washed them with dish soap and water (inside lol)

Then to degrease the rims, I used VHT Caliper Cleaner:

It evaporates almost instantly and leaves no residue!

Then it was time to tape off the tires and valve stem:



Then once all taped off, I used an air duster can (can of air) to blow out any dust before spraying the rims with the Tremclad Rust Reformer:

Then I had to set up a paint booth close to the house so I could run the tires back inside to properly cure due to the cold temp.



Then after spraying all 4 rims, I quickly moved them into my house to dry for 24 hours:


Then after 24 hours heres how they turned out:








I would say that stuff alone worked pretty good, I missed a few spots in the seam areas and I tried my best to coat the inner lips the best I could (they were really rusty).

....So the next morning after 24 hours had passed, I was ready to paint:

It was cold out again so I moved the paint booth lol



I painted all 4 rims with 2 coats of the Tremclad Gloss Black. I did this by painting the rims outside individually then moving them inside to dry. By the time I was finished painting the 4th rim, it was about 40 mins since I had put the first coat on the first rim. So it worked out that I could get my second coat of paint on within appropriate timing. Then I set them all inside to cure:


Then after another 24 hours (give or take), it was time to remove the tape to reveal:








That should be enough pics lol. The paint turned out pretty good for my purposes. It is very shiny and no rust is visible!

In the end, Im thinking this was way too much work just to restore my OEM steelies. but only because I had a lack of sanding tools to remove the rust fast. I will be curious to see how they hold up through the winter. Im predicting they will not look as good as when I go to put them on, thats for sure haha.

ERMAHGERD bro I read that first paragraph and thought you had to start all over again on another set of wheels

why do guys have separate sets of rim tyres for winter......cant u just swap new tires on same rims........I hope it isn't much costly.........over here swapping of tires on same rim costs maximum 500 labour................and those steelies are worth 600 to 800 when selling per piece and I guess below 1500 pkr when buying new.....wheel caps last time I bought them for my steelies they were 450 for 5.........I still have one with me.......

It is a lot cheaper and easier in the long run to have 2 sets of wheels. plus, seems people are afraid of damaging their good wheels on winter potholes and salt!

Updated the first post, its finished.

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ERMAHGERD bro I read that first paragraph and thought you had to start all over again on another set of wheels

The only way I would do this much work to another set of steelies would be if I was getting highly paid lol

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why do guys have separate sets of rim tyres for winter......cant u just swap new tires on same rims........I hope it isn't much costly.........over here swapping of tires on same rim costs maximum 500 labour................and those steelies are worth 600 to 800 when selling per piece and I guess below 1500 pkr when buying new.....wheel caps last time I bought them for my steelies they were 450 for 5.........I still have one with me.......

Some people leave the same tires and rims on but for my purposes, it was just easier to use my OEM rims and tires that are already mounted and balanced then to buy new tires for my Voxx 220 rims. My voxx rims are currently mounted on 205 sport tires which are great on pavement, but poor in the rain, and I couldnt imagine trying them in the snow. My oem steelies and tires are practactly new rubber...and new steel now lol

and another reason we change our rims/tires in the winter is because of what the person above mentioned as well

ohk........i forgot about that....snow driving requires tires of different tread

Speaking of rust and salts, don't forget to spray the undercarriage to rid of salts when you're washing your car.

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Speaking of rust and salts, don't forget to spray the undercarriage to rid of salts when you're washing your car.

I have wanted to do this for so long now and was even going to do it myself, but how do you spray the entire undercarriage without getting overspray all over everything. I want my car to look clean underneith and am worried that if I take it somehwere to have it undercoated, they will just spray everything and not tape off anything.

Regardless, you are right and I do need to do something. so much work, so little time. I would like to paint my hubs too.

What is the process of a professional undercoating? do they remove anything? or just raise the car, pressure wash it and degrease it, then spray with undercoat? Im nervous

EDIT: Oh, i just reread ur post, you mean just be sure to pressure wash the undercarriage when I wash my car thoughout the winter? That sounds cheaper then getting a professional undercoating lol

What is this "snow" you guys are talking about?

lol yeah, I meant pressure wash. That's what I've been doing lately because of all the rain and dirt.

But what you mentioned is not a bad idea either, though it sounds kinda expensive. :/

Hubcap Restoration:

Once again, I way over did it on restoring something not so "valuable or cool" lol. but anyway, I am restoring my hubcaps (repainting them and filling scratches) because they got pretty beaten up from last years driving. So hopefully I do it right this year.
Here is what Im working with:





I think I used Dupli-color Acrylic Enamel Gloss Black last year and Duplicolor clear coat, but I remember it was cold and I sprayed heavy, and only used duplicolor primer in the scratched areas (if I even used it at all). and they did not get proper curing time before I used them.

So heres this years prep work: Sanding


Then I decided to use something to fill the scratches. I had a choice of bondo glazing spot putty, or this stuff called quick plastic. I chose the quick plastic:


It comes in that tube (very sticky stuff, had to cut open tube). There is that blue stuff on the outside then some white tanish stuff on the inside. to mix it, you moisten your fingers, cut off a chunk, then mix with fingers (may have to remoisten ur fingers), then once mixed to a uniform color you push it in to any cracks or scratched areas trying to smooth it out a cm or so past the scratched area (I didnt do that lol). I ended up making a mess and used way too much for the small scratches I had (ended up making more work because I had to sand it all off).






lol, it dries within 10 mins so you have to work quick, and it is fully cured in 3 hours for sanding and paint. This is excellent stuff if used properly, I remeber using it on my bumper to fill in some scratches.

Luckily I only did this to one hubcap (it had the most and biggest scratches). I sanded and sanded this with 100 and 120 grit sand paper, till I finally gave in and pulled out the drywall sander and dremel sander bit which made short work.




Then I went to all of the other caps and used my dremel and a mini wire brush to scrape out any loose/un-adhered paint in the corners:

Then I used some more 100/120/180 grit sandpaper to ruff up everything on each hubcap





and thats how they are currently existing right now, ready for primer, paint and clear (well, after I wash them ofcourse).

Here is what I have purchased (already had some of it) for painting these hubs:






I am going to read up a bit more, but my plans are to spray with the duplicolor adhesion promoter, then the filler primer, then sand to smoothness (trying not to sand below the filler primer). Then to spray 2-3 coats of the black mica, then 2-3 coats of the clear...

Or I was thinking of trying something new and spraying 2 coats of the flat black, then 1-2 coats of clear over that, then hit it with 1 coat of the black mica, then clear over that for a unique effect. Or, instead of using the mica for a second base coat, I could try a light coat of my cars paint color green (though its not duplicolor), then clear over that. Trying to come up with something to make them unique.

Any thoughts/suggestions?

I dont think Im going to bother with the adhesion promotor, I just dont know enough about it and it says paint must be applied within 10 mins of application. but Im in no rush to get started anyway due to this little issue


What a great day for painting! Its suppose to go up to maybe 9 degree C, but doesnt look it, looks like its gonna snow lol

So Im going to use the time to go buy some more filler primer because I only have 1/2 a can which will not do.

Dammm, ran out of base coat, and missed some corners



got lots of primer on and id lots of sanding, but when it came time to paint, I ran out doing the third coat.

what should I do?

I used Duplicolor perfect match (acryilic laquer) for base coat, but I still have a can of black duplicolor acrylic enamel, plus the clear coat i was going to use is acrylic enamel?

Its right around that time frame to put on the clear coat, but its now freezing and dark out, but It only reached a max of 8 C today, and it was dropping when I was putting the base coat down. arghhh so frustrated...all over hubcaps too lol

Awesome work david, can tell alot of time and effort has gone into that and it shows

yea but all that time and effort didn't pay off after I ran out of base coat, theres just a few little areas in those corners i missed.

but I just joined a professional (I think its professional) auto painting forum so I can get better and actually know what Im doing lol. Its called autobody101.com. I kept my same username too lol

Im thinking about sanding up this base coat and reapplying an acrylic/enamel basecoat to go with the acrylic/enamel clear coat I have.

The base coat I used (is currently on the hubs) is a acrylic/lacquer and requires the same type of clear coat (which I dont have).

Oh Yea, currently sanding up my lugs to get painted as well, Plus exchanged one of my extra tremclad black cans I used for my rims for a can of tremclad clear coat. Do you think its worth clearing my steelies? would probably protect from stone chips and what not better

Well, I think I managed to fix my hubcap paintjob, went back to the store to buy more of my base coat; and they were sold out of the Black Mica, so I made an executive decision and chose to purchase a Universal Black Met. I liked the look of the cap. So it was settled, this was going to be the new colour:


So I used some 2000 grit 3M sandpaper to lightly dry sand each hubcap lightly and got ready to paint. It was much nicer out too, 8-10 degree C.


I did 2 coats with this new base coat colour, first coat was light and even, then second coat was medium to heavily applied. and I ended up missing a spot and having to go back to spray again...but I eventually got them all evenly coated with base coat and I like the colour.


and here is after 3 coats of Acrylic/enamel clear coat:

Pretty sunny in that room at the time. Heres how some of the ruff spots turned out:





and thats it, there done, and there going to remain in that room for 7 days untill fully cured before they see any action.

7 days wow.


But they look amazing! They will match the tires very nicely.

Looks like everything came out really well. Steelies should last ya quite a while now

Im not taking any risks of my hubcaps chipping up like they did last year, that was rather embarrassing lol.

Im hoping everything will come out ok, but I guess afterall; they only have to last the winter lol

and Im wondering if I should keep the same rims (my good rims and tires) or if I should trade up for a new look for next summer?