Braineack

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Refinishing Wheels

A good thing to do when autocrossing the Miata is to keep a spare set of rims with racing tires on them. That way you don't mess up your street tread and you don't have to worry about driving in the rain. Rims can easily be picked up on ebay for around $100 for all four! One downside is that most used rims have "crub rash" and aren't always in the greatest condition. One easy fix is painting the rims. Dupli-Color makes rim paint that works great. It comes in 4 different colors - White, Gunmetal, Silver & Bronze.


What you need:

Rims
Sandpaper
Wire brush
Duli-Color Wheel Paint
Duli-Color Clear Wheel Paint
Notecard (If tires are mounted)
Newspaper


Procedure:

Start by washing the rims with soap and water. Next simply sand them down. Use a fairly high grit paper, this helps the paint cling to the wheel as well as clean off any dirt. I went ahead and took off the coating of paint on the rims and exposed the aluminum to almost a polished finish. If your tires are already installed remove the air from them and put a ring of notecards around the lip of the wheel. This will prevent you from painting your tire. It's also a good idea to cover the tires up with newspaper as well.

Use long sweeping strokes to get a nice even coat of paint. Eventually building up 5 - 6 coats of paint. Allow the paint to dry for around 2-3 minutes. While still tacky use the clear rim paint and coat the rims. This will give it a nice shiny finish and help protect it from any future scrapes.

That's it! Allow them to dry overnight before handling. Spray paint does dry fast but you don't want to risk ruining your beautiful new wheels! And trust me, they will look new.