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Refinishing Corolla Steel Rims

My Corolla is approaching 5 years old and I'm considering getting the steel rims refinished next year. The stock paint is almost transparent where they are exposed by the openings of the hub caps. I swap the rims for snow tire change overs and I clean and wax them before storing them away for the winter, but the paint still rubs off like water color!

How much more would it have costed Toyota to have them finished properly in the first place? Anyway, does anyone have tips for refinishing my rims properly. As far as I know, I will need them sand blasted, and repainted with an epoxy type enamel paint. I have been using Amsoil HD metal protector spray on some areas to avoid rust from forming, so all traces of it will have to be removed. Any ball park prices that I should expect.

Changing over to alloy rims for the summer does seem alluring at times, but the streets are horrible where I live, and steel rims stand up a lot better bad pavement.

Reply to
GM homepc
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About 15 years ago, I asked industrial powder coating places that didn't specialize in wheels, and they wanted $25-35, depending on whether I cleaned the parts or they cleaned them. They recommended polyester powder over epoxy, probably because polyester is almost UV- proof.

Years later, I ended up painting my steel wheels the regular way. The silver paint on my 1986 Toyota wheels was in good shape, except for the ugly gouges left by the trim rings, but my black Ford wheels were fairly rusty. I removed most of the paint with brake fluid because I thought it wouldn't hurt the rubber like regular paint stripper (I left the tires on but masked them anyway) and used Naval Jelly for the rust (NJ on bare metal also helps paint stick better). Because I couldn't reach every nook and cranny, such as around the spot welds, I also applied liquid sandpaper. I probably could have painted with just Rustoleum, but I wanted a solid color that was almost like metallic silver (Arizona sun -- not kind to metallics or clearcoats) and ended up using Ace Hardware primer and separate finish, which were cheaper than Rustoleum.

I don't think epoxy paint will help, except as primer, and then you probably want the 2-part type, and that has to be covered for outdoor use.

Reply to
larry moe 'n curly

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Popular with pickup guys for controlling frame rust.

Reply to
First of One

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