I want to "customize my A4 Avant by painting the chrome badges. I was thinking of hyper black or something like it. Basically I want to keep the shine but I want the color to be more grey than chrome .... I think that is hyper black. DOes anyone have any ideas of what type of paint to use? Acryllic? I am gonna sand it, prime it, and paint it. I think that is the correct technique.

I also have the 15" 7 spoke silver stock wheels. I am going to buy 18" gunmetal wheels next year, flik justice or B7 RS4 gunmetal replicas. Unitil then I thought it would look cool to have gunmetal colored stock rims. Has anyone attempted to paint their wheels with any sucess? WHat would the proceedure be to paint my wheels? What kind of paint should I use. I have never been much of a DIY person, so obviously I don't know **** about doing any of this, it just sounded like a fun project. Thanks in advance for any input.

Here is a pic on my stock 15's

Oh yeah, my car is blue with grey lowers, so darker colores look sweet on the blue

[IMG]local://upfiles/21058/9B6E34C4DD6D4F889DAF13DCCC12E4DF.jpg[/IMG]

 

It's gonna be a Pain In The ***. You're better off waiting for your new wheels. Or better yet, use the time you would've spent on painting your wheels to put in some overtime and get your wheels faster.

People have done it, but because you're planning on replacing them you're wasting your time and they'll be harder to sell.

 

If you have the time, try it!!!

It would be a similar process to painting a car panel.

You would sand the shiznit out of it with 200 grit or so, then work your way down to higher grit, finishing with 1500 grit so its really smooth.

Then, you probably want a primer coat (prevent rust) then wet sand again lightly with 1500 to ensure smoothness and get out any runs, rough areas.

tape off the inside of the rim with masking tape so the paint/primer only gets on the outside of the wheel.

Then, use automotive paint do to 2 to 3 coats of paint. If you have a sprayer, you can then do clear coat for furthur protection, although I have been told you dont need to. You can finish with a clear spray can, but that kind of clear coat is no harder than the paint. So, you should just do 2-3 coats of paint then forget about the clearcoat unless you have a pro sprayer at your disposal.

You want to let the paint dry for 30-60 days. Then you can lightly wet sand with 2000grit or use a polishing compound to do the final polish, if you want them to be shiny. If not, let the paint dry and then hit it with a coat or two of wax to help protect it.

If you try it, post pics and let us know how it went!

I think it would be cool to highlight the rims with the actual color of the body, like maybe paint the outside or inside of the splines with colored paint, like they do on many exotics like lambo's and such. Use your imagination and photoshop to try out some different ideas before you do the painting.

Its a long arduous process, but you would have something cool for your car that no one else has, so if you have the time and resolve, go fo it.

 

Thanks fot the info .... very helpful .... Damn I didn't realize I needed to let the paint dray for so long! I only have 1 set of wheels, so I could only let them dry for a weekend, then I have to hit the road! I will have to give this project a little more thought.