Painted rims/calipers: Done :)
#11
09-02-2009, 03:18 AM
I forget the exact name of it, dont have the can handy, but it was a dark charcoal-ish graphite metallic something or other. Sorta resembles the meteor grey pearl Audi OEM color of the newer models in person.
#15
09-03-2009, 02:06 AM
http://forum.cusportcar.com/viewtopic.php?t=230
I didnt bother with taping the tire, tape doesnt stick to rubber very well and also takes a lot of tape per wheel, so I taped the valve stem and wedged index cards into the bead to apply the paint. A stack of index cards is about 2 bucks and can be reused, the amount of tape to be able to mask off 4 wheels successfully will be about 8 bucks for all the tape. I also sanded them down a lot more than The Russian did in that DIY, he just scotch-brite'd the surface, which probably is sufficient, but I had a lot of curb and road rash so I knocked down the clearcoat with some 320 wet sand paper, then 420 wet sand, then 600 wet sand. By the time I got to the 600, I had the original primer showing in places lol. Sure took care of the road rash though, very worth it. After that, I scrubbed them down with some denatured alcohol and let dry, inserted the index cards and did 3 coats primer, 3 coats paint, 3 coats clear coat. Easy peasy job, outside of taking about 5 hours on all the sanding and prep. And calipers are a lot more tedious than I expected, took me 3 hours to get the paint on all those. I am a perfectionist though, so maybe it doesn't take other people quite as long.
I didnt bother with taping the tire, tape doesnt stick to rubber very well and also takes a lot of tape per wheel, so I taped the valve stem and wedged index cards into the bead to apply the paint. A stack of index cards is about 2 bucks and can be reused, the amount of tape to be able to mask off 4 wheels successfully will be about 8 bucks for all the tape. I also sanded them down a lot more than The Russian did in that DIY, he just scotch-brite'd the surface, which probably is sufficient, but I had a lot of curb and road rash so I knocked down the clearcoat with some 320 wet sand paper, then 420 wet sand, then 600 wet sand. By the time I got to the 600, I had the original primer showing in places lol. Sure took care of the road rash though, very worth it. After that, I scrubbed them down with some denatured alcohol and let dry, inserted the index cards and did 3 coats primer, 3 coats paint, 3 coats clear coat. Easy peasy job, outside of taking about 5 hours on all the sanding and prep. And calipers are a lot more tedious than I expected, took me 3 hours to get the paint on all those. I am a perfectionist though, so maybe it doesn't take other people quite as long.
#16
09-03-2009, 02:27 AM
u own a house or something im guessing? or do u have extra rims for ur car? we arent even allowed to jack our car up here at my place.. so even only 3 hours isnt feesable.. ill have to find a place to do them before i buy the **** first lol
#17
09-03-2009, 03:29 AM
Nah, I just have generous friends with unused garages 
While I couldn't drive the car anyway for lack of ECU while it was getting chipped, I parked it in my friend's garage for the weekend and threw it up on some jack stands to do the necessary work. Be prepared to wait a lot longer than three hours though, the calipers have to cure for at least 24 hours before being driven. The rims are advised for the same, and the paint itself will be at least an hour per wheel unless you get them all prepped first and ready to go and then just do them all at once. I did mine one at a time for lack of large area to paint so it took a while. Like I said, 3 coats primer, 3 paint, 3 clear. The time factor sets in with having to wait about 5-10 minutes between coats, but with proper time management, enough room to do all 4 at once and perhaps a friend to do two while you do two, painting will take less time, but you still will want to wait at least a day before driving with the fresh paint.
While I couldn't drive the car anyway for lack of ECU while it was getting chipped, I parked it in my friend's garage for the weekend and threw it up on some jack stands to do the necessary work. Be prepared to wait a lot longer than three hours though, the calipers have to cure for at least 24 hours before being driven. The rims are advised for the same, and the paint itself will be at least an hour per wheel unless you get them all prepped first and ready to go and then just do them all at once. I did mine one at a time for lack of large area to paint so it took a while. Like I said, 3 coats primer, 3 paint, 3 clear. The time factor sets in with having to wait about 5-10 minutes between coats, but with proper time management, enough room to do all 4 at once and perhaps a friend to do two while you do two, painting will take less time, but you still will want to wait at least a day before driving with the fresh paint.
#18
09-04-2009, 06:07 PM
well here is my failed attempt at cool rims lol.. it started off fine... then a breeze happened in the middle of it... got some over spray on the tires... dont know if u can tell from the pic.. but its there lol.. anyways her it is lol
#19
09-04-2009, 09:46 PM
bleggh... looking at that pic i really need to get lower haha i HATE wheel gap... anyways i finished the other 2.. ran out of the gun metal though lol.. so i jsut went a lil over board with the clear coat hhaha hopefully it works.. either way urs looks a lot better than mine.. butit only took me like an hour to do mine as opposed to the 5 it took u... i kinda rushed it as it was 106 out today lol
