One of the first things I did after I bought the car was clean it and then buff out the paint. I also replaced broken or cloudy lenses on lights. The paint and trim came alive, the lights were crisp and bright. Everything was great, well except for my light grey wheels. They should be black, but the years of sun, rain, wheel cleaner and heat had faded them to an irregular mottled grey.
Someone online mentioned in an old forum post I read that the Wurth Satin Black Trim Paint is the trick for these wheels. I decided to try it out.
Materials:
Surface Prep - key to getting contaminants off of the surface prior to paint. Ensure you don't have fisheyes and other issues.
Paint
Painter's tape and paper for masking
Somewhere outside, hopefully above 60 deg, not too windy, and dry.
Jack the car up, I used the factory jack location to do 2 wheels at once.
Take the wheels off, and lets proceed:
A sad, sad wheel
Prep All is good stuff. After you wash the wheel with soap and water, dry it off and clean it up with this on a lint free towel.
Here we are after prepping it. Much more even, but still grey.
Now mask it off. Use short pieces of tape so you can follow the curve. Maybe 1"-1.5" long. Overlap them. Take your time. Prep is everything. If you do get paint on the chrome, you can use metal polish or some other solvent to clean it off.
Ok, now the inner edge is done, we'll tape paper on to protect the the outer parts
I just recycled shipping material for this.
And apply your paint. I did some laying down, and then some standing up. I wish I had a booth and proper gear but not right now. The rattle can did ok. Nice even motions, not too fast, not too close. Be patient. Clean the nozzle after each coat (you spray upside down until the paint stops coming out) and watch the nozzle for dripping.
And here it is on the car
All done! A much better look than before. We'll see how the Wurth trim paint holds up.
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