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Refinishing & painting my snowflake rims

8K views 29 replies 15 participants last post by  spife7980 
#1 ·
I just started refinishing my stock silver and gold snowflake rims, Im getting some bigger tires and figured id save some money and keep the original rims and clean them up a bit.

I decided to pint the silver area white, what do you guys think?
This was the worst rim that I was using as a spare so I decided to a test trial on this one.

#1. I washed the rim with hot soapy water and dried it all off.
#2. Sanded out all of the corrosion with a Dremel using a wire tip.
#3. Sanded the rest of the silver areas I was painting with 400 grade wet sandpaper.
#4. Washed and then decreased the entire wheel.
#5. Tapping out the gold areas, this was a real PITA! After trying by hand and being unsatisfied i decided to tape the gold areas heavily and then use the dremel with a not so abrasive tip to sand away the corners make a clean and exact line, also it was faster then doing it by hand. I then used some compressed air to clean the surface.
#6. Used white auto primer (several coats) on the wheel. Says to wait 48 hours before you put on a top coat but im getting impatient!
#7. Need some help here, I bought a white glossy enamel finish, but I am wounder if it would be best to use a flat white and then do a separate layer of clear coat. Would this give me better protection?
 
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#5 ·
Not a fan of white rims :confused:...good luck keeping them clean.
 
#6 ·
Just finished the white gloss, but still did not add the clear coat. I can not decide if this would look good or not. My jeep is white/gold, so i thought it might clean things up a bit. It will be easy to clean the white section of the rim so i am not worried about that.
Any thoughts?



 
#7 ·
it would be good to see it on your Jeep

also is your int. tan?
 
#10 ·
It would probably look better if that tire wasn't complete **** and was a little more beefy.... I bought the jeep from a dealer and the sneaky SOBs took of the worst tire/rim and covered it with the spare tire case and locked it back in the trunk. I never thought to look at the shape it was in... live and learn... idk if it is even drivable.
 
#21 ·
I may have spoken too soon...seeing them on your jeep now i think it looks great.:thumbsup: but i still think it will be a pita to keep clean.
 
#15 ·
my vote is either all white or paint the gold part black
 
#16 ·
I like it!.. I wouldnt make the whole rim white but might think about chaning the gold to a diffrent color

maybe a silver like mine



:dunno:

Good Luck!!
 
#23 ·
i dont know where all the gold trim is on the 96+ ZJs but mine has a gold pinstripe and the black strip used to be gold on my jeep...

 
#24 ·
back when i had my cladding on my jeep i got some molding paint and painted the gold so it was black... then i took the pinstripe off ( easily done with a razor blade without ruining the paint... IF YOU ARE GOOD with a blade... if your not skilled with the art of razor blading :) dont try it.... and if your EMO that doesnt mean your good at razor blading.... skin and paint are 2 different things)
 
#25 ·
96+ ZJ's just had gold pinstripes and badges. I think the SE's had the silver and polished aluminum snowflakes..not sure on that one though. Limiteds had the gold on the snowflakes too.
 
#26 ·
I plan on getting new tires soon, I can not decide if it would be a better idea to paint my rims on the old tires to prevent accadental oversprey, or to paint the rims after the new tires have been put on to prevent damage to the wheel during the mounting/balancing process... ?
 
#28 ·
looking good!.. the rims on my jeep are pretty bad so im going to sand and paint the whole rim black.. i think it will look good with my bergindy (or how ever you spell it) jeep.
 
#30 ·
do it on the old. then if they get scratched it will likely be a easy touch up, and if it is major then i think that that shop should be willing to dish out the dough to repair it. then you dont have to worry about hurting your new tires.
 
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