Plasti-Dip'ed my rims yesterday

[Throckmorton]

Looks good.

I had a flat recently and the spare tire made me realize my yellow Mustang looks better with black wheels... But I think I'm going to use that DupliColor Shadow Black paint since I have chrome wheels. I don't think "Bullitt" style wheels would look good Plasti-dipped and I don't think it's that easy to remove.

I used Plasti-dip to cover up a scrape on my unibody rail from a big speed bump, and it seems to be holding on very well half a year later.

 

[T2urtle]

I would agree that it changes the look completely.

Actually anything would be better then the chrome/polish finish you had originally.

I dont think the lug nut is an issue because its just gonna peel off once it comes into contact with a socket. Well assuming so...

 

[radtechtips]

I think I'm gonna do the rims on my Civic with the silver. The paint is starting to chip and I think it'll look good

 

[TridenT]

Never like that matte/primer look. I think the original finish is better looking and classier. Fortunately Plastidip isn't permanent.

All of this...

D:

 

[phucheneh]

Note how the lug nuts are taped off in this picture. The lug nuts keep their seats clear, and the tape keeps the lug nuts from getting coated.

But they're gonna spray over the wheel weight? Heh. That always made me laugh the most when seeing wheels that someone had painted with tires on.

 

[QueBert]

All of this...

D:

They have a rainbow chameleon color, you could have fruit loop rims.

 

[FuzzyDunlop]

I agree with the others. The matte black doenst fit the car. Plastidip has an aluminum spray that might match your paint rather closely. You should look into that one instead. I bought it for my rims when the come in.

 

[MistaFreeze]

What was the brand/kind you used? I'm looking to do something like this for an older rusted out van that would cover the the rust and make it look nice

 

[JCH13]

I can't find any messages out of the thousands on the dipyourcar forums talking about this. All I see is a lot of people having problems with the coating stripping off when they put the nuts back on. I'm not saying what you're telling me isn't accurate, but I can't find a single person mentioning it. With that said, I'll probably order some matte black lug nuts to keep me from having to re spray them when I get my tires rotated.

Perhaps the car I dealt with had exceptionally thick layers of plastidip.

Perhaps everyone is having the coating peel off because they're not plasti-dipping the lug nuts in the first place.

Pretty much all of the DIYs I've read have suggested taping off the lug nuts, so I assume that's what pretty much everyone does.

 

[Q]

I like the chrome better but the dip really isn't too shabby on the car I must say.

 

[RGN]

Nice! I like it. I may be biased though, I did my Altima SE-R rims two years ago. It's held up well, though I switch out the rims for the winter.

I think it looks good, I like the Saturn Sky, and the dark wheels.

Motor on.

 

[Throckmorton]

I agree with the others. The matte black doenst fit the car. Plastidip has an aluminum spray that might match your paint rather closely. You should look into that one instead. I bought it for my rims when the come in.

I think the black looks great with the silver car. Chrome doesn't look good with silver IMO, it clashes. Same with my yellow car-- it's just too much brightness. Trying to match the silver paint would be even worse

 

[JCH13]

Black wheels are a funny thing. They look fantastic on show cars and other cars when photographs are taken perfectly.

In reality I think black wheels are, generally, a terrible aesthetic.

Wheels are a big style element on any car, and painting wheels black, especially matte black, hides them. They make the wheel wells look like gaping holes. Just like black cars, black wheels can look great when they're clean, but as soon as they're dirty they look like crap. And wheels are the first thing to get dirty on any car. The only semi-good reasons I've ever heard to use black wheels on a car that actually gets driven is that if you use brake pads that shed dust like crazy and you want to try to hide it instead of washing your wheels every day. Or if you have REALLY impressive looking brake rotors and calipers and want to show those off more than the wheels.

I also wouldn't paint wheels near the same color as the car body (speaking from personal experience) for the same reason. It hides the wheels and robs your car's look of a very nice accent. There are more exceptions to this generality though.

OP took pictures of his wheels when they were illuminated very well by the sun, so they look decent. This is a bit deceptive. In more common situations, with diffuse or non-direct lighting black wheels just disappear into a blob of nothingness.

Just my opinion, feel free to disagree.

 

[Midwayman]

Generally I agree. I only really like them on black cars for when you're going for the all black look. A dark gray is almost always a better choice on most cars.

 

[Insomniator]

Looks better than the chrome, and even if it only lasts a year or two... its so cheap it doesnt matter.

I have a spare set of rims I might try this on for my silver mini with black roof. Its the perfect car for some crazy summer color... maybe lime green.

http://www.fullydipped.com/images/Mini Monster Green Wheels Plastidip.jpg

Its so dumb I kind of like it!

 

[Throckmorton]

Black wheels are a funny thing. They look fantastic on show cars and other cars when photographs are taken perfectly.

In reality I think black wheels are, generally, a terrible aesthetic.

Wheels are a big style element on any car, and painting wheels black, especially matte black, hides them. They make the wheel wells look like gaping holes. Just like black cars, black wheels can look great when they're clean, but as soon as they're dirty they look like crap. And wheels are the first thing to get dirty on any car. The only semi-good reasons I've ever heard to use black wheels on a car that actually gets driven is that if you use brake pads that shed dust like crazy and you want to try to hide it instead of washing your wheels every day. Or if you have REALLY impressive looking brake rotors and calipers and want to show those off more than the wheels.

I also wouldn't paint wheels near the same color as the car body (speaking from personal experience) for the same reason. It hides the wheels and robs your car's look of a very nice accent. There are more exceptions to this generality though.

OP took pictures of his wheels when they were illuminated very well by the sun, so they look decent. This is a bit deceptive. In more common situations, with diffuse or non-direct lighting black wheels just disappear into a blob of nothingness.

Just my opinion, feel free to disagree.

That's why I prefer glossy black wheels. Flat black looks bad

 

[Aharami]

looks much better than chrome, IMO. Chrome looks tacky on any car

 

[MagickMan]

Saturn Sky Redline, good chance you've never seen one. Saturn didn't make them for many years, and have since went out of business. I don't know numbers but I think only about 10k total were sold iirc.

I have my Sky RL Hydro Blue*, awesome little sports car and crazy fast, for what it is. It's a great Summertime DD, I'm never selling it. Did you get the factory upgrade kit for it?


*When I bought it they said they were going to make 500, but then GM went bankrupt and stopped production entirely. I was one of the last to get one and due to some problems with delivery I almost didn't get it at all. I ended up having to pick it up from the factory.

 

[QueBert]

I have my Sky RL Hydro Blue*, awesome little sports car and crazy fast, for what it is. It's a great Summertime DD, I'm never selling it. Did you get the factory upgrade kit for it?


*When I bought it they said they were going to make 500, but then GM went bankrupt and stopped production entirely. I was one of the last to get one and due to some problems with delivery I almost didn't get it at all. I ended up having to pick it up from the factory.

Damn nice color, I might even get it painted that when it's time to re-paint. Like you I don't think I'll ever sell it. I haven't yet upgraded anything performance wise yet, but I'll be getting the Trifecta tune this summer. Googling it looks like GM only made 89 Hyro's before they shut down production. I'm assuming the only difference is the color? It looks sweet I like it a lot.

 

[ViviTheMage]

plasti dip always looked a bit cheap to me, especially after a few months when it starts to chip/fall apart.

 

[deadken]

A buddy of mine had a Pontiac Solstice GXP (same as the Saturn Sky Redline) and he also had the chrome rims. Unfortunately, if you live in a climate where they salt the roads during winter, it can be terrible for your rims. I know, I know, this isn't the kind of car you drive in the snowy winter. But, he also had the chrome rims on his PT Cruiser and he swore it was the road salt that did them in. So, simply put, if I had a car with chrome rims and I was looking to use it during the winter months I'd consider 'dipping' the rims for that time.

FWIW: He said that car had little to none in the way of storage space. He said he would have loved to drive it from Long Island to Atlantic City for a weekend with his girlfriend. But, there wasn't enough room for one, let alone two suitcases (weekend trip, not a week long trip). IIRC, he said there were only like 2 option levels of the car: base or fully loaded.

 

[jtvang125]

Better than the chrome but black wheels are so played out now. You can never go wrong with the classic dark gray/silver.

 

[thestrangebrew1]

I'd like to see how these wheels would look dipped. Thinking matte black or gunmetal.

 

[JCH13]

I'd like to see how these wheels would look dipped. Thinking matte black or gunmetal.

Meh...

 

[hanoverphist]

on light color cars, i think the black wheels looks better. darker colors, chrome or lighter colors work better. its all about the contrast, IMO. i think your car looks way better with the black wheels. it would look even better with some of the chrome trim done black as well.

i got some plastidip type stuff (rustoleum flexidip or something like that) for the C pillars on my wagon, and some other trim that was really faded. it worked great! my son decided he wanted to do my grille also, so i let him. that also looked really good, but itwas already a black grille. the spray just unified the look of the old plastic. when i found a outback bumper for it (i have a legacy L wagon), it wasnt the right color so we sanded it down to get the rough spots out, then sprayed it as well. it looks really good IMO, even tho im not a fan of having a black bumper on a green car. ill leave it until im ready to paint the whole car tho. as for the black wheels, my wagon currently has the stock aluminium GT wheels on it, but i originally bought 17" 7 spoke gloss black wheels for it. i love them. when i need tires next time ill get new 17" for those wheels and put them back on. heres the car with grille and bumper sprayed.