Improving ugly rims

Question

The rims on my 92 Civic are really ugly (discolored/rusted) and I'm wondering how to best make them look nicer without a lot of work or replacing them, especially since I'm about to get the tires replaced. Is painting the best option or can I clean them with rust remover of some sort? If painting, can I do it while the old tires are still on the rims, and is there any special paint I should use?

Here's a picture:

Update: And the same wheel after applying oxalic acid and some light scrubbing:

Answer 1

Try to remove as much rust as possible with either a die grinder or other rotary device with a wire wheel. Then just use some rust paint to spray over them. You don't even have to take them off the car if you don't want to. Honestly you could even skip the wire wheel if you are feeling really lazy but you may have to respray them every 6 months depending on your weather conditions.

You can find rust paint at any generic hardware store.

This is what I did to my girlfriend's rusted up steel winter rims and it has held up this winter pretty well. This isn't a long term solution by any means though the rust will still eventually eat through the paint and you will have to re spray them unless you get it done professionally. Or get aluminum rims.

Answer 2

If your lazy, get black rustolium and just spray over everything. Then follow up with a black gloss wheel paint.

It will look perfectly fine.

EDIT: Try Plastidip! Just get a can and remove the wheel, spray a few good coats, let it dry.

There are many, many tutorials on YouTube.

Answer 3

If you have a well ventilated area and you have a little time on your hands (a day total with waiting for paint to dry). Then you should just do it right so you're not upset with how they wheels look in a week. Pick yourself up some of my favorite product for stripping painted / rusted parts back down to bare metal.

Aircraft Paint Removal (APR)

This stuff is pretty dangerous stuff so be sure to wear thick, elbow high, rubber gloves and a face mask (it burns when it gets on your skin).

Now, lets get to work.

• Pour half of what you think you'll need it into a suitable metal container.

  - Once poured put the cap back on and put the APR in a safe location until you have used what has been poured.

• With a paint brush apply to the wheels and let it sit for about 10 minutes. - Don't let this sit overnight. (in case you somehow get that idea)

  - You will notice the paint will start to bubble.

• Once bubbled, allow it another five minutes to set in then if you have a garden hose accessible this will remove most (possibly even all if you applied the product correctly)

• Using a scraper and/or sand paper take off anything that was left over.

NOTE: Once the wheel is stripped down it will rust if you let it sit overnight or even for an hour or so (depending on moister in the air). You must apply at least get a layer of primer on them before stopping.

• Grab yourself a package of 3x5 index cards. Place these between the rim and the tire rim. (refer to the photo below)
• Apply your primer, paint, and clear.

It's a rather inexpensive process and I'm 100% positive you'll be thrilled with the results as well as the learning experience. I've used this product on some really nasty projects (wheel, restorations, machinery) and I've never been disappointed.

Answer 4

Firstly, I would like tell you that painting your car rims is not straightforward as painting a plain wall. It requires little more efforts and some appropriates tools as:

• paint thinner

• rags

• painters tape

• various grits of sandpaper

• newspaper

• steel wool

• Stops Rust paint &

• Self Etching Primer

Once you have arranged all the above tools you can proceed by following steps:

1. Prep the wheels: Remove all the rusting, flaking or chipping from the rims in order to get the paint stick properly and retain longer.

2. Tape off the tire: Most of the time we over spray the paint which get deposited on tires and seems ugly. You just tape the wheel at the point where rim meets the tire.

3. Apply the primer: Primer helps the paint to stick for long time.
4. Now paint the wheels: Now finally you can apply that paint coating over the rim.
5. Mount them and admire: Now remove the tape and mount the wheel again with the car. That’s it… now your shinning rims are ready to hit the road.

Answer 5

An alternative is just covering them up with wheel covers (sometimes called hub caps, but wheel covers cover more than the hub). They can be had quite cheap.