How To: Repair curb rash and paint rims

Sweet write up, but what is puddy? Putty I've heard of....... :p

Flash5 said:
What did you do with the lug nuts then? Paint them the same color of just leave them silver?

Pics?????
Would that even last throught the 1st tire change???? Why paint the lugs? Anodized, sure, but paint's not dureable enough for something that's coming on and off often
 
NCZ13 said:
wait so the center caps are gonna be the stock color while the rest is whatever your painted it?

im interested in what thats gonna look like

doesnt the mazda symbol come out of the center cap tho? so if i wanted, could paint the center cap?

Yes the round caps in the middle of the wheel come out(like I showed in step 2), and yes I took them out so I would have black wheels whith a chrome mazda symbol in the middle. It looks dope! I will be posting more pics today, me and my local mazda guys are having a meet and taking a bit of a drive. So I will get lots of pics then.
 
how well does the wheel paint last, i need to repair the old rims i had, and i'm just wondering how durable the wheel paint really is
 
Great write-up!

I definitely gotta try this.

R
 
wmbeaver said:
how well does the wheel paint last, i need to repair the old rims i had, and i'm just wondering how durable the wheel paint really is

It all depends on the quality of work you put into the job. If you do alot of sanding, preping, cleaning, many layers of paint, and be patient for all paint layers to dry fully then this will last quite a long time. Alot of people try and rush the job by skipping sanding, priming, and clean up and those are the rims you see with chips in them a couple months down the road.
 
blkspdfreak said:
great job, i want to do my msp rims sti gold. how much in materials all together?(headbang)

It will be around $40 for all the materials. I used up two cans of wheel paint and about one and a half cans of primer and a full can of clear coat.
 
mazdaspeed777 said:
It all depends on the quality of work you put into the job. If you do alot of sanding, preping, cleaning, many layers of paint, and be patient for all paint layers to dry fully then this will last quite a long time. Alot of people try and rush the job by skipping sanding, priming, and clean up and those are the rims you see with chips in them a couple months down the road.


yea, i plan on taking my time, as i will be selling my old rims, but i can't decide if i should do this or not, because they have some decent curb rashes
 
wmbeaver said:
yea, i plan on taking my time, as i will be selling my old rims, but i can't decide if i should do this or not, because they have some decent curb rashes

The putty can take care of any and all curb rash, corrosion, and chips you throw at it. One of my wheels was almost curb rashed the whole outer edge and now you can't even tell.
 
i am gonna be doing this hopefully the first week of may once classes and exams are over. I think I am going to paint the center cap though, not sure yet, I'm still trying to decide. :)
 
question: do you think one could repair a portion of one of the rims and paint part of it (the stock silver) as a way to just repair and paint the curb rash? I have a little bit of curb rash on one of my rims that I'd love to get repaired, but I don't want to paint all my rims...
 
whitemp5seattle said:
question: do you think one could repair a portion of one of the rims and paint part of it (the stock silver) as a way to just repair and paint the curb rash? I have a little bit of curb rash on one of my rims that I'd love to get repaired, but I don't want to paint all my rims...

you could do it but you would probably have to repaint the entire thing. like sand and everything. are you able to get a can of the stock silver?
 
Nice write-uop Dan! For everybody else reading...they look great in person. Amazing how a little bit of prep time makes for a perfect finish.
 
whitemp5seattle said:
question: do you think one could repair a portion of one of the rims and paint part of it (the stock silver) as a way to just repair and paint the curb rash? I have a little bit of curb rash on one of my rims that I'd love to get repaired, but I don't want to paint all my rims...

Unless the paint matches perfect, and you feather it really well, you'll see it. The best way would be to paint the whole wheel (even if it's only the one with the rash) so that the color is uniform.
 
whitemp5seattle said:
question: do you think one could repair a portion of one of the rims and paint part of it (the stock silver) as a way to just repair and paint the curb rash? I have a little bit of curb rash on one of my rims that I'd love to get repaired, but I don't want to paint all my rims...

Yes you can just paint part of the rim. Its just a mater of finding a paint that matchs the stock silver. Here is a right up that I got most of my ideas for this mod, but he only repairs and paints part of his wheel like you said:

http://www.autopia-carcare.com/realwhda.html

Here is the paint he used that matched his porch rims. This paint works for BMW, Mercedes, Audi, VW, Porche and most other european cars:

http://www.autopia-carcare.com/wus-892181.html

It is likely that it will work for mazdas. If it doesn't you can always sand it again and repaint it. You might want to try calling your mazda dealership to see if they know of a paint that matchs stock wheels, or better yet any auto parts store should give you a good idea as well. Good luck
 
Last edited:
sam1 said:
Nice write-uop Dan! For everybody else reading...they look great in person. Amazing how a little bit of prep time makes for a perfect finish.

Thanks samyboy!(alright) (naughty) :cool: (drinks) . Thanks again for the fun croooz!
 
Back