Wheel & Caliper Paint - Toyota GR86, 86, FR-S and Subaru BRZ Forum & Owners Community

Lelandjt · 12-20-2021, 01:55 AM

I've got a "Pavement" color car with the 17" wheels on order. I want Bronze wheels but have nothing against the stockers except their color. How well do those "wheel paints" work? Am I seeing correctly that the wheels have silver spoke faces while the rest is black? After painting, will those areas look different?
I'd like to paint the brake calipers gloss black. Anyone have positive or negative experiences with caliper paint?

RToyo86 · 12-20-2021, 07:06 AM

I used duplicolors wheel paint and clear a couple years ago. The base coat colors are fine. I find the clear coats too soft for wheels. 1k is easy the spray but it won't harden like 2K clear.
If I repainted my wheels again I'd use base coat from duplicolor and 2k clear coat.

I've used por-15 caliper paint kit in black. Good experience with it. Comes with everything needed from start to finish, minus a wire brush.

G2 kit is good too. Their kit comes with a hardnerer that is added to the can during application, meaning it's a one time use product.

Lelandjt · 12-21-2021, 12:59 PM

Any other experience/opinions? I'm particularly concerned about the 2-tone wheels resulting in a bad looking finish.

soundman98 · 12-21-2021, 07:56 PM

paint only ever looks as good as the skill of the painter.

if you're worried, talk to a local powder coater.

Lelandjt · 12-22-2021, 08:28 AM

Ah, I hadn't thought of that option as cheaper than new wheels but better than DIY.

CrowsFeast · 12-23-2021, 08:16 AM

For my last car the wheels that I got only came in black (which I didn't want). Had them powder coated a golden bronze as I figured powder coat would hold up better than paint. They held up pretty well. I think the coating was a little extra thick and was actually kind of soft based on how it looked when I managed to curb them a bit.

For the 2 tone wheels giving an imperfect finish I would think there are 3 things to keep in mind if painting: 1, is the 'raw' area a different texture? machine marks, etc. will need to be sanded out. 2, lay a good base layer. 3, Do as many coats as you think you need and then probably at least 1 more.

If you're having someone powder coat them, assuming these are hub centric, make sure they mask off the ID. You'd think they would know to do this, but not all places do.

Ernest72 · 12-26-2021, 05:14 PM

Powder coating is not cheap. That money could be put towards new wheels. I only powder coated one set for my 04 WRX because they were old prodrive O.Z. That you can’t find easily. I would not spend to powder coat stock wheels. Get a new set that you want and DIY the stockers and use as winter wheels or sell if you don’t need a second set.

12-20-2021, 01:55 AM	#1
Lelandjt Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2020 Drives: '04 STi, '12 Mazda 3 Hatch Location: Breckenridge, CO Posts: 380 Thanks: 30 Thanked 122 Times in 89 Posts Mentioned: 2 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	Wheel & Caliper Paint I've got a "Pavement" color car with the 17" wheels on order. I want Bronze wheels but have nothing against the stockers except their color. How well do those "wheel paints" work? Am I seeing correctly that the wheels have silver spoke faces while the rest is black? After painting, will those areas look different? I'd like to paint the brake calipers gloss black. Anyone have positive or negative experiences with caliper paint?

12-21-2021, 07:56 PM	#4
soundman98 ProCrastinationConsultant Join Date: Sep 2013 Drives: '14 Ranger, '18 Tacoma 4Dr LB Location: chicago-ish Posts: 11,330 Thanks: 35,240 Thanked 13,675 Times in 6,782 Posts Mentioned: 98 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	paint only ever looks as good as the skill of the painter. if you're worried, talk to a local powder coater. __________________ "The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time"

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12-20-2021, 07:06 AM	#2
RToyo86 Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2018 Drives: 17 Asphalt 86 Location: Ottawa Posts: 2,233 Thanks: 1,767 Thanked 2,326 Times in 1,174 Posts Mentioned: 15 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	I used duplicolors wheel paint and clear a couple years ago. The base coat colors are fine. I find the clear coats too soft for wheels. 1k is easy the spray but it won't harden like 2K clear. If I repainted my wheels again I'd use base coat from duplicolor and 2k clear coat. I've used por-15 caliper paint kit in black. Good experience with it. Comes with everything needed from start to finish, minus a wire brush. G2 kit is good too. Their kit comes with a hardnerer that is added to the can during application, meaning it's a one time use product.

12-21-2021, 12:59 PM	#3
Lelandjt Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2020 Drives: '04 STi, '12 Mazda 3 Hatch Location: Breckenridge, CO Posts: 380 Thanks: 30 Thanked 122 Times in 89 Posts Mentioned: 2 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	Any other experience/opinions? I'm particularly concerned about the 2-tone wheels resulting in a bad looking finish.

12-22-2021, 08:28 AM	#5
Lelandjt Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2020 Drives: '04 STi, '12 Mazda 3 Hatch Location: Breckenridge, CO Posts: 380 Thanks: 30 Thanked 122 Times in 89 Posts Mentioned: 2 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	Ah, I hadn't thought of that option as cheaper than new wheels but better than DIY.

12-23-2021, 08:16 AM	#6
CrowsFeast Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2019 Drives: 2013 BRZ Sport-Tech Location: Toronto Posts: 354 Thanks: 184 Thanked 179 Times in 121 Posts Mentioned: 0 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	For my last car the wheels that I got only came in black (which I didn't want). Had them powder coated a golden bronze as I figured powder coat would hold up better than paint. They held up pretty well. I think the coating was a little extra thick and was actually kind of soft based on how it looked when I managed to curb them a bit. For the 2 tone wheels giving an imperfect finish I would think there are 3 things to keep in mind if painting: 1, is the 'raw' area a different texture? machine marks, etc. will need to be sanded out. 2, lay a good base layer. 3, Do as many coats as you think you need and then probably at least 1 more. If you're having someone powder coat them, assuming these are hub centric, make sure they mask off the ID. You'd think they would know to do this, but not all places do.

12-26-2021, 05:14 PM	#7
Ernest72 Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2016 Drives: 16 Silver BRZ, 04 Silver WRX wagon Location: Rockland county, NY Posts: 1,417 Thanks: 183 Thanked 771 Times in 442 Posts Mentioned: 1 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	Powder coating is not cheap. That money could be put towards new wheels. I only powder coated one set for my 04 WRX because they were old prodrive O.Z. That you can’t find easily. I would not spend to powder coat stock wheels. Get a new set that you want and DIY the stockers and use as winter wheels or sell if you don’t need a second set.

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