How To Refurbish Your Wheels At Home With Rattle Cans

My alloy wheels were in need of a refurbishment. The polished rims are dull, the powedercoat is flaking off. This is how I refurbish wheels.

This guide is how I refurbished my alloy wheels, from flaking powder coat to shiny black gloss paint. I am not a professional painter/sprayer so my advice should be treated as entertainment only. If you decide to follow these steps then you do so at your own risk. If you have any questions, corrections or comments please let me know down below.

Removing old Powder Coat

The first step was to remove all the old white powder coat/paint residue. It wasn't a difficult job as it was mainly flaking off anyway.

The paint was removed using Nitromors gel. Simply pour it on and make sure every bit of paint gets covered. It's hard on the vertical surfaces but not impossible.

I left the Nitromors to work overnight and during the day. When I checked in on it after work the following day the paint was blistered and flaking off. All I had to do was scrape it off with an old credit card.

The vertical bits were a bit more tricky, I ended up using a Dremel tool to remove the paint.

I also used the Dremel to clean up the nuts and polish the rim.

I then washed the wheels and wiped them with alcohol to remove all the surface grease and residue from the Nitromors and any dust from the Dremel.

Masking and Painting

The next step was to mask off all the areas I didn't want the paint to get on. This was tricky due to the roundness of the rim and also the nuts around the edge. I ended up tearing off tiny little bits of masking tape and individually wrapping each nut, followed by the tire itself.

Just before applying the first coat of primer, I wiped the wheel down again with a panel wipe. Any fingerprints or grease will spoil the paint.

I left about 24 hours between coats. I applied two coats of primer and three coats of paint. I used Hammerite black gloss spray cans.

Final Result

Once the paint had dried I peeled off the masking tape. The first piece came off okay, but the second took some paint with it. Not too much and I was able to touch it up. I ran a knife around the rim to separate the paint on the rim from the paint on the tape. This proved effective in preventing the tape from pulling the paint off. Once all the tape was removed I could see the finished result. Much better than before!