Finally have something to post...painting OEM Mach 1 Rims

[Chythar]

I'm looking to make my red GT look like a Mach 1, if our years had a Mach 1. I do like the 2003-2004 Mach 1 rims, but I also like the AFS Wheels Mach 1 wheels with the "Mac Black" inserts. I ended up getting a good set of OEM Mach 1 rims for a good price, so I'm painting the inserts black. Here's one rim, for starters:

Not bad, huh? But the gray inserts don't stand out enough for me. Here's what the rim looks like after I've masked it off. The green tape is called Frog tape, it's supposed to resist paint bleeding better than blue painter's tape.

Took me about a week of nights to sand the inserts and mask off the machined finish. What a PITA. As for painting, It's been humid here in Los Angeles which is fairly uncommon. But today the humidity dropped enough to paint. Here's a photo of the paint booth I whipped up, and the 4 painted rims. I used VHT Gloss Black Wheel paint, nice stuff.

Before painting, I let the rims and the paint can sit in the sun for 15 minutes or so. According to VHT, this helps the paint adhere better. After the paint cures for a couple of days, I'm going to wet sand them to get a smooth finish.

Looks like I didn't put on a thick enough final coat, I'll have to wet sand them and repaint when the paint cures in 7 days.

I'll re-post here with my results.

 

[SableSal]

Looking good so far man! I like it a lot! Now to get some wheels on my Mustang. Those black 5spokers I have are not cutting it AT ALL!

 

[94GTCoupe]

i'm so jealous,Chythar.
i love that style wheel.

my polished aluminum wheels are a pain in my butt!

 

[94gtfreak]

i'm so jealous,Chythar.
i love that style wheel.

my polished aluminum wheels are a pain in my butt!

I know the feeling!

Chythar-I can't wait to see the finished product! There gonna look great!

 

[revhead347]

They had a thing on painting rims on Musclecar TV today. I didn't realize it was that much work.

Kurt

 

[earleys94gt]

Can't wait to see the finished result.

 

[toyman]

i'm so jealous,Chythar.
i love that style wheel.

my polished aluminum wheels are a pain in my butt!

Me too

 

[Adam95GT]

ive had good results using a detailer spray to wetsand with on rims.

 

[Chythar]

ive had good results using a detailer spray to wetsand with on rims.

Really? Just use the detailer spray instead of water? Or with? Any particular brand of detailer spray and what grit wet/dry?

 

[Adam95GT]

Really? Just use the detailer spray instead of water? Or with? Any particular brand of detailer spray and what grit wet/dry?

Its been awhile since i did it but it was the only thing i had sitting in a spray bottle and it lubricated the sanding process quite well... i think i used 1000-2000 grit
We cleaned these fd rx7 wheels up and traded them for some tools.

 

[ProKiller]

i first saw the thread title then saw the green wheel and thought "holy crap the mystery machine is really going green" then i read the post and calmed down.

i've always been undecided on mach 1 wheels. i like them in theory but then on some cars i think they look like poo. the black really makes it stand out more and does wonders for the wheel. good luck with the second coat.

 

[Chythar]

i first saw the thread title then saw the green wheel and thought "holy crap the mystery machine is really going green" then i read the post and calmed down.

A friend of mine said I should just leave the rims green like that and put 'em on the 'Stang.

i've always been undecided on mach 1 wheels. i like them in theory but then on some cars i think they look like poo. the black really makes it stand out more and does wonders for the wheel. good luck with the second coat.

Agreed on the black making the wheel stand out, which is why I'm doing it. The Mach 1's aren't my favorite wheel of all time; I'm a big fan of Cobra R's, but I have them on my Cobra clone already. I love the look of the Cervini's ram air hood (basically a Mach 1 hood for our cars), so I got the idea to make this GT a Mach 1 look-alike.

 

[Nik_95Cobra]

Nice idea, I bet they're going to look great when you're done. I too, thought about Mystery Machines ride when I saw the tape.

 

[Chythar]

** UPDATE **

Well, I figured out the mistake I made last week with painting. VHT Wheel paint is supposed to go on thick - if it doesn't look glossy when wet, it won't be when dry. I had *just* enough paint left to put on a thick coat today, and here are the results:

If you use VHT Wheel paint, I recommend these instructions:

I suggest buying 3 cans of paint, 4 if you are painting the whole wheel. Better to have too much than too little. I ended up with three "light" coats and one medium/heavy, and I used all 3 cans I bought.

Sand down the surfaces to be painted with 320 grit sandpaper, to rough up the finish. Mask off EVERYTHING that won't be painted. This is the time to be really anal about it - the better your masking, the better your paint job will look. When you are ready to paint, place the rims AND the paint cans in the sun for at least 15 minutes or so to heat up the surfaces and paint. According to VHT, this will help the paint adhere better. It sure worked for me.

I highly recommend making a paint booth. Mine is made out of 1x2 lumber and plastic sheeting. The sides are held together by zip ties. I got fancy and added two hinges on one corner and a gate hook on the other and made a door. Not necessary, but handy. The paint booth will protect your fresh paint from bugs and leaves and anything else the wind brings along. Most important, you are protected from the wind - you waste less paint in a paint booth.

READ the instructions on the can! This is where I messed up. The can instructions say to hold the can 8-10 inches from the painting surface. This is pretty close IMO. However, it is necessary; you just can't get enough paint on the surface otherwise. Put down two light coats, then one medium coat; the last coat should look wet and glossy. In this case, what you see is what you get; a wet glossy surface will dry wet & glossy. I was convinced the paint would run, but it did not.

I'm not done quite yet; I still have a surprise for you guys on these rims. But for now, I need to peel tape off of three more rims.

 

[nmcgrawj]

awesome! I was tempted to get the black/silver mach 1 wheels years ago before i decided to do black chrome

 

[Chythar]

Here's the final look of the rims. These are wheel "spinners", even though they don't rotate separately from the wheel. However, the spinner can be moved by hand to access all the lug nuts.

 

[94GTCoupe]

that came out awesome.
good job.

 

[nmcgrawj]

Gonna have to see them on the car to see how i feel about the spinners....my mach 1's just had a regular centercap. Real sleek looking....hopefully the spinners dont interrupt that!

 

[94gtfreak]

Those look sexy! Can't wait to see 'em on the car!

 

[Chythar]

Rims are ON!

First, the Mach 1's without the spinners. Unfortunately, they're in the shade; I'll try to get better photos in sunlight. I got a set of Gorilla locking tuner lug nuts in black, so you can't see the lug nuts at all. The disc in place of the emblem is part of the spinner assembly.

Now, photos of the spinners:

All I need now is red brake calipers to really set it off. I have a set of Bullitt brakes I need to install one of these days; basically the Cobra calipers with a running horse instead of "COBRA" on the front calipers.