I picked up some RSX wheels for $225 off craigslist. They were painted black, and the seller said there was no curb damage at all, and the paint job was really good. I picked them up (an adventure in itself) and discovered that they'd been painted with what appeared to be brush-on outdoor house paint. No biggie, I'd just strip the paint off, prime, paint, then clear. Oh no. The last three wheels weren't in such good shape. One wheel had some SERIOUS curb damage that had been repainted with black tempura paint to cover up the aluminum... I figured that it shouldn't cost more than $75 in supplies to fix all of them, and I'd still have a set of lighter than stock, wider than stock, Honda wheels for less than a set of König wheels.
So far I've just got three of them stripped, the previous owner used some neon green engine enamel on them, then some hunter green krylon, followed by black krylon, and then to finish it off, some black house paint. The black house paint was brushed on, while everything else was probably rattle-canned.
Aircraft stripper ftmfw. So easy to work with, just stay the fuck away from its fumes. First stripping session, I used the spray-can stuff, which took off the first three layers of paint. I then hosed it off with a high pressure washer at a car wash. Good times. After stripping the first very badly curbed wheel, I realized that the previous owner had repainted them (a different colour) every time he/she curbed a wheel. There was evidence of two touchups of the engine enamel, and a dozen touch ups of black house paint. Ugh. It took three stripping sessions to get the paint off, just because there was so god damned much of it. The aircraft stripper just doesn't seem to be able to penetrate deep enough through all fifty-bazillon layers of paint.
So far I've just gotten the curbage fixed on one wheel, and have the repaired areas primed. I used Bondo Plastic Metal to fill the damage. I then used a file and a sanding block to smooth it out, then primed it.
So far, here's what it looks like:
and in some different light:
Unfortunately I've got two more severely curb damaged wheels to go.
So far I've just got three of them stripped, the previous owner used some neon green engine enamel on them, then some hunter green krylon, followed by black krylon, and then to finish it off, some black house paint. The black house paint was brushed on, while everything else was probably rattle-canned.
Aircraft stripper ftmfw. So easy to work with, just stay the fuck away from its fumes. First stripping session, I used the spray-can stuff, which took off the first three layers of paint. I then hosed it off with a high pressure washer at a car wash. Good times. After stripping the first very badly curbed wheel, I realized that the previous owner had repainted them (a different colour) every time he/she curbed a wheel. There was evidence of two touchups of the engine enamel, and a dozen touch ups of black house paint. Ugh. It took three stripping sessions to get the paint off, just because there was so god damned much of it. The aircraft stripper just doesn't seem to be able to penetrate deep enough through all fifty-bazillon layers of paint.
So far I've just gotten the curbage fixed on one wheel, and have the repaired areas primed. I used Bondo Plastic Metal to fill the damage. I then used a file and a sanding block to smooth it out, then primed it.
So far, here's what it looks like:
and in some different light:
Unfortunately I've got two more severely curb damaged wheels to go.
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