Painting stock mazda 3 17in. rims black
 

hey all, im pretty new to the site and gettin used to everything so bare with me.... I am thinking about painting my mazda 3 17in. rims black. What process should i got about this... wetsand? sandblast? primer? etc???? any help is nice, thanx!

I hate to kinda push this but I do powdercoating and I powdercoated a set of rims in gloss black for another forum member. I think you'll find he's pretty happy with them and it'll hold up a lot longer than paint.


to paint them properly you'll want to:

1. remove wheels from car
2. remove tires from wheels
3. sandblast wheels to bare metal
4. beadblast wheels to shotpeen the surface and harden the aluminum
5. primer coat the whole wheel
6. 2-3 complete coats of paint allowing hours to dry between coats in a dust free room
7. mount tires carefully
8. mount wheels carefully
9. drive carefully around curbs!

No need to "push" powdercoating. It'll look better, last longer and you've got a hook=up right here.

p/c em!

Honestly i have no idea how to sandblast wheels or beadblast them, are there certain body shops that will do this...such as universal car shops??? thanx for the directions though, ill look into doing this!!

^ would probably come out cheaper to get matty to do it... just my 2 cents


https://www.mazda3club.com/photo-video-gallery-29/powdercoated-stockies-40103/
https://www.mazda3club.com/wheel-tires-67/kargoboys-new-rims-40045/

actually unless he has shipping connections like Gary then it will probably be more. Shipping isn't cheap both ways.

didnt think about shipp'n.

i can't exactly send my rims to anyone because i live at college and need my car

I understand...i was there once myself. Iwill say this though...I don't know you so don't take offense..

there's a right way to do something and a wrong way....all the ricer cars you see with mismtached body panels and crummy cosmetics....that's the wrong way.

p.s. it's always cheaper and faster to just do it right the first time. If you can't do it right now just hold off until its an oppurtune moment.

of course, i totally understand!! I was just thinking of saving and getting actually racing rims anyways...so i donno! thanx for the input though

the 17 stockers on the 3 are HEAVY...finding a nice ultra lightweight 15" rim and some grippy low profile tires will do you well. Look for a set of 93-99 RX7 rims...they are 16" rims that weigh in about 14lbs a piece.

are 16's a better performer? i was thinkin 17's ???

I still got my eye on something like this.... whenever i have the Xtra money.

https://www.mazda3club.com/showpost....16&postcount=5

lhsguy, what is most important is wheel width, wheel weight and sidewall height.

I would MUCH rather have a 15-16" wheel that weighed 14lbs with a high quality 7" wide 35 series tire on it than a standard 17" X 7" wheel that weighs 23lbs with dunlops... the weight difference and wheel height alone will be a DRAMATIC change in how the car accelerates. when it comes to lateral grip the wheel width and sidewall height are all that matters.

the more I read this forum, the more i think about dropp'n down to 16"s on my msp.

if you can find a 16" rim thats the same width I'd do it.....get some sticky low-pro tires and some different lowering springs to take up the fender gap!

i'm finding it rather hard to a find a good looking 16x7 that fits

my front has virtually no fender gap right now... i'm thinking it would still look good.

i'm beginning to think they dont exist :)

i can get you rims that will fit and look great but how much are you willing to pay *cough*postert*cough*

yeah... i'll let you know when i win the lottery

hahaha, in all honesty I don't think $800 for a set of custom rims is bad.

absolutely not. i think its great but its about $800 more than i have right now

hahaha, same here!

do u recommend a particular brand of tires? I might at least change to a lower profile until i get rims, bc it might be a while if u know what i mean
although, i won't miss a great deal if anyone who reads this is getting rid of mint condition lightweights

it depends on what you want to do with them, how much you want to spend and what kind of road conditions you have..

my favorite brands are:

BF Goodrich and Nitto

I dont have bad winters so nothing special for that, roads are all fine, no shityones.

how much does this whole process cost?

doing it by yourself (equipment, etc.) versus sending it to matty/professional?

lol.. thanks!

better off leaving this one to the professionals, i say. if you want a durable finish, you gotta bring em to a shop to get em baked anyways, right? why not just let em do ALL the work. i just got my OEM aluminum alloy 17s blasted, sprayed and cleared for 300$. the finished product is light years away from anything i couldve done on my own.

Wheel painting
 

Try MotoMotion in Medina, Ohio. All they do is wheel refinishing, paint, chrome, etc.