Painted OEM wheels black, silver center cover

MIA_02Liberty · **Posted:** Tue Sep 23, 2008 6:34 pm

Alright so today I was looking at my wheels and they are extremely chipped and paint is coming off... I was thinking about painting them black and leaving the center cap silver... Good idea?

Now my question is this... is it possible to take off the center cap without removing the wheel? I tried and they are kind of stuck there and I'm afraid to break them off..

Heres a pic of the wheels... the center cap is what I am talking about and want to remove...

tommudd · **Posted:** Tue Sep 23, 2008 6:49 pm

MIA_02Liberty wrote:

Alright so today I was looking at my wheels and they are extremely chipped and paint is coming off... I was thinking about painting them black and leaving the center cap silver... Good idea?

Now my question is this... is it possible to take off the center cap without removing the wheel? I tried and they are kind of stuck there and I'm afraid to break them off..

Heres a pic of the wheels... the center cap is what I am talking about and want to remove...

You would want to take the wheel off of the Liberty to do the job right anyways, then you can see how the center cap attaches, make sure you clean the wheels really good and sand everywhere, you should even paint the rear first so there is no loose rust etc behind that will give you problems later, what you do to prepare to paint is more important than actually painting them in a way

jeepkj02 · **Posted:** Tue Sep 23, 2008 7:42 pm

Definitely want to remove the wheel if you want to paint it. Sand it with a high grit sand paper or scotch-brite or steel wool. Clean it with some acetone. Get a wheel paint such as Duplicolor Wheel paint. Clear coat it and your done.

The center cap is bolted on behind the wheel. You can get black Cragar wheels for like $55/each on summit racing.

KJFROG · **Posted:** Tue Sep 23, 2008 8:07 pm

That's my next "mod" let me know how you do it, I was thinking of using rust paint or undercoating for more durability, I'm not into flash so I don't need gloss

tommudd · **Posted:** Tue Sep 23, 2008 8:15 pm

KJFROG wrote:

That's my next "mod" let me know how you do it, I was thinking of using rust paint or undercoating for more durability, I'm not into flash so I don't need gloss

don't think I would want to use undercoating, too heavy , not even across the wheel and also it tends to fade after a while so your wheels would end up looking light grey. Just use flat black if you want no shine :wink:

TAHOE · **Posted:** Tue Sep 23, 2008 8:29 pm

Not a libby, but here's a couple pics from my astro with black wheels and chrome caps.....

DryBones · **Posted:** Tue Sep 23, 2008 9:13 pm

I knew I should have kept my Astro van!

tommudd · **Posted:** Tue Sep 23, 2008 11:13 pm

DryBones wrote:

I knew I should have kept my Astro van!

yes they have some nice lifts out for them , almost better than for KJs :lol:

CrossBones · **Posted:** Tue Sep 23, 2008 11:22 pm

And don't paint the tires. :lol:

KeswickDave · **Posted:** Wed Sep 24, 2008 10:07 am

I'm planning to do this too... here's my photoshop of the options - I like the silver centers too...

jsc7002 · **Posted:** Wed Sep 24, 2008 1:47 pm

I dont think it matters if you paint the center cap or not, either way it looks good

MIA_02Liberty · **Posted:** Fri Sep 26, 2008 2:17 pm

Alright so today I had the day off and decided to go ahead and do this. I went to Pep Boys and bought two 12oz spray cans of Dupli-Color High Performance Wheel Coating (5.59 each) in color Black and one of the High Performance Wheel Clear Coating can.

1- I started off by taking off the wheels from my KJ. Remove center cap and clean the wheels throughly with mild soap and water.
2- I rinsed them off, air dried them, them grabbed a terry cloth and dried them some more.
3- I then went ahead and grab a 320 grit sandpaper block which I bought in Walmart and began to sand them down. What this does is removed all the inperfections on the wheel surface and removes any chipping or rusting areas and it also gives it a good surface for the paint to grab onto.
4- Once I did that I rinsed it down (You will see it looks like brake dust).
5- I began to wet sand it some more.
6- I rinsed it off...
7- Dried it and waited about an hour so that the surface can fully dry (If you don't wait you will get bubbles on ther paint).
8- I them grabbed a can of the black paint and began to do a very thin layer of paint. Basicly I was misting it on the wheel surface (You will see the wheel becoming darker but not black).
9- Let it dry 15 minutes...
10- I sprayed it once more with an even thin coat (Wheel should start getting a black appearance now)
11- Let it dry for 15 minutes...
12- Began to give it a medium coat and the wheel should become black at this time (Do not spray too close or the paint will drip and you will need to sand it down again.
13- Let it dry for 15 minutes...
14- Grabbed the clear coat and gave it a mist over the paint in a sweeping motion. (You will see the paint will become a dull black color)
15- Let it dry for 15 minutes...
16- Spray the wheel with an even amount of clear coat (DO NOT OVER DO IT)
17- Let it dry for 15 minutes...
18- Install the center covers back on the wheels.
19- Install wheels back on your KJ and let it sit for at least 3 hours without moving so the paint can cure.

Hint: If for any reason you have sprayed the wheels too cloase and you have a shiny spot that does not match the rest of the wheel, grab the black paint and just mist over the top of that area in light coats and the shine will go away and even out the wheel.

Final results:

Guest · **Posted:** Fri Sep 26, 2008 2:30 pm

local coin-op spray place and off roading makes my wheels black for me.

Before long they should not have a lick of silver on them:D

Ya did a decent job though, looks pretty good. I'm partial to the van on 31s though :lol:

TAHOE · **Posted:** Fri Sep 26, 2008 8:57 pm

ThunderbirdJunkie wrote:

I'm partial to the van on 31s though :lol:

Thanks, kind of wished I would have never sold it, had a V8 to swap in and everything, oh well!
the libby looks pretty good. Leave the caps silver.

Painted OEM wheels black, silver center cover

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