I plan on painting my gray wheels gold. They are Minilites and so the rim part of the wheel will remain chrome and the spokes will go from gray to gold.
Any tips on prep and type of paint would be appreciated.
I agree that proper primer is a good idea in most cases. I paint my own bodywork and use PPG primer and urethane with hardner. But for my wheels, I took the easy route. I washed the Panasports with Simple Green, taped up the silver rims and shot the gold paint out of a can. It took about a half hour and the wheels haven't chipped thru 4 races.
The best thing is the paint cost me $1.50.
Wal-Mart has 3 different shades of gold metalic that comes in a small size spray can for $1.50.
The can will do one coat on 4 wheels. If they chip, I'll just spray them again.
Go to a NAPA(or similar) and get a self etching primer. This will adhere to the alloy surface of previous paint finish and is very tough. Your new paint will have a great bond. Adding a flex agent is correct if you are using a base/clear system. But finish with a good urethane clear coat and you should be all set!
Cheers
