Hey guys. I've searched but you know how promising that is. Today and tomorrow i've decided that i will paint the inside of my wheel-wells, just the frame parts actually. The RS2 solar yellow paint has a mildly dark lime green undercoat/ primer (whichever) and the visible parts of the frame seen through the wheel well's are lightly green. Whenever my rims are in motion, this ugly green frame part of each well is visible and looks really bad IMO. I plan to just spray paint them a non-gloss black, only to hide the frame. My question however is: What kind of spray paint should i use? I was planning on heading out to autozone and just picking up black caliper and drum spary paint, or engine spray paint and using that. Is that cool? Will it come off or fade over time because of weather (rain, etc.)?


Here's some pics of what i'm talking about:








thanx

 

How about black undercoating stuff... or bedliner roll-on stuff.

Those will probably be better in terms of noise and longevity over paint.

 

Alright! Good news!!

I got the driver's side wells done!! Tomorrow i'll tackle the passengerside.

Here's a few pics:










Lookin good!! It only looks a lil glossy in the pics because it isn't quite dry yet.

 

The dealer had put a black protective strip around each wheelwell, so I ended up with a stripe of white and then the black/white of the wheelwell. Autozone undercoat is also what I used. You are doing a good job of masking off. Looks good.

 

thats a great idea

 

looks good! I want to do the same thing! I was going to use a spray in bedliner in a can stuff

 

Yes, everyone with an XB or any other car, Paint your wheel wells flat black.
No one wants to see your unpainted, unfinished wheel well area.
A can of flat black Crayola paint will cover a multitude of sins.

 

I have been wantingto do this for months!!! I just can't find the time.

 

Nice!!

 

Crayola paint? whuzzat?

Lookie: I painted one rear wheelwell a month ago using 3M's "Pro" grade asphaltic undercoating in a spray can.

A month later: I wish I had not used undercoating. Why? Well, a greasy black film forms on the outside, on the yellow paint. I think this is coming from the asphalt, which is slowly dissolving.

Road oils kicked up by rainwater and splashed on the undercoating by the tire seems to be the culprit. Oil dissolves asphalt.

I reach inside the wheelwell and my fingers come off with tacky, greasy asphalt stains. This was not the case after the first day or even week.

I think I'll look to some other kind of paint for the remaining three wheelwells. Bedliner compound is promising. So is a thin coat of brush-applied satin black Rustoleum. Rustoleum is an old fashioned alkyd enamel. Alkyds adhere well to clean surfaces. Easy to renew with a brush; no masking needed.

Tire cleaners like Westley's are strong enough to degrade an asphalt based undercoating, making it oily/dirty like in my case.

Other than this soiling of the body paint, which washes off easily, I've no complaint about undercoating. Am surprised it's giving me trouble. My bad luck alone, I hope!
to reiterate:
===undercoatings of this kind are asphalt. asphalt is tar.
oil on asphalt dissolves the asphalt to a more or less permanently sticky goo.
roadway oils degrade the coating to an extent equal to the exposure.
after running around for a while in hurricane soaked streets my coating is sticky and staining in the area where water gets thrown off the wheel onto the coating. Some small amount of this oil/tar washes off and leaves a grime on the paint. easy to wash off but who wants it? YOUR results will vary. Maybe you won't have a BIT of this minor trouble I experienced. I never heard of it before. Maybe I am a fluke example. Someone please chime in yay or nay to asphalt undercoatings... because I just put a lot of worry into young heads.

sorry about this downer.
reid

 

nice mod. thanks for sharing.

 

Ahhh, see that was my worries prior to! I'm using a flat black all purpose spray paint. Do you think this will occur with what i'm using??

 

I think youre fine with that! Yeah, maybe it's only me, but -asphatic undercoating has become a problem- tacky goook

-suggestion that brushed-on paint will look about the same. This avoids overspray and masking off.

GLAD I only painted one wheel well so far with spray can undercoating.
Look at the improvement guys that blacking out made




This was last month. These are undersized tires (50 series profile) on steel wheels) The horrible gap looked less horrible with the black out treatment.

Now I've got Tein Basics lowering the car quite a lot. Wheel gap isn't so bad any more.

thanks for this thread, Prototype!

reid

 

^^ yes that does look way better.

 

It's gonna be better yet... on the cheap and sturdy with this unfashionable but pragmatic wheel treatment, now that Tein Basics are in.

Chucksu and Proto: Your wheel choices are realllly beautiful. I like!

Chucksu: CONGRATS on your new ride! A rare Camo, man!

 

Alright, i just finished the passenger's side. No need to post pics since it looks exactly the same as the driver's side, but this is def an EASY project to tackle!!!! Looka ALOT better now. Only advice a can give to anyone wanting to try is:

1) Take your time! Nothing hurts you more than trying to rush
2) Masking tape is your friend. Mask anything under/beside/above what your painting that you don't want to be tagged.
3) Trash bags are handy! Use them to cover up the paint on the car around where you're painting. I absolutely recommend this if you're working outside were the wind is blowing, even very lightly.
4) Cover your face. Shop glasses and a mouth mask are perfect.
5) Before painting make sure you clean the well GOOD! Use brake cleaner or Carb cleaner spray to break up all the gunk and grim, use a scrub and hose it down. And duh, wait for it to dry before painting. The sound dampening is sorta like a sponge, so give it about an hour.
6) it is a very physical job and takes alot out of ya, so break it up into 2 days if you have time. 1 day--> 1 side, etc.
7) if ya have 2 jacks, then you can tackle 1 whole side at one time as i did
8) While you're waiting for either the water or paint to dry, go ahead and clean ur rims throughly!
9) 1 coat is sufficent! Spray, let it initially somewhat dry for a few minutes, then throw the wheels back on. No need to keep it jacked up forever.
10) Lastly, don't drive anywhere for at least 24 hours. (My opinion only)


Like some people i've been planning to do this for a while. Finally i just decided to do it, and it was fun! And the results are great! So if you've been planning to do this for a while and keep procrastinating, DO IT!!!

Just think about all the people that drive past you, admire the car, then notice ur tacky wheel well!

Good luck!

 

definitely makes a difference

 

those yellow rims are hideous!

 

I don't think this thread has anything to do with Reid's rims.

 

Im not 100% sure, but those look more like painted hub caps then painted rims