Rustoleum wheel paint?

[Skunksmash]

Anyone here ever used Rustoleum's rattle can system to redo your wheels? I'm in the middle of redoing my 87 oem silverado wheels. Got the primer on, but I'm have a bit of a dilemma with the clear coat. I have the paint, but nowhere in town sells the clearcoat. So I'm looking at waiting 4 days to have some shipped to me. On top of that, I have read some reviews saying that their wheel clear, is semi gloss at best. I'm looking for high gloss.

But something tells me it wouldn't be a good idea to just buy some regular rustoleum high gloss rattle can paint. Its not made for wheels. Or is it? Would it hold up well? I know guys here have done the Rustoleum paint job, but wheel paint is often subject to more punishment than fender paint is. Right? I must admit I'm certainly no paint and body guy and my experience with this type of thing is quite limited. What would you do? Wait, and order the semi gloss wheel clearcoat? Or take a chance and get some high gloss Rustoleum, but its not made specifically for wheels.

[73GMC10]

this was sprayed with gloss black rustoleum engine enamel, what looks like roughness on the bottom right by the valve is just a reflection ( i had to go re check that,lol)it dried really smooth.so far its holding up to chips pretty good.

[cfan10]

Regular rustoleum does hold up pretty good had it on my suburban for like 3 years. Besides the fading slightly. Prep is everything when painting.

[special-K]

Does wheel paint come out of the can in an arch? What, other than the label, makes paint wheel paint? I have been painting wheels with quality rattle can paint forever and it works fine. I'm not a big fan of clear coat. It can protect/maintain shine, but can also introduce a whole new way for your good paint to mess up. I just do single stage and forget about it.

[motornut]

If it's not a show truck I'd only use tremclad / rustolium paint .
I did use flat black before,always looked dirty,on the burbs
Used gloss on the Jimmys,works fine,covers well.
White on the C,black on the K

[tucsonjwt]

If you use Rustoleum engine paint it is important to prime the wheels first with engine paint primer. I painted my valve covers with it and it all bubbled off right away. I sanded down the surface prior to applying paint but it still bubbled off. So, I sanded down to bare metal and bought Duplicolor engine primer and engine paint and that worked out OK. I did scratch off some paint when installing the covers, so I had to touch those areas up with a small paint brush.

The engine enamel is much thicker than normal paint, so it will run less but you have to pay attention to what you are doing so it does not build up too much and cause a big blob of paint in one spot.

I painted my Cavalier spare wheel with $1/can general purpose black enamel for Home Depot and it is OK after 2 years (has had hub cap over it.)

Whatever paint you use you should sand down the wheels and use an appropriate primer for whatever paint you choose. Preparation is always the most important part of painting. I would have the tires dismounted and paint both sides of the wheels to do the job right.

Engine enamel and engine enamel primer are about $8 per can. I got mine at O'Reillys. Regular Rustoleum and primer are about $5 per can. One can should do 4-5 wheels, but with engine enamel it will be iffy since it does not go as far, being so thick.

[LSX408]

I just painted mine a couple of days ago and I used VHT wheel paint. They turned out very nice.

[motornut]

And I stick the rims inside the truck in the hot sun to bake it,seems to help harden it

[walkerb]

$2 rebate per can for dupli-color at autozone right now. In NY anyway

[rich weyand]

Regular Rustoleum works fine on wheels. Rustoleum dries slowly and remains relatively flexible. This is why it is good rust protection, because it is flexible enough not to get micro-cracks from flexion and temperature expansion and contraction of the underlying material. Those cracks let rust start under the paint. So for wheels, which flex a lot when you hit bumps and the like, Rustoleum is a good choice. No problems with mine -- four+ years.