If you have multi-peice wheels like 2 or 3 peice and want to paint the lips body color do you need to dissasemble the wheel or can you just mask off the center section and scuff/prep the lips and shoot them? This is of course with the tires dismounted...

 

Use only "GE Silicone II Window & Door Sealant
- Stock No GE5000"

Im told all others will blow out...

Make sure to sand the edge lightly to clean and wipe after with alcohol. Then you can make a small beed of silicone around the lip before asembling.

 

You tell em big jay. He's right I already did this but I did three colors.
By the way you can't powder coat chrome.

 

Hey Gearhead!!

You're the pro!!

I'm just learning from you bros!

 

Careful with the PC, sometimes excess PC on the mate locations or applied uneven can play a part in the wheels becoming uneven when the wheels are assembled.

Also, sealant should be aluminum application only, we use an industrial manufactured type which is dry in 4-hours. Only available by the case...

-Eli

 

stop stop stop stop stop.

ask yourself this.
are you really going to take the chance of unbolting a set of $6000 wheels , and rebolting them, and take the chance that one of the bolts you put on not be torqued to exact spec.... then drive at 150mph and take the risk of the center section coming apart....

give it to a professional. not worth the risk.

 

Thanks for all of the input. I started an new thread on this same topic looking for a poll of whether to paint them black or leave them silver.

 

I think you would have a better chance of your lug bolts falling out before you would lose all 50 bolts holding the face to the barrel.
But I guess you never now, I am just such a risk taker

 

two words: final destination
thats all im saying

 

agreed the centers would not come off the barrel per se to cause catastrophic failure (although there is always a very very small chance)...what's more likely to happen (and this is a relatively high chance) is not getting a proper seal around the section where the centers meet the barrel (for a 2 peice config) or the front and rear halves (3 peice config)...I've seen this happen many times...

either make absolutly sure that they are done right and get some sort of warranty or something or just tape off and don't dismantle although I agree with the experts this is the "non-perfect" way of doing it, cutting corners a bit but don't have to risk imperfect re-assembly.

 

Not a sales line but I've learned through the years, if I want it done right then I need to hire someone who does it for a living. It is better to spend my time doing what I do daily and make the money with my time to pay someone who knows what they are doing in order to get it done right.

I used to be a big DYI around the house, these days it's easier for me to hire contractors to do that work for me and concentrate my efforts around making the money to pay them. The work comes out better, faster and I'm not taking up family time.

-Eli

 

Here, this link to videos that will help everybody on how to disassemble/reassemble multi piece wheels.
http://www.ccwheel.com/technical.php
It's pretty basic, and the principal is the same regardless of what brand of rims you have, but saying that if you watch the videos and it still looks difficult to you don't do it. An unattended leaky silicone gasket will destroy expensive tires in two seconds.
But doing it yourself always gave me a sense of pride

 

I guess as long as "pride" doesn't lead to catastrophic failure I guess it's OK...

 

wow Eli...that's pretty dramatic...did that wreck happen from a shoddy wheel re-assembly? If so that is a tragedy.

With things like this I tend to use a proffesional outfit, simply for peice of mind as well as liability reasons, keep a statement of work and a reciept of services so that if something happens there is accountability. The risk, in this case, far outweighs the cost which for around $100 - $200 per wheel for dissasembly, repair/refinish/straighten, then proper reassembly & remount/balance tires and perhaps a custom color center or barrel is fairly good value compared to the cash outlay for a new set of wheels.

 

We carry a good 4-mil policy to ensure "God-Forbid" nothing happen to anyone, "knock on wood" we have never had the need to file a claim for any wheel related losses. I do recommend you have a pro-shop, close by if you are worried about shipping cost to inspect your work at a minimum.

-Eli