I have a 1986 white firebird that I am doing a formula conversion on. I just found a set of gold 16" crosslace rims off of a 1990 GTA. The guy let me have them and the tires for only $200. They are in realy good shape, but I want to paint the centers black or a dark charcoal. The car will be white with the charcoal birds and formula call outs on it.
What I am wondering is, can anyone e-mail or pm me the proper steps to do this and what products to use. I would like for it not to chip off any time soon. Also give me a heads up on what to look out for and any bad experiences that anyone had while doing this and what they did to correct it.

 

Also I was wondering if I could run the back rims on the front and the fronts on the back? I know the back spacing is different on the cross lace rims because the gta had disc brakes on the back but my 86 has drum brakes. Thanks for any help.

 

Yes there is a front and back pair of wheels. It should say "front" or "rear" somewhere on them.

First get some paint stripper. Aluminum aircraft stripper is preffered. Strip off the old paint. Then apply either some engine paint, or paint made specially for wheels to make sure it can take the heat from the brakes. Then you can clear coat them.

Also make sure you use the "search" feature up top before you post a question.

 

when i did mine i used a 3M red brillo pad kinda thing. it was a scuffer. i hit every crevice and little spot. i then used duplicolor wheel paint, then cleared em. im happy with results. took around 1-2 hours per wheel

 

I redid a set, and used engine paint on them and they turned out great. Also You CAN use fronts on the rear but rear WILL NOT fit on the front.

 

But the original paint is not truly black, but a deep metallic gray;