Couple of hints to add to the DIY rattlecan thread (that thread is closed so can't add there):
1. This is NOT a 4-5 hour job. It is a serious PITA that took me the better part of 2 days to get it done right.
2. You will need LOTS of stripper. I went thru 1 spray can (useless) and 3 paint-on cans to get the job done right. Make the investment in the stripper (both time & $$) as trying to remove the paint with a wire brush is really, really futile work.
3. Make sure you get ALL of the paint off. I reached a point where I just said **** it & thought I could sand down the primer to match the old paint level, and it looked like s***. Thankfully its just in a few small spots, but another 1 hour of stripping & sanding/grinding would have made the job look perfect.
4. I did some additional research onto the painting of wheels & went with a different system than what is in that thread---I went with 2 coats of Rustoleum metal primer, then 2 coats Dupli-color primer. Internet forum consensus seemed to be that the Rusto primer adhered better than the Dupli, and nicks/scratches usually wouldn't go down to bare metal. I started using the index card trick & it worked great, but was a PITA to redo in between sanding coats. I then used some painters tape to hold the index cards in, and that worked really well as never had to touch the cards after sanding/in between (and the wind didn't blow them over).
5. Sand in-between coats. I sanded in between the Rusto & Dupli primer coats (2 coats of each), then every coat of the finish (4-5 coats). It made a huge difference in finish texture. I used a 320 "sponge" on the primer coats & a 1000 then 2000 on the finish. It probably added 1 hour per coat to the job, but I wanted it done right. I rewarded myself with a beer after every sand/cleanup & before painting.
6. Everything went well until the final coat: for some reason the final Dupli-can had a couple of drops of mineral spirit or ??? stuck in the nozzel & when I went to paint the final coat that substance dripped out & landed on one of the wheels, and then ate thru 8 coats of paint down to bare metal right away. That took 3-4 hours to "fix" and still doesn't look right. Remember to spray the first pull on a new can away from where you are painting to avoid.
7. The sombrero wheel covers painted ez. The lug nuts the same. The lug nuts all got massively scratched at the dealership at service but only took 5 minutes & 2 passes with the rattle can to make look ok.
8. In between coats I was able to POR15 the entire undercarriage + pain all the brake calipers black. Really helps the look of the wheels not having a rusty brake caliper surface underneath.
Overall painting the wheels was alot of work, but I like the result. I REALLY like that I can fix any curb rash/scratches pretty easily moving forward. I don't know if that can be said for powder coating the wheels, unless you were to get an exact paint match.
I used Mazda Graphite & while I thought it was too dark before I mounted it (did sliders at same time), am happy with the finished look:
Finished (detail isn't great with this pic):
