Hi guys,
I have some 3 piece watanabes that need the centres painted.
Just wondering if anyone has pulled them down to paint before and whether it is a straight forward process or whether I am better to send them off to get done?
I have been quoted minimum of $100 a rim from a couple of different places.
let me know your thoughts?
I can put some photos up if that helps?
thanks
Bruce

theres a special wheel sealant you can get so the rim holds pressure with the tyre on.

apart from that nothing too difficult- my mechanic did it with his simmons on his 280z - no flat tyres in 6 months

oh and he replaced all the allen head bolts with new ones while they were out

pulling them down is easy!
putting them back together is a bit more involved, but still not that hard..
i did my simmoms 3 years ago, you just use a high temp silicone to seal them up.

let me know if you want to know exactly what stuff i used..

Ive done 4 sets recently, painted all centres black. - Easy as. - Bead blast the centres first, the finish will be much better. - If you are going to paint them, Wurth makes a black laquer specifically for painting wheels.

Tip, punch the wheels, or at least mark where each part is lined up.- they will go back together uch easier. - I use a series of centre punched dots. 1 dot in the same spot on each part so everything lines up, then 2 dots on the 2nd rim, 3 for the 3rd, you get the idea.

thanks everyone for the feedback.
I have removed all the bolts in the past but couldn't get the rim to split, however I didn't remove or cut the silicone which would have helped!!
I'll have another crack at it.
cheers
Bruce

make sure they are 2 peice, not those fake 3 piece/ actual 2 peice sets.

Quote:
I am pretty sure they are 3 piece. They have a bead running around the centre of the rim.
I wouldn't have thought that would be there if they were 2 piece. I'll post a photo up to confirm.
cheers
Bruce

i have never done it with road use wheels but our sprintcar wheels are all 3 piece and it would have to be the same just clean them and use a good silicone even scuff where your going to silicone with some scotch brite if they are ali wheels and torque the nuts back to an appropriate tension

Genuine watanabe's are qualitly rims and should be 3piece. For me taking it apart was a pain because all the bolts were really old, some i had to grind them off! for all four rims it was 80 bolts to go through :( But replace them with stainless steel ones, it may cost alittle more but makes life easier later on if you wanna take it apart again also it looks flash. You may need abit of force to knock the centers out as i did with a block of wood and mallet. There is a special sealant that is needed if you take it all apart, mine was already welded together so i didn't go there.

how much did ya pay for new bolts ?