So im thinking about painting my rims but i have a dilemma. I dunno if i should get them sandblasted or not....because they are steel rims, not alloy, i heard that i have to get them sandblasted to make it work right..

any ideas?

 

are you running the stock 17s? or the Spec steelies?

well of course a sandblasting would provide a better surface for adhesion.... but then you have the expense. If you're gonna do that then you might as well have a place paint or powder coat them for you. Fine grit sandpaper will do just fine for rattle can

 

oh and if they are actually steel wheels... I would suggest you prepping with fine grit sandpaper...and putting on a primer or adhesion promoter before you lay down your color.

 

i have the stock 17s.

yeah, thats what i thought, ill most likely get them sandblasted and ill definitely prime them before i start painting. i have a friend that owns a shop and the cost to sandblast them wont be very big.

what paint is best? i looked around a lil bit and im thinking duplicolor...

 

^^ where ya at? wish I had the inside on a shop that does sandblasting...I'd have my rims done.
Well I cant really b1tch though.... cause I do have the inside track with my local Toyota/Scion dealer.... they let me use one of their new lifts and install my front and rear sways and my lowering springs free. and I had use of every tool known to man to do it with :D

 

dang..that would be nice! what springs did you use?

im in Portland, or. i have some friends that either own shops or are good friends with owners so i could technically do many things done cheaper than normal. i just need the time...lol

 

Im running Hotchkis lowering springs... gives me a full 2" drop all the way around... have 1 finger gap front and 1.5 finger gap rear...and also running Hotchkis front and rear sways.
well my local Toyota/Scion dealer knows that if I tested I would easily be a Master ASE mechanic...so they trust me. and have even called me for advice on other people's tC mods they do. and thats no BS.

 

oh and just FYI.... Hotchkis makes a very nice product....but if you want to get them for your tC.... have a shop do it. As they are a progressive spring and are a bit of a PITA to install.

 

thats sweet, you know what you are doing... lol

do you know anywhere i can find a lip kit? i like the kenstyle kit so far, im looking around for one here..

 

thanks for the props there bro.... I've been building show cars and race cars for many, many moon. lol .....as for finding a kenstyle kit... you might check with Ken at TRD Sparks.... do you have an RS3 tC? or do you just want the kit and paint it?

 

no, i have a sw 2005 tC. i would paint it if i got a new one. im hoping to find a used white one. but no luck so far...lol

 

well good luck with that one....but just FYI... just in case you aren't aware... the kenstyle came on the RS3 and is similar to white...but is actually called "Blitz Pearl". so it's kind of a metallic white with pearl hues. Either way if you get your hands on the parts, it's easy enough to have have them sprayed SW to match your car.

 

oh, i didnt know that! thanks a lot, ill keep that in mind..

 

well it certainly wouldnt look bad on a SW tC....but if you look close you'll see a bit of a color difference. It's a nice subtle kit... and especially if you have your tC dropped... would look nice and not have to worry about getting it torn up as much as a full body kit which generally is a more dramatic setup and bring lower ground clearance.

 

awe....look at you Mr. Mouse...all helpfull n **** on this page but telling them to use the f#kn search button on the last page!



j/k

 

^^Meaty my fellow desert friend... yeah lol... didnt want to come off like an A-hole to the noobies lol....well, not ALL the time :D ha!

 

HOW DO YOU PAINT THE CENTER CAP???? leaving just the scion symbol silver??? will post pics up tomorrow by they way, Bronze stockies on SW. took 8 hours to do...holy moly!!!

 

^^ dondirtyj....
mask it off very carefully...and then use an xacto blade carefully score through the backing of the tape to only expose the areas you want to be painted.

 

8 hours... get a handy x-acto knife, and mask off the whole center cap and cut around the scion symbol and remove what you want painted and leave the scion symbol masked up. sand it primer it and paint just like you would to the wheels... not that hard just a few minutes to do each center cap and BAM

 

and also just take a look at my profile... I have one of my pics showing the engine bay with the head cover painted. The Toyota symbol and the lettering was masked off using that same technique and you can see the end result. doing the center caps on the wheels is the same concept.