Repainting wheels 'factory silver' with Dupli-Color HWP101 (Before and After photos)
There are those who renew the look of the wheels on their vehicle by replacing the original
wheels with a new set, either aftermarket, NOS, or professionally refinished.
And that's great if it fits into your budget. For my own '99 C2500, I actually decided to
redo my original steel wheels & painted them Indigo Blue metallic to blend into the overall look
of the vehicle. (
Here)
But recently there was a discussion where the OP had just bought a used vehicle and
simply wanted to restore the original wheels to the original look. I replied with a recommendation
to use the Dupli-Color silver wheel spray can. (part #
HWP101)
I realized after the fact that my recommendation had no photos to associate my claim of
goodness to reality, so I thought that here in my 'other vehicle builds' thread I'd post
a few photos of what this product has done for me.
(ie: good service in rust belt environment + a large cost avoidance = happy customer.)
NOTE: The following photos are taken of my DD, which is *not* a GMT400 machine...but
it protects my GMT400 truck from as much undesirable 'salt duty' as possible, so I feel
that this is still legit viewing for this audience. :0)
****
In the 1st photo I'm showing 2 of the full set of Remanufactured factory alloy wheels
that I invested in for my '02 CR-V DD vs. 1 of the original wheels with the degraded
finish (& underlying corrosion) after 20 years of service.
As is common practice here in the Northeast, I run a set of quiet 3-season summer tires, and also
run a set of traction-oriented directional winter tires between Thanksgiving & Easter. NOTE:
When I bought this used vehicle it only came with the 4 original wheels, so initially I mounted
4 snows & ran them year-round, which is obviously a compromise, between the extra noise
and wearing the snows down extra-quickly in the summer. :-(
Since this was my only vehicle at the time, I couldn't afford to have the vehicle down long enough
to get the original wheels sent out & refinished. Plan B was to look for a
replacement set of remachined/refinished
factory wheels & mount a set of summer tires on them. I figured that if I kept them clean & waxed
(ie: didn't let the caustic brake dust to accumulate/degrade the finish) ...that they would easily outlast me.
So, it took ~6 weeks & dealing with 3 different companies, but between them all I finally sourced a full set
of (4) remachined/refinished wheels, average cost of ~$175 each. (price + shipping + taxes) Once I got the
summer tires mounted/balanced on these new wheels & swapped onto the DD, zero buyer's remorse!
Much quieter, better handling, and the fresh wheels help make this look like one of the cleanest 21-year-old
CR-Vs in upstate NY.
But now what to do to preserve the original wheels relegated to snow tire/winter duty? (ie: I'm not spending
another $700+ on the existing winter wheels just to place them into severe salt service?)
****
Alright, now that I've set the table the rest goes pretty quick.
In the 2nd photo, I had the snow tires dismounted & carefully prepped the aluminum wheels for paint. (I use
a blast cabinet, but conventional sanding will also get you there - done it both ways. After prepping the original
surface, I then prime the wheels & sand that, repeating if necessary in order to get as smooth a finish on the
machined face as possible. (This helps to make the wheel look more original vs a quickie rattle-can repaint.)
The 2nd photo shows (1) wheel in primer vs (3) wheels in the Dupli-Color silver.
The 3rd photo shows all (4) wheels in silver only. It's hard to show in the photo, but they
still have a hint of 'I repainted them' vs 'factory finish' look? And more importantly, this finish will start to
look 'uneven' after several washing/polishing/waxing sessions, for you inevitably get into the metallic a little,
partially removing the shiny bits at the very edge of the paint surface...and they start to look a little worse for
wear all too quickly after investing all the blood, sweat, and tears into them. (!)
Therefore, if I'm going to spend the time to bring back a set of old wheels to a 'factory-ish' new look, I have since
learned to
always cover the silver metallic with a nice, compatible clear coat. For whatever reason, the
Dupli-Color silver + a clear coat results in a true 'factory' look. (See photo #4) Easier to see in person vs describing
with the written word, but I base this on what others have said + my own observations. More importantly,
as long as I keep them clean & waxed they don't change their look, even after several seasons. Finally, a
method that delivers the kind of maintainability I can appreciate.
In photo #5 is a close up of the finished wheel. If you blow it up you can see the nice metallic finish that the
Dupli-Color delivers -- not too shabby for a rattle-can finish. If you compare what the original wheel in photo #1
looks like vs an original wheel refinished in photo #5, you can see the improvement in curb appeal.
(NOTE: In photo #1 you can see the rusty discoloration commonly seen on Aluminum wheels -- this is from the
brake dust rusting on top of the factory finish. Pretty unappetizing to look at, especially with the aluminum corrosion
underneath from where the factory finish has been compromised.
Total cost? Figure a spray can of primer & clear coat per wheel. Figure 5 cans of Dupli-color HWP101 for (4) 15"
wheels. (inside & out, because the inside is partially visible.) Total cost for the whole shebang (depending on your
deal-finding skills) will be between $100-$150 for a set of 4 wheels, plus whatever your time & labor is worth.
For me, I had some primer & clear coat left over from previous projects, so my total outlay was slightly less than
$100. Compared to spending ~$175 apiece to get the wheels remachined/refinished, I decided that a *slightly*
less showy solid silver metallic/clearcoat finish (for $600 less out of pocket) was the best way for me to go.
****
Hope this is helpful to anyone out there who wishes to improve the curb appeal of their GMT400, but aren't
in the position to throw a ton of money at the solution.
Life is Short, do what it takes to Enjoy your Ride --
. I never had an issue with the two sidedraft Webers in the 2002. Stayed in tune great once balanced. But boy they sang a wonderful duet. Was never lucky enough to hear them live on anything else. I was lucky enough however to have a short ride in a 427 sideoiler clone.... goodness me but that was something to remember. Da Grump. I could watch this short video over and over. Thanks for sharing such a great compilation. 
