Best way to "renew" some neglected steel wheels on my daughter's CRV

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Feb 8, 2006
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VA
These are the wheels on my daughters 2004 base model CRV. As you can see, theres some light rust. Id like to make them more uniform and clean again. I dont really want to use rattle cans, because that usually looks trashy. Maybe some steel wool will get enough rust off to look a little better? Some cheap plastic wheel covers arent out of the question.
 

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Ooph. I'd probably take a wire wheel to it and if it looked to horrible afterwards I'd get covers or paint them with the closest to oem color I could find. Duplicolor is stocked at auto parts stores.
 
If it’s new tire time and you can spare a week of downtime, powdercoating might not be a bad idea. All that rust has pitted the steel as well. Cheap way out would be Scotch-Brite and Ospho but you’ll need to paint. I think wheel covers or even a set of alloys from a higher-spec CR-V if the price is right are the easy ways out.

There are rattlecans that can provide good results - the SprayMax ones from a auto body supplier, if they have single-stage 2K paint(PPG and Axalta still make single-stage in their cheaper lines) they can mix into a can but Rust-Oleum came out with a Turbo Spray can that sprays almost like an HVLP or airless. Your local Ace or blue/orange boxes should have them.

 
With proper prep rattle cans can make them look like new again. Clean wheels, wire brush them to knock down rust, cover with several layers of newspaper, soak with white vinegar, keep wet for several hours, wire brush again, clean, prime and paint.
 
Ok, yall starting to sell me on the rattle can job. I didnt know there were so many products out there for this very job. All sprayed wheels ive seen end up looking too silver-ish. I want a matte/satin gray look.
 
Ok, yall starting to sell me on the rattle can job. I didnt know there were so many products out there for this very job. All sprayed wheels ive seen end up looking too silver-ish. I want a matte/satin gray look.
Anything will look better than the wheels on my nephews '99 F150...
They look fine from 10-20 feet... Up close...you can see the brush marks where the previous owner painted by hand.
 

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In the Rustoleum Pro cans they offer an "aluminum" color which is probably too silver-ish and a "machine gray" which might fit the bill. Being a machinist, I like the latter - makes me feel right at home ;)
 
Anything will look better than the wheels on my nephews '99 F150...
They look fine from 10-20 feet... Up close...you can see the brush marks where the previous owner painted by hand.
Ah, LDS (long distance syndrome).....just like the girls at the bar.....
 
Spray 'em black and order the wheel covers.

To prep/paint them "properly" I'd imagine some sort of media blasting would be required, or at least hours of tedious sanding.
 
And another thing: the hub bore on Honda's is long. Long enough to allow the use of that steel centre-cap. Rare. Only Mazda steelies, also, have that long bore, to my knowledge.
 
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