[LionX]

Hi all,
Its all started with evil thought of making my ride look different . The easiest way would have been adding some decals and changing the rims to alloys. But it was not going to happen soon due to budget constraints. Recently I got hold of some spare rims of safari from my friend, so started thinking on those lines of changing the color to make it look different from OEM.

First thing i did was searching for some spray cans for an easy DIY, found some in reliance auto zone, HSR layout, Bangalore. I opted the Com-Paint car kit which cost me around 400/-, includes 200ml of paint, 200ml of paint finisher, 1 tube of rubbing compound and a small piece of 3M emery paper no:1000.

Lets pictures tell the rest of the story.

Started with a wheel hub, this is how it was looked after a wash.


You may see some scratches here and there, thanks to the bangalore traffic.


Masked the 'T' with cello tape and gave a rubbing with emery paper.


Cleaned it thoroughly and gave a first coat of paint, the name of the color is "Mint Gray".


This is how it looked after the second coat and a coat of paint finisher.


Let it dry for 30 mins, and see the result. The color looked a bit different, might be due to lighting.


The Final product


Seeing the result, I became confident and decided to start with the rim. Cleaned it, gave a little rubbing and repeated the same processes and it looked like this.


The final product,


after 1 hour,


I still don't have a clue about how it is going to look in the car, it may look nice with white lettered tyre.

Forgot to mention, mine is a Safari 2.2 LX in Cycus Gray with body colored bumbers.

What do you guys think, will it look good ?? It would be nice if anyone can post a Photoshopped pics of safari with this color.

[abhipuru16]

When are you going to try these on your Safari?

[LionX]

Originally Posted by abhipuru16

When are you going to try these on your Safari?

Mostly this weekend, I will put it for the spare wheel.

[theexperthand]

Nice, the color do looks good. Put it on and click some snaps.

[Repsol]

Very nicely painted rims. But what about those white spaces left between the Tata monogram ? Are you planning to keep them white ? I my opinion, if they could also be painted in the same color, it would look great.

[LionX]

Originally Posted by Repsol

Very nicely painted rims. But what about those white spaces left between the Tata monogram ? Are you planning to keep them white ? I my opinion, if they could also be painted in the same color, it would look great.

Yes, the initial plan was to paint that also in the same color. But felt this might give a special attention to the "T". I can always paint it later if required.

Does anyone know how to get the T badge chromed again, or should I try for Chrome stickers? Any leads to this would be helpful.

[sagar iswalkar]

Sir the wheels look awesome, finish looks excellent
Waiting to see it on your Safari. Just a question, was 200 ml of paint sufficient for all four covers?

Regarding your Tata logo, why not try metal polish which comes in a small tube available at most hardware shops.
Btw other household option is using Toothpaste or even fizzy softdrinks.

[karizma9292]

Hey buddy , thats a cool DIY , finishing does not look like a DIY , finishing looks top class.

WIll actually look good on your safari considering the colour of the vehicle .

[LionX]

@sagar iswalkar, 200 ml wont be enough for all the rims, I just painted one rim and hub cover to get a feel of it. I think the can has enough paint for one more rim.

I don't have a clue about the metal polish, is it something to clean the chromed part ? In my case, the logo has lost it chrome and it needs to be redone via some paint or sticker. I am trying some chrome stickers on ebay along with some carbon fiber stickers for the dash.

@karizma9292, Thanks bro, even I was surprised to see the result. Guess the spray can made the job easy.

[Sidhu bangalore]

Absolutely Great..

I really liked the way you have followed the process.

try cleaning the logo with a soft brush along with car shampoo solution.

make sure you do that little carefully as the chrome on the logo may get damaged.

[LionX]

@sidhu, I tried cleaning it using brush but the chrome has some black spots on it. any idea how to remove those?

Thanks for the kind words, guess too much of discovery turbo effect.

[@tombum]

Wow. That's some good stuff. Any idea whether it works on alloys. I always wanted to paint my Punto alloys to Matte black. And I don't think it would be a easy DIY.

[w0lf]

That's an excellent job. Looks very professional. What do you have in mind for the Tata logo?

Please share some pictures once you install it on your wheel.

[LionX]

Originally Posted by @tombum

Wow. That's some good stuff. Any idea whether it works on alloys. I always wanted to paint my Punto alloys to Matte black. And I don't think it would be a easy DIY.

I don't find any reason why it would not work on alloys. It should be fine if you spray it after removing the clear coat which is present on the wheel. There is a tread somewhere in T-bhp which shows re-painted alloy, try digging it up.

Its fairly an easy DIY if you know the basics of painting, so go ahead and try it .

[himavanth_m]

That looks awesome. I have never thought about painting my alloys but looking at your finish and color, I think I am going to try just for the sake of it
Now I should find the same things in Hyderabad.