How to Customize Your Car With Paint & Rims
The customization possibilities are infinite when selecting paint and rims for your car. Even if you choose just to change the paint color, the well-known company Maaco has "more than 10,000 auto paint colors in quality formulations that range from high-grade enamel to single-stage urethane to basecoat/clearcoat urethane." Custom paint jobs can include paint and decals, custom decals, custom murals, racing stripes, custom detail, color changing paint, pearl paints, and metallic paint. Flat paint used to be considered "un-finished;" however, now even flat paint finishes are gaining popularity for some vehicles in certain shows. Top off your car with rims to finish the new customized look.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
-
1
Decide if you desire to hire a company or a custom paint specialist to paint your car. You can also decide to paint your car yourself--if you are willing to devote the time and money needed for the project. Consider the necessary money and time to buy and learn how to use the supplies as well as the time to prep and paint the car.
-
2
Interview the paint specialists at potential auto paint custom shops. Look at the paint colors available at the shops. Check out the different autobody paint finishes--flat, pearl, gloss, high gloss, metallic, metallic flecks, color shifting, and temperature sensitive autobody paints. Write down your favorite colors and combinations for future reference. Take pictures of your favorites with a digital camera for visual reminders.
-
-
3
Schedule an appointment to view a few finished and completed custom car paint jobs by the shop or artist. Also look at online galleries if available--remember that online and digital pictures can be photo-shopped or edited. Also background, lighting, hue, shading and other elements can be altered, so the best example of their work will be a car that you can see on a sunny or partially sunny day.
-
4
Write down your final decisions on custom paint for your car. Draw or sketch your car and any additional decals, stripes, murals, images, or customization that you desire. Hire the artist or paint specialist to paint your car or begin the prepping, painting, and finishing work yourself.
-
5
View rims both in stores and online to select the perfect rims to customize your car and compliment your custom paint job. If you like the color-changing paint options but don't want to spend the money on painting your whole car, consider just painting the rims with the color changing or temperature sensitive or color shifting paints. This can be completed by following the video directions available at Duplicolor.com in the How To Center under e/learning (see Resources).
-
6
Customize your car by also painting your engine a complimentary or bold accent color. For instance, a red car with a red engine looks cool. A black race car with a red engine also looks great. Some color changing and temperature sensitive paints can also be used on the engine as well. Be sure to read the manufacturers recommended specifications for the highest appropriate temperature.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
Always prep your car perfectly if you decide to customize it with paint by yourself or in your garage. If the manufacturer recommends wiping the painted surface down in between all three or six of the coats (more coats needed for color changing paints), do so because dust can mess up your final finish.
Always wear the proper safety gear, such as goggles and breathing masks, when sanding or painting your car or even just the rims.
