|DIY| cheap coloured wheel nuts

Disclaimer: The following is provided as a GUIDE ONLY, and neither myself nor Ozhonda take any responsibility for the outcomes of someone else doing the following. You follow these steps at your own risk!

aim:
cant afford fancy Ray nuts? heres a DIY for you.

item needed:
1x etch primer
1x colour paint of your choice, a thicker formular helps to stick on, up 2 you
1x clear coat
1x solvent based cleaner
1x towel
1x nuts

step:
1/ clean your nuts (the wheel nuts) using a solvent based cleaner or if you cbf, just use water and a clean towel. point of this is to try and get any dirty and particles off your nut. we all know its good to have clean nut :thumbsup:

2/ place your nuts in a clean area somewhere where there is not no or little wind. dont want dust particles blowing on your nuts when your painting it. space them out so that when painting, each nut can be evenly sprayed. prefer to have newspaper under it to keep your floor clean but im too lazy

http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/2631/125ln3.jpg

3/ give a coat of etch primer, make sure its all completely covered. to make sure you could give another coat once the first is dry but im lazy.

http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/7956/p9280210bc5.jpg

4/ spray your nut with your coloured paint. i decided to give a heavy coat, it helps give a glossy mirror finish to your nut :cool: but make sure you get each side covered. if you didnt prime your nut properly, your paint will run and dry unevenly.

http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/8574/p9280211rh1.jpg

5/ once dry add touch-ups in area that might have an uneven finish and let it dry again. you may skip this step if you painted a perfect nut

6/ once completely dry, apply clear coat. i gave a heavy coat. once dry another coat. then let it dry

7/ once dry put ur new nuts into the hole.....of the wheel

http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/1049/p9290255qc1.jpg

there you have it, cheap rice for under 20 bucks

http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/5627/p9290250zc8.jpg

Interesting dude. But your second last pic doesnt work and I can't see the nuts in the last one cos its too dark. still nice stuff

nice work manss..
u should of layed out some newspaper u stooge.. XD lol
would of been nicer if u painted them a lighter colour so they would stand out.
in the 2nd pic... looks like an awkward location.. where is it at?

Top stuff man. Looks the shit. Where did you get yours nuts from???

Tipts though

* Put down a piece of cardboard/rag/paper so that you don't get blue concrete :P

* Probably better of spraying lots of thin coats rather then one or two big heavy coats.

Lol !!

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Originally Posted by JasonGilholme

Top stuff man. Looks the shit. Where did you get yours nuts from???

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they look like jus 'allen key' type nuts....

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Originally Posted by mrwillz

they look like jus 'allen key' type nuts....

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They look like allens nuts??

:P

and did they chip the first time u put em back on your wheels? :p

i used brake caliper paint because i think its thicker. but good job

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i used brake caliper paint because i think its thicker. but good job

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like i said in the first post, you could use VHT paint as its thicker coat and last longer with the heat.

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and did they chip the first time u put em back on your wheels?

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its those "alien nuts" i got u turn it from the inside so outside looks spotless
however i believe the inside where the nut comes in contact with the wheel will scrap. cant help that

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Interesting dude. But your second last pic doesnt work and I can't see the nuts in the last one cos its too dark. still nice stuff

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will fix foto now. thx for letting me know

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Top stuff man. Looks the shit. Where did you get yours nuts from???

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autobarne for the nuts. the key i got from bob jane as its 10 bux cheaper than autobarne

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Put down a piece of cardboard/rag/paper so that you don't get blue concrete

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the office yard wanted a fresh backyard so i gave them one :p yes i did it during my offtime at work.

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Nice job painting YOUR NUTS. I would have done it in more coats, one heavy coat tends to crack and chip easier. I really like seeing guys do good CHEAP DIYs that come out Looking good keep up the good work.

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thx man, more to come. im broke hard so all cheapo DIYs

wats the chances of the paint cracking on the lug nuts wen u tighten the nuts back onto the wheel?
ive always wanted to do this but i felt as tho the paint might peel off while i tightened it onto the wheel..
if so, are there any further tips you could give me??

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Originally Posted by honda_ek4

wats the chances of the paint cracking on the lug nuts wen u tighten the nuts back onto the wheel?
ive always wanted to do this but i felt as tho the paint might peel off while i tightened it onto the wheel..
if so, are there any further tips you could give me??

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yes paint will smudge if you are not careful and if the paint wasnt painted on properly. do it slow and let it set HARD. use a good primer as paint dont stick onto metal finishes too well

i have allen style nuts so you screw on the bolts front the middle rather on the side so that helped alot. if you give me few good solid hrs for the paint to set and heard it should be fine.

good coat of every paint and good finish coat of clear, let it set overnight or even longer if you have the time

well guys, so far ive done a trial with one wheel nut to see how itd look first..
your feedback is appreciated..
http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/2741/dsc01714th0.jpg
http://img170.imageshack.us/img170/2360/dsc01719pn8.jpg
i think it looks pretty gud, and the only problem is that i did to much of a heavy coat and the paint sagged abit when i tightened the nuts.. but i plan on using a marker to touch it back up..

LOL @ honda ek4.. what was the point of doing it black tho.? u cant really notice it .. but good work son..

nice, i might go blue on mine.

haha go the DIY nut trend

looks nice b4 putting it on honda ek4.. looks like it scrappd as its on now..
free chinese weekly ftw

yea it scraped abit.. but i touched it up..
heres what it looks like now
http://img133.imageshack.us/img133/5341/dsc01726cs5.jpg
gotta give it a good rinse

ps. someone rep me already so i can become a member..>.<

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Originally Posted by mrwillz

looks nice b4 putting it on honda ek4.. looks like it scrappd as its on now..
free chinese weekly ftw

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hahaha chinese weekly....i work there man...using their computer to type this msg as we speak actually

guys , sorry to say but ANY paint on nuts will chip off quite easily.
You need to get them properly sanded back and painted or even anondized for a lasting coat.

good cheap DIY tho

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Originally Posted by bennjamin

guys , sorry to say but ANY paint on nuts will chip off quite easily.
You need to get them properly sanded back and painted or even anondized for a lasting coat.

good cheap DIY tho

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when it chips off, ill redo it
repeating this process until i save up enough cash to buy some genuine coloured wheel nuts..haha:cool:

i brought the same paint code as the colour of my car (ford blue) but it isnt coming up as the same colour, its alot more pale and not as bright, any suggestions? should i go get a darker, more eletric blue to suit my colour? and if so is it ok to paint over the paint? at the moment im on my 5th layer...

Thanks

Cold Fusion,
You will need to put a clear coat on to get the exact match, lots of thin coats is best.

i kno i need clear coat but i mean there was a BIG difference in colour, i went down again and got a darker one so im putting that on and it looks a kinda bit better, im putting clear coat on now :)

its good in the Perth hot day the paint dries quick in the shade :D

Bloody hot alright, no air con in my house! I have some clear coat peeling and I was suprised how different the clour is without the clear coat, makes a huge difference. Good luck. Just hit 42 so should dry real quick!!

DAMMIT! i just went to put on another clear coat, and i went to touch it to see if it was dry, and the whole top bit stuck to my finger and it stuck there, now one of them is stufffed. why did that happen? do i need to wait longer?

yes you wait, and wait.. and wait
lol.

i did though, i waited about 10min and when i touched it is was like that!

Patience Cold Fusion, even in this heat wait at least 20 mins and if you put in on really thick wait longer!

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Originally Posted by Cold Fusion

i did though, i waited about 10min and when i touched it is was like that!

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wait longer.

Love the cheap-o DIY

i did another one with metalic paint on new nuts....it works great!!! come out awesome. will post pics wen i find a new camera

Damn those Nutz r beautifull - I want nuts like dat !!!Im gon DIY this 4 sho !!!!

i tried this but i actually sand the nuts down and it took me like an hour or so just for one nut and i stil cant get the edges of it so i just gave up bahahaha

Did mine 2-3 weeks ago and they havnt chipped at all yet, ill get some pics when i get my hands on a camera.

I just sanded the surface to make it rough, cleaned them with degreaser, and painted 4-5 thin coats of paint and 2 coats of gloss.

does anyone have rays nuts and can admit that they will also get scratched easily?

i believe they are anodised, which is much more scratch resistant than paint, they should not get scratches at all.

i guess if you wanna do this you should use some tough paint such as brake caliper paint. there are anodized versions that you can buy.

powdercoating would also be a good option.

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Originally Posted by Muzz

powdercoating would also be a good option.

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how about do you do that yourself?

not to sure actually, all i know is if you take parts to our local bike store, they can get parts powdercoated for you. I believe it involves baking some sort of powder onto the part???

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Originally Posted by Muzz

not to sure actually, all i know is if you take parts to our local bike store, they can get parts powdercoated for you. I believe it involves baking some sort of powder onto the part???

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ahh dont wont be a "cheap diy" then :P i thought its something you could do yourself

LOL @ blue concrete floor

:thumbsup:

ur nuts look great!

u got nice nuts

thanks for posting twice. sounds like you are a really big fan of my nuts.

i did another set the other day. used metalic blue paint instead. came out much better and shinning like anodized

kewl.. i will do my nuts in the hols.. hehe...

yea you could do two colours one side of the car blue n other side red or something?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by honda_ek4

wats the chances of the paint cracking on the lug nuts wen u tighten the nuts back onto the wheel?
ive always wanted to do this but i felt as tho the paint might peel off while i tightened it onto the wheel..
if so, are there any further tips you could give me??

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Read above:

"its those "alien nuts" i got u turn it from the inside so outside looks spotless
however i believe the inside where the nut comes in contact with the wheel will scrap. cant help that"

user a thin rag when you tighten your bolts. even Ray nuts will scratch if you dont look after it.

tell you the truth my new anodized nuts havnt scraped at all cos i been pretty careful putting it on.

got a question, anyone try to paint their wheels white yet? and how did it come up, i see alot of people doing it black but no whites? just curious! =)

when you take off all your nuts, can you just use the tool from the car and take off all the nuts without jacking up the car?

no thats dangerous. better off jacking it up. or if you dont have a jack . take off 2 nuts off at a time. put them back and take off the other 2. if your car falls or break a stud im not responsible though lol

ah ok. thats why i was concerned. so i pretty much cannot paint all my wheel nuts all at once since i only really have one jack...

hope they not different shades lol