Painting wheels

[yellow01]

I have a set of OEM Z06 wheels dedicated for track use. They have some curb rash (bought em that way for cheap) and they aren't that pretty... I was thinking of painting them black. What paint would be most ideal for this? They're track wheels but I don't want it peeling off and looking like complete garbage. What type of surface prep should be done? Thanks for any inputs.

[cmeflyby]

prep will be WAY more critical to the durability than the type of paint you use. that said, there are paints out there marketed as wheel paint, i'd use that, or, a high temp semi-gloss would look cool and be durable as well.
with all the junk that gets on the wheels, you will have do some MAJOR cleaning. be sure you get every last bit of grime out of all the corners. i personally would also take some sandpaper and hand sand all the surfaces to a dull finish. use a soft wire wheel on a drill at low speed to get in corners. after roughing up the original finish, again meticulously clean the entire wheel. the most important thing to concentrate on would be any pits that are in the existing finish. you want to be sure to knock down any high spots in the surounding paint and be sure you don't leave any voids where you will get air pockets and the paint will easily begin to peel. smooth down the curb rash with a light grinding wheel and follow with a light sanding disc. i'd use primer on any bare metal spots to give a smoother finish.
if you're not looking for super nice finish, i'd just thouroughly clean the wheel with simple green (a high concentration level) and a wire brush. once clean, smooth out the curb rash as much as desired, reclean with highly concentrated simple green solution, prime any bare metal areas, lightly wet-sand the primed areas with some wet/dry sandpaper, clean again with the simple green solution and rinse thoroughly. if you have very hard water, you might consider using some bottled water to rinse, distilled would be the best. you don't want all the mineral deposits to dry on the wheel. dry the wheels 100% with a non-shedding cloth (not cotton...best i can think of is the microfiber towels)...do not "air dry" (let sit til dry) as that will leave the mineral deposits on the wheel surface, and do not blow dry with shop air hose (contains small quantities of oil and water).
set up your paint area in as clean an area as possible and if possible, rig up a small 3-walled "booth" by just using some tarps as walls (this is to protect the wheel from excessive dust blowing around in the air. once you start painting, take your time. many thin coats will yield a much better finish that a couple thick coats.
if you take your time to prep well, even a standard spray can (with the nice adjustable fan-type nozzles) will yield excellent results.
good luck!

[yellow01]

Thanks for the input!!