"Painted" the wheels last week
- Thread starter Tek_Freek
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Tek_Freek
Active Member
Shadow black Hyper Dip. If I was to do it again I'd use a darker black.
Did it myself. It was not as simple as the videos profess, especially when two of the four cans suffered from what they call "gasket blow by" which results in poor spraying, blobs all over, dripping product down the can and on everything under it, including my shoes.
It's a known problem that they never tell you about. Which is poor business practice to my way of thinking. They offered a replacement or refund. I took the refund. It took six days to get it delivered and I was not going to wait on it that long.
I like the look. It's not "satin smooth" which is what I believe they described the finish as. Somewhat rough to the touch. But unless you get real close the defects can't be seen.
Note: The blobs did level out as I continued applying the spray, but some were still obvious.
Did it myself. It was not as simple as the videos profess, especially when two of the four cans suffered from what they call "gasket blow by" which results in poor spraying, blobs all over, dripping product down the can and on everything under it, including my shoes.
It's a known problem that they never tell you about. Which is poor business practice to my way of thinking. They offered a replacement or refund. I took the refund. It took six days to get it delivered and I was not going to wait on it that long.
I like the look. It's not "satin smooth" which is what I believe they described the finish as. Somewhat rough to the touch. But unless you get real close the defects can't be seen.
Note: The blobs did level out as I continued applying the spray, but some were still obvious.
Robert_Alabama
Well-Known Member
Yes. It is pre-painted. I ordered it online and my sons (both in 20s) put it on my and my father in law’s cars. You can also get mud guards and clear plastic paint protector for the top of bumper. There are also chrome accent pieces that go on the bottom of the doors.
I bought the color coordinated body side molding (Platinum White Pearl is Honda part# 08P05-TRT-190, Crystal Black Pearl is 08P05-TRT-120) from HondaPartsOverstock.com for $144.95 and $19 shipping in 2018, but I've also bought stuff online from CollegeHillsHonda.com, so I'd price compare them as well if you are searching Honda parts.
My father in law wanted the chrome pieces on his car. I think it looks fine on the white. My car is black and I didn't want them. Here are a couple of pics of his car:
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If you remove the wheel, from the back side you have access to the clips and they are very easy to remove. Also reduces the chances of breaking the clips on these very expensive pieces of plastic.
I was thinking about using Plasti Dip to paint mine, although I imagine it would use quite a number of cans if using a large number of coats. I plan to do it next time I rotate my tires when it will be very easy to remove the covers. I can finish rotating my tires and then take my time painting the covers as they are pretty easy to pop back on when I'm done.
Tek_Freek
Active Member
I had no problems removing the clips from the front. They took some pressure, but popped loose pretty easily. Those clips are not expensive.
https://www.hondapartsnow.com/genuine/honda~clip~trim~wheel~44738-trt-n01.html
https://www.hondapartsnow.com/genuine/honda~clip~trim~wheel~44738-trt-n01.html
I didn't realize the clips were separate, I was worried they were part of the cover and that if you broke one you'd be toast. Although it seems possible at least in theory to break the attachment point between the clip and the cover. Probably unlikely though.
I didn't even realize that the clips were accessible from the front until your post, although when I went out to look at mine I found that I could release the clips pretty easily by just by sticking my fingers through the opening on either side and pinching the clip, I didn't need a screwdriver. When the time comes I will probably release all of the clips rather than putting force on the remaining clips, which I think would place at least some stress on the clip attachment point. Again it will probably be fine, but after seeing the prices on the covers ($281 retail) I prefer to use caution. But good to know the covers can be easily removed without taking off the wheel.
Sort of funny but I went on eBay to see what used covers go for, as usual the prices are all over the place. There was a slightly scratched used one for sale for $60, the listing said HONDA CLARITY OEM WHEEL COVER ONE BROKEN TAB. Looking at the pictures it appears that it's just one of the clips that are broken as I can only see one of the two prongs on that clip. I sent a message to the seller with the part number you gave and told them they can get a new clip pretty cheap.
Robert_Alabama
Well-Known Member
If anyone ever needs one of the gray wheel covers, I have four tucked away. I opted to buy the black covers from Honda (they are on the fuel cell) at a discounted price of about $140 each. Probably could have painted the gray ones like some here have done, but I didn't want to deal with future paint peeling, etc. I had just spent 36k for the car, another $600 to make the wheels look better didn't back me up at the time. And again, since my car was black, I didn't like the gray on the wheels. Kind of funny I shied away from painting the covers, since I eventually bought one of the black wheels from a Clarity EV and then repainted it. I found it on Ebay for about $50 and couldn't resist buying it as an extra wheel. I ended up with two extra wheels and routinely rotate those in as tires wear out. So right now my Clarity has parts from all three versions of the Clarity on it.
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Tek_Freek
Active Member
I found them to be pretty tough. Nice idea letting the seller know.
Am I the only forum member who purchased Honda's Clarity accessory wheels? I relegated the OEM wheels to winter use.
Do you mean the clips are tough, or the attachment to the wheel cover? If the attachment breaks it costs $281 (retail) to replace compared to the clips at $3.08. I don't have a removed wheel cover in front of me to look at and see how the clip is attached to the cover, but I'm guessing the back of the plastic cover has some type of tabs or openings molded into it which hold onto the clips. If that part of the wheel cover breaks then the clip won't stay attached anymore. Although I suppose you could survive with one missing clip as long as it doesn't rattle. Maybe next time I take one of the covers off and look at how the clips are attached to the wheel cover all of my concerns will be allayed.
Just because it doesn't break the first time doesn't mean that stress wasn't put on the plastic tab, and repeated stress can lead to eventual breakage of the tab, which is unfixable. And unlike the clip not replaceable since the tab is molded into the wheel cover. How many non-gentle removals would it take to eventually break a tab? I have no idea. Maybe they will never break. But in this case it seems easy to avoid the risk by releasing all of the clips, which seemed pretty easy by reaching through the opening with my fingers and pinching the clips. Then the cover comes off with no force required.
turtleturtle
Active Member
Yes, I do think you are. I had no idea they were an option. Never seen them before.
The accessory wheels were in the Clarity accessories catalog from day 1 and I liked their look. They don't include the internal sound-deadening baffles or the fancy plastic covers like the OEM wheels, but they cost about 25% as much as new OEM wheels when I bought them.
Before I took delivery of my Clarity at the beginning of November, 2017, I had the dealer replace the OEM Michelins with Nokian Hakkapeliitta winter tires and, by chance, the first snowstorm of the year happened the day I brought the Clarity home. The accessory wheels wearing the OEM Michelins went on the car in spring, 2018. I never got a chance to hear how much quieter the ride might be with the quieter tires on the quieting wheels.