My '97 SS wheels look like crap.

They are the original 17x9 5-spoke SS wheels. Clear is completely gone as well as most of the paint. No matter how bad I f them up I can't make them look any worse! (I think?)

I had a set of repro 17x9.5" SS wheels in black, with chrome lugnut caps and the 'bare' ring around the bead on a previous Z28 and I really liked the way they looked.

So I'm thinking when I get new tires this summer I may just strip the wheels down to bare metal and paint them with spray cans.

I'm assuming any good paint stripper will work to clean them up, but I have no idea what kind of paint I should use that I can buy cheap in cans and spray in my driveway, yet will look decent and last as long as possible, considering of course how cheap I'm planning to do it.

Any input greatly appreciated. New wheels aren't in the budget. Will be scraping up money for tires...

 

I never used it but most of there stuff works well.
http://www.duplicolor.com/products/wheel.html

 

If you strip them down and clean them to bare metal, I's powder coat them.

Around here I've seen it for around $40/wheel, while more expensive thatn spray paint, it will hold up much better

 

In the long run, I think that powdercoating them would be more worthwhile. It might initially seem that spray painting will be much cheaper, but you have to factor in the cost of each rattle can which will range in the $6-$7 area. Multiple coats of paint of course and also multiple coats of clear coat. After you add all this up, you will have spent about half of what it would cost to powdercoat. However, powdercoat is much harder than paint and much more durable. So in the long run, or short term depending how much the wheels get abused, exposed to harsh elements, etc., powdercoating them will last longer and perhaps save you money, time, effort, and grief.