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So, I bought a set of 4 stud, 14" x 6" steel rims (probably Speedies) off ebay for $117.50
The problem was they were repainted black over the original white.
Allowing for all the elbow grease I have put into these rims so far I am mindful that paint stripper, undercoat, new paint, wire wheels for paint removal and other stuff could end up taking up any benefit I got buying the rims fairly cheaply over new rims (which about $60 each)
I am currently at the point of 99% of the old black and white paint is off and back to bare metal on both dished faces of all the rims. I am not too worried about the outer faces, under where the tyres site so these will be wire brushed back to white/bare metal.

What is the best option for a primer undercoat for rims. The new white paint will be a basic Enamel in a can but with the primer is something like an etch primer better than a simple surface primer.

Use some kind of anti rust primer or undercoat. I haven't done this the 3 times I've repainted my old steelies on the foz and within 6 months(a fair bit of beach work too) the paint was peeling off and a fair amount of rust was appearing. More rust than the stock paint that lasted for 9 years on them.
I gave up in the end and changed to alloys in a 15" rim...

Etch primer seems to work well for me. A couple of coats of this before the colour and had no problems with rust or paint flake.

jims wrote:Etch primer seems to work well for me. A couple of coats of this before the colour and had no problems with rust or paint flake.

+1 for etch primer on most things.

I will probably regret this but I have started the job with the rims wire wheeled back to metal and applied a rust converter/primer. I have then sprayed a standard primer over this and then the top coat.
I know rust converters need a degree of rust to work so I may have issues where there was very little to no rust. Basically, I will be trialling a couple of methods on a pair of the rims which will be-
1. apply rust converter primer and then the top coat
2. apply rust converter, give a light sand to see what if anything peels off, apply primer and then the top coat.
What's the worst that can happen, the job only lasts a few years and I have to do it again. The car isn't a daily driver so things could last a while.
One thing I would have like to do is to get the rims sand blasted instead of spending hours and dollars with a heap of elbow grease and paint stripper trying to get the rims back to metal.
I will keep everyone posted with pics on the results.