"tires off" would be the suggested method for painting wheels? I could break the front bead and push the tire down a little, so I could tape off the wheel w/o removing the tires (this would allow me to paint them w/o actually removing the tires.)...but would also mean that I couldn't reset the bead until the paint has cured...so how many hours does it take to cure to the point where it'd be safe to reset the bead?
So, from what I'm reading steps should be as follows
1. wash wheels
2. 1000 grit wet sanding
3. wash wheels (dry as well) - some sort of tack cloth
4. prime (How many coats of primer?)
DRY
5. Paint (~10 coats, drying in between)
DRY
Clear coat?
1.- yes
2. - 600 would be fine, you want the primer to get a grip.
3. - wash and solvent wipe, then tack-cloth after it is dry
4. - 2 coats, then a guide coat (like 2 black and then a thin grey on top.)
4.25 - dry/cure
4.5 - (later) Sand until the grey is gone and only the black remains. This means it is smooth and flat.
4.75 - tack cloth
5. - Paint 2 coats (flashing off in between)
5.5 - clear a couple of coats (maybe 3)
There is usually only some flash off time between the paint coats, and the paint to clear layer, and the clear coat layers.
Or you have wait a day and then resand the whole thing to rough it up again.
There are additives to the clear that you could add to the final layer it were concerned with chipping... I have never tried them.