I'm refinishing some of my wheels and have questions about paint. I'm not sure if this is where to ask.

I am using a two stage paint to refinish some wheels. I've stripped the wheels to bare metal and used a bare metal primer. I let that sit for a few days and then sprayed three base coats. I let them cure overnight and then sprayed a coat of clear.

There were a couple areas that the paint wrinkled pretty badly. Most of it looked good. I wet sanded to see what happened as I figured I'd reshoot the wheel anyway and it looks like where it wrinkled, the primer actually pulled away from the metal.

Why did it wrinkle? Did I not let the primer and/or base dry enough? Should I have sprayed the base directly on the metal?

This is practice as I'm hoping to shoot one of my cars.

Thanks

Paint wrinkled or pulled away from the primer? Or did the paint run?

If it pulled away from the primer, it may not have been a compatible paint/primer mix. If it was a RUN in the paint, then probably too much volume.

When I strip alloy wheels right back to the metal I like to etch prime them,no question the paint sticks better.
How much primer did you put on,you only need a few thin coats,if you put on too much the solvents in the topcoat can eat through and cause your problem.
I like to put on one or two thin topcoats and leave it overnight,a quick sand next day and you build up to a wet shiny finish.
Did you use paint prep/degreaser before putting the primer on ?

It wasn't incompatible paints as it was only a spot or two and I've seen what happens when one paint is hotter than another.

It sounds like I put too much primer on as I did three coats. I did use a paint prep and degrease as there were no problems with orange peel or fish eyes. The wrinkle was in a few spots where I'm sure the primer was the thickest and I sprayed a heavy clear which probably went through the base.

Beauty is, I'll strip them again and redo! Practice, practice, practice and thanks!

From my experience it is incompatibility. I don't think "Too much" primer is even possible as a cause. Also, just happening in a few spots doesn't explain too much primer. It could be, and most likely is, those were spots where the basecoat was applied wetter and it allowed the solvent to react with the primer. Each type of coating, applied properly, and compatible with each other, would only have a mixing of a few angstroms. So if the paints were all compatible, then the clear coat solvent would not be able to mix through the basecoat and reach the primer. And if it was possible, if they were compatible, then it would have no effect on the primer.

Paint suppliers put together 'lines' for this exact reason. Painters don't usually have an excellent t chemistry background and take little time to look at or identify the solvent in the paint/base/clear. Solvents need to be the same (or similar) throughout the products you're applying or you're going to run into issues.

I pretty much gave up on painting my wheels and finally had them powder coated. I've been really happy with the result.