Wheel Refurb

[richie.guy]

Over time if wheels are not looked after correctly they become tired and start to look tatty - this can be for a number of reasons for example leaving brake dust on the rim too long, using strong acidic wheel cleaners, kerbing the rim and so on. This is a brief guide on fixing these problems. It's all common sense but may be of use to some of you.

Materials required

- Wheel cleaner
- Tar remover/White spirit
- Sand paper (80 and 120 grit)
- Wet and Dry (400, 800 and 1200 one or two sheets of both will do)
- Primer (1x600ml can dependant on wheel size)
- Paint (3x300ml cans will be more than enough for 4 wheels)
- Lacquer (1x600mls can)

Preparation

As with most things the key to a good job is in the prep work. The wheels need to be cleaned well - this helps avoid clogging of the sand paper and also highlights any damage to the wheels which needs to be repaired:




Next is to see what damage you have to sort, generally you will have...

1. Damage around bolt hole areas where no care has been taken when re-fitting wheel bolts:



2. Stone chips:



3. Kerbing of varying degrees of severity:




In order to remove kerbing it is necessary to remove the tyres on the wheels. The damage can simply be sanded out using various grades of sand paper. For damage too deep to sand out without maintaining a level finish you need to skim the area with P38 filler then sand as appropriate:





The faces of the wheels then need to be keyed using 400 grit wet and dry, the rears i tend to use something more abrasive such as 120 grit as the finish on this area doesn't need to be as good. Remember you need to remove the wheel weights too:




Painting

Once you're happy that the wheels are properly prepped and you're sure you've gotten into all the nooks and crannies brush the wheels off to remove all excess dust and apply thin coats of primer until full coverage is achieved:



Once the primer has full coverage and it's dry, gently sand with 1200 grit wet and dry. If there are rough areas, step down to 800 then back to 1200. Next is to give them their colour. Do a test section somewhere to make sure you're comfortable with the spraying action - the custom mixed aerosol cans often have a different spray pattern to those off the shelf. Doing a test section also helps to check that the paint is correctly shaken up, especially in a colour with metal flake in it it's easy to see when more shaking is required:



Again, very light coats. In between coats you may wish to use 1200 grit W&D to get a good finish, this depends on how much of a perfectionist you are! Turn the wheels around to make sure you have coverage from all angles:




Once the colour coat is dry it's time to wrap up with some lacquer. The same principle again, light even coats until full coverage. The lacquer helps to protect the wheels more against stone chips and also adds more of a shine to them:




Once you're happy with the finish my advice is to leave them for few days until the paint has 100% hardened then pop them on. You may want to use some wheel wax or wheel sealant to give them further protection.

Job done



Cleaning

Maintenance cleaning wise i would shy away from strong wheel cleaners and stick with APC/MPC only.

[Fat Audi 80]

Fair play, they look amazing!

Cheers,

Steve.

[Timmo]

nice job matey!
have doen a fair few sets myself now, always good when they come out super shiny and nice!

[willjordan7]

When I did mine I followed all the above steps,don't ever clean them when there hot,even muc off diluted will leave marks.

[Phisp]

Nice guide - thanks

For the stone chips, would you fill them with paint first before you sand back - just like for bodywork?

What would you do where the aluminium oxidises and forms a sort of raised blistering effect? Does sanding sort this out? I guess you'd need to remove all the oxidation, which I imagine extends below the original surface too, and fill the area with P38.

[NKS]

Nice write-up, thanks!

[AndyH]

What sort of primer/paint/laquer are you using? Is it specific to wheels or for body work as well?

Where would you get a nice bright silver wheel paint from?

[Xcase_BMW]

very nice write up m8

[richie.guy]

Originally Posted by AndyH

What sort of primer/paint/laquer are you using? Is it specific to wheels or for body work as well?

Where would you get a nice bright silver wheel paint from?

I just use/used aerosols from a local DIY place.

Not ideal but they've lasted 6 months+ with no problems, and my last few sets have been ok too.

Originally Posted by Phisp

For the stone chips, would you fill them with paint first before you sand back - just like for bodywork?

What would you do where the aluminium oxidises and forms a sort of raised blistering effect? Does sanding sort this out? I guess you'd need to remove all the oxidation, which I imagine extends below the original surface too, and fill the area with P38.

It depends on how deep they are. Too deep to sand back to a uniform finish i.e. keep the surface flat and free from 'dipping' then you need to skim some filler on.

It normally sands out flat.

Originally Posted by willjordan7

When I did mine I followed all the above steps,don't ever clean them when there hot,even muc off diluted will leave marks.

Never had problems personally

[Izual]

An excellent work!