DIY wheel refurb - Are these beyond help?

Posted: Mon Aug 09, 2010 4:47 pm

Hi folks,

I've recently picked up a set of the standard 15" 10 spoke alloys with reasonable tyres, but they look like they desperately need a refurb. As they are essentially a spare set (I just want the tyres for the time being), I thought I'd have a go at a DIY refurb.

Before I go diving in, here are some pictures of the worst wheel and the nasty areas. I think it's just the paint and lacquer that's bubbled and peeled off, so I thought I could strip all the paint off, sand them, fill any deep scratches then prime, paint, and lacquer them as per the various wheel refurb guides around the net. So folks, looking at the pictures, am I kidding myself, or are they fixable?

Also, the centre caps, can the Audi logo be popped out, or will I just have to mask it up when doing these?

Thanks again

Rog

Posted: Mon Aug 09, 2010 8:51 pm

yes, they can be fixed.

It will take a lot of effort if doing by hand but can be done

Posted: Mon Aug 09, 2010 8:57 pm

Id bob down to wilkinsons or something and get one of them wire brush type drill attachments. A quick buzz around with that to get all the hefy crap off, then go down the wet n dry sandpaper route. Very Happy

Posted: Mon Aug 09, 2010 10:05 pm

The centre cap pops out. Fair bit of work there to get them to what I would class as a decent repair. First thing you will need to do is remove the tyres, thoroughly remove flaking paint, wet and dry exposed alloy areas, build up primer, wet and dry again, before even thinking about applying top coat and lacquer. Take your time - the 10-spokes look sweet when they catch the sun!

Posted: Mon Aug 09, 2010 10:15 pm

I would take the tires off, then find somewhere and get them blasted with a fine grade of bead blast. Then paint them yourself.

Posted: Mon Aug 09, 2010 10:27 pm

If you can wait I will have a better set than that available (with legal tyres) in a few months time. They are too far gone, I would sell those for scrap, you will get £5 a wheel.

Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2010 5:50 am

Cheers for the replies guys! I think it can be done, its certainly worth a go. If the wheels where badly bent from kerbing I wouldn't bother, but in my eyes they just need new paint and lacquer, although that will involve a lot of sanding. I'll get started on the worst one and post pics as I go in case someone's interested to see how I get on, and more importantly for me, you guys can probably give me lots of pointers as to where I'll no doubt go wrong Razz

I'll take one to work today and get the tyre removed then I can start taking all the loose paint off, and then I'll attack it with my Dremel and its various sanding attachments...

Thanks again

Rog

Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2010 6:29 am

Could you not get them bead blasted, it would save you a lot of time.

Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2010 10:50 am

I've done some from that sort of "damage"...took a while...and the cost was only sort of OK in the end....but the satisfaction was 110% Very Happy

I've now found a place that will strip and powdercoat etc for £35....a wheel....i'd say it was costing me close to £20 for paint etc...and they have just started to yellow slightly...clearcoat must not have been on thick enough?

Thene there's the time it takes....2 weeks a wheel compared to 3 days

Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2010 5:57 pm

As I say, these are a spare set of wheels, so times not really an issue. As you've mentioned the satisfaction is a big thing, you can't beat the feeling of doing something yourself and it turning out well, and if you save some cash in the process...bonus!

Rog

Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2010 6:05 pm

anyone wana buy these? done by my girlfriend

Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2010 6:08 pm

They look good, have you got an bigger pictures? Any chance you're girlfriend can do me? I mean mine Razz

Are they a different colour on the rim bits? By rims bits I mean the sunken part, if that makes sense :/

Sorry Smile

Rog

Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2010 8:25 pm

the thing about repairing the 'damage' in your pics is: that is corrosion and the only way to get rid of any sort of corrosion is to get rid of it totally. if you use wet and dry then you need to be going down to an even shiny metal surface, any corrosion left in the pitted surface will reappear in time. by all means do the refurb yourself but i would def get them blasted by someone first, inside and out. that way you can be sure all the corrosion from in the pits has gone.

I did this on a set of speedlines 2 years ago and repainted with acid etc primer, high build primer, audi silver two pack paint and then top coat. still perfect. Smile

Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2010 9:52 pm

the wheels have a polished lip and the centres are painted in a carbon fibre dark grey metalic the lips have been coated so they dont corrode Smile

do not get your wheels sand blasted as alloys are a soft metal and you are not meant to it will put pit marks in them start with a p180 grit paper and then work your way up through the grades to p320 ,etch,then prime, then flat back best to do this with wet and dry 320 gives a smoother surface and add a little washing up liquid to the water clean off then you are ready to paint and laquer

Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2010 4:40 am

Excellent, thanks for the advice Jamie. I have to admit any real money isn't going to be spent on the wheels, its all more of an experiment than anything, a few quid on paint/primer and various bits of sand paper, and just see how they turn out Smile

Rog

Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2010 3:03 pm

this was a good thread to read as i've just got a refurb wheel project of my own. same as you Rog, spare set that i want to spend a minimum of cash on and see how good a job i can do on them. they're for my series 2 coupe, an earlier type than my multispokes.

Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2010 8:57 pm

Sounds good Gazza, you'll have to stick up some pics of your progress.

I've had the tyres taken off of 2 of mine now, and bought a tin of Nitromors and thought I'd see how that does on the paint. I want to strip the wheels right back, then begin sanding to remove any oxidisation. It then sounds like I need some fancy primer called Etch primer due to taking it right back to bare metal then I can go from there, probably another coat or 2 of normal primer (?) followed by a few coats of colour, followed by yet more coats, this time of lacquer, sanding between each coat Very Happy

Rog

Needs to get out more Joined: Dec 30, 2009 Posts: 164

tbh if you go down the nitromores route i think you will wish you had never started.best to use a wire wheel in a drill on the bad areas this will get rid of all the white powdery gunk a get right into the pitted areas then use a small amount of normal body filler for any pits etc then flat back with wet and dry untill you loose the rough edge of the good painted areas. and then use a good primer/filler before painting.i've done loads this way and always had good and long lasting results. Very Happy

Needs to get out more Joined: Dec 30, 2009 Posts: 164

forgot to say you need only prime the repaired areas, then just flat the whole wheel back to provide a key and clean well,you can then put your silver straight on to the existing good areas on the wheel but give the primed areas a couple of top coats before moving on to covering the whole wheel.

Posted: Sun Aug 15, 2010 3:23 pm

I refurbed a set of speedlines by hand that looked as bad as those.

Fair bit of elbow grease required but do-able.

Good luck!

Needs to get out more Joined: Dec 30, 2009 Posts: 164

your girlfriends done a cracking job of those wheels fella.does she have a sister!! the only thing my otherhalf has ever done to my wheels is kerb them Laughing

Posted: Sun Aug 15, 2010 4:53 pm

What did she do with the rims? Are they just polished or have they been coated with a clear lacquer? If so, what lacquer did you use?