Wheel Refurb - Should I be happy, or is this crappy?

[jimxms]

So I took a set of Rays GramLight 57F Pro's down to a local refurb place last week as they needed some TLC. There was no actual damage to the wheels - just corrosion and pitting from years of neglect.

This is what I got back:









It would seem that where they machined the lip and then proceeded to lacquer it afterward they didn't give it a proper clean first as dust seems to be trapped between the groves of where the lip was machined and the clear coat.

Also, I'm not sure if I'm just being too picky, but the inner part of the rim is still quite pitted - albeit now coated with a layer of paint.

Total cost for 4 wheels was £360 (bear in mind that I dismantled and rebuilt the split rims myself).

[jimxms]

I thought as much to be honest I cant deny that the wheels weren't in a shocking state when I sent them in, but I was expecting better.

The nail in the coffin came when I showed them to my old man, and he said "they'll look great after a refurb"

[jimxms]

• No rust on bolts / bolts not seized
• Center spokes in 85% good condition (no kerbing, some small areas where paint had bubbled).
• Outer lip in 70% good condition (no kerbing, mostly dulled bare aluminum. 2000grit + metal polish could have fixed it)
• Inner rim in 45% condition (Lots of dirt and tar, fairly pitted).

I think i can confidently say that if I had access to a variety of coarse and fine sandpapers + a week off work, I could have probably managed to get at least two of the rims to a mirror shine without the use of power tools.

[jimxms]

I just got a reply from the place that refurbed my wheels...

" If you want the inner rims to be like new, 2 coats of powder primer would be needed and there is no guarentee that this will give a 100% perfect finish. The only issue is if this is done the powder will be too thick and the centres will not fit. A way round this is to have the rear of the rims stripped, shotblasted, fill the witness marks with filler then wet sprayed (we can cut the lips) filler can not be used when powder coating and this is not somthing we do."

So they can double powder coat the insides in the hope that it fills the pitting (hmmm), but even if it does, the centers will not fit.

Or the insides could be properly stripped, filled and wet sprayed which sounds like the proper option. But they don't offer that service!!

As for the machined lips, it sounds like they will do these again - but should I be worried about how much material they are machining off?

[jimxms]

Emailed Lepsons - they don't want to touch my wheels now that they've already been shoddily refurbed

[jimxms]

Adz The Rat said:

That is a terrible job, you could have done better yourself.
Is there any chance of getting a refund?

At the moment I doubt it. I'll take them back there and make it clear that I want them perfect or my next move will be pressing for a refund.

[jimxms]

Stedman said:

Don't quite understand why, but that's why i'm not a wheel refurber! Anyone care to explain.

I really hope you get this sorted OP - that really isn't the best of jobs to say the least

They said because they wasn't sure if there would be enough metal to polish the lips.

Also they thought that the outer rim might be made from magnesium (which it's not). But I wasn't going to argue