DIY wheel refurb, what paints to use etc?
Discussion
The wheels on my Corrado are a bloody state at the minute, all have corroded, some very badly. As I won't be keeping it that long I don't really want to spend £50 odd on each wheel getting them refurbed, so thought I might give it a go myself. One problem with that is the original finish is a sort of chrome effect, so does anyone know if it's possible to get an effect like that by painting yourself, and where to go to get the paints? The other problem I have is that on some wheels a much smaller area has corrododed, so I wouldn't really want to re-do the entire wheel, but I don't want a patchy finish either. The final issue is the wheels seem to be covered in a thin, glossy plastic coating, so I'm not sure what the finish will come out like without that.
Any advice would be much appreciated.
Here's a pic of the most corroded, and one slightly less so. I've had a bit of a go sanding down the more corroded one.
Any advice would be much appreciated.
Here's a pic of the most corroded, and one slightly less so. I've had a bit of a go sanding down the more corroded one.
Looks like they were turned or satin polished and lacquered. The finish is done on a lathe, and leaves a very attractive, regular pattern.
Unfortunately the surface is way too regular, and hence has a low surface area, and the coating adhesion of the lacquer is extremely poor. The lacquer lifts, and corrosion sets in.
This finish cannot be replicated with paint. The wheels can be re-turned or repolished, however any protective coating put over them will likely flake off again in very short order. We see loads of wheels with these finish - they are a very poor choice for long-term durability.
You can have them stripped, re-polished and not lacquered, but keeping them looking nice will involve regular hand polishing off of any tarnishing.
Alternatively have them properly keyed before a powdercoat or sprayed-paint repair, that should last much longer, but will look different.
Tol
Unfortunately the surface is way too regular, and hence has a low surface area, and the coating adhesion of the lacquer is extremely poor. The lacquer lifts, and corrosion sets in.
This finish cannot be replicated with paint. The wheels can be re-turned or repolished, however any protective coating put over them will likely flake off again in very short order. We see loads of wheels with these finish - they are a very poor choice for long-term durability.
You can have them stripped, re-polished and not lacquered, but keeping them looking nice will involve regular hand polishing off of any tarnishing.
Alternatively have them properly keyed before a powdercoat or sprayed-paint repair, that should last much longer, but will look different.
Tol
I'll probably go down the route of the last option. Although it's a nice finish I'd rather it was more conventional and without the dirty great patches of corrosion. Could you point me in the right direction of good spray paint for wheels? I figure I may as well have a crack at it myself on one of the wheels, haven't got much to loose with the worst one anyway, and if I do a bit of a crap job I could always look into having them re-done proffesionally
Regarding "what paint for the job" Paint is paint, its just peoples preferance, not that ones better than the another.
If you are gonna attempt it DIY, I take it your looking at aerosol?
By the look of the picture give yourself about 1-2 hours prep time to get the wheel into a condition that is primable. Once youve got rid of the damage, feathered all the laquer edges and keyed the whole wheel, prime it with "acid etch primer", allow to fully dry, get some wheel silver 2-3 coats should do it, then a couple of coats of laquer.
If you are buying the products 1 tin of each should just about cover the four wheels which would cost about £40/50 inc abrasives & masking.
With this method do NOT jet wash the wheels ever, as you are not removing the tyres you will have exposed edges where the tyre meets the rim and a sure bet the power wash will lift the paint.
The other alternitave is get them profesionally done for about £45 a rim.
HTH
Oh BTW if ive got it totally wrong and you have all the equipment theres some nice colours here:-
http://www.wheelpaints.co.uk/
If you are gonna attempt it DIY, I take it your looking at aerosol?
By the look of the picture give yourself about 1-2 hours prep time to get the wheel into a condition that is primable. Once youve got rid of the damage, feathered all the laquer edges and keyed the whole wheel, prime it with "acid etch primer", allow to fully dry, get some wheel silver 2-3 coats should do it, then a couple of coats of laquer.
If you are buying the products 1 tin of each should just about cover the four wheels which would cost about £40/50 inc abrasives & masking.
With this method do NOT jet wash the wheels ever, as you are not removing the tyres you will have exposed edges where the tyre meets the rim and a sure bet the power wash will lift the paint.
The other alternitave is get them profesionally done for about £45 a rim.
HTH
Oh BTW if ive got it totally wrong and you have all the equipment theres some nice colours here:-
http://www.wheelpaints.co.uk/
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