Wheel refurbishment

[Driver888]

Need some advice on refurnishing some BBS RM's. Looking to buy some which are in need of a refurbish because I want to make it into a little project and maybe eventually sell them on again and make some money.

I was thinking of sanding back the basket part of the wheels and priming them then painting them either gloss or matt black. I am going to polish the rims after repairing any curb damage. Was looking at buying these of ebay

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&am...

I want to get a similar finish to this

http://www.vwcaddyforum.com/showthread.php?t=33709

I am going to need to invest in a air compressor and a paint gun and maybe later a sand blaster and PPE.

Anyone attempted these sort of wheels before and how did they go? In good condition they are worth nearly £1k!

[Vette]

You have certainly picked a challenge if you're new to this as it appears from your post...

You will need to grind the rims and that's best done using a proper wheel grinding machine. Also, they are split rims which present their own problems. I would recommend sending them to a specialist - £60-80 per wheel, maybe a bit more. The result will be much better if the correct equipment is used. Good luck!!

David

[Driver888]

have been quoted £140 per wheel to split them down and refurb my current BBS RX2's. In the interest of giving it a go! why would the rims need to be grinded?

[paintman]

To remove the kerb damage and give you a surface you can polish.

The alternative is to have the damaged edges welded & machined to restore their original profile. That is in the realm of the specialist wheel repairer and is the only way you are going to get the result you show in your second link with no variations on the rim.
Have a look at:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?f=23&...

[Driver888]

What about if the curbing is so deep grinding to down would remove too much material?

[paintman]

paintman said:

To remove the kerb damage and give you a surface you can polish.

The alternative is to have the damaged edges welded & machined to restore their original profile. That is in the realm of the specialist wheel repairer and is the only way you are going to get the result you show in your second link with no variations on the rim.
Have a look at:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?f=23&...

1. As above.
2. Replace the damaged part if the wheel has removable rim.
3. Scrap the wheel & buy a new one.

[Driver888]

ok thats sound advice. I think I will probably attempt my BBS RX2's first as they do not have any curb damage and would be good practice!

What sort of paint and primer would I need to repaint the inner part? Also for the rim I was thinking just using some sort of paint stripper to remove the clear coat then sand gradually up to say 2000 grit then polish. I am not sure what polish to use though!

[paintman]

Without machinery it will be a LOT of work.
If there is any corrosion on the painted centre it will need to be removed.
Whole area will need to be keyed for new paint to adhere.
Prime as required - if alloy then an etch primer is best. Followed by colour coats followed by clearcoat. 2k will give the best result, but you will need appropriate PPE.
The rims will need damage dealing with before polishing to a shiny finish before clearcoating. Stripper should remove the lacquer - it will also remove the paint on the centre so you may be best stripping the lot & starting from bare metal unless you intend dismantling the wheel. It will also be very time consuming due to all the twists/curves/nooks/crannies!

I get the impression from your first post that you have no equipment at all. Have you factored in the cost of a decent compressor, reasonable quality spraygun, PPE? If you intend to blast them then you will need the kit for that & ideally a blast cabinet of some sort.
The wheels you show as your ideal have been professionally done. Without the kit & the experience you are unlikely to achive the same result!

Wheels frankly are a PITA to do!

Edited by paintman on Tuesday 29th December 14:23

[Driver888]

Can pick up a air compressor for around £150 from tooled-up and can also get the spray gun for around £40. I could also get a polisher and a sander which can fit onto the air compressor. Investing in shot blasting equipment would be quite expensive as well i would of thought.

For paints and clear coat this website looks very useful and reasonably priced

http://www.wheelpaints.co.uk/product_details_17.ht...

To key the metal could I use a brass brush? Or after shot blasting (if used) will it already be keyed?

[paintman]

Small cheap compressors can't run high consumption air tools. That is air-sanders & polishers. To buy a compressor you need to look at what tools you wish to use. Look up their requirements & the greatest will show the MINIMUM compressor needed. Also many cheap compressors are shown as displacement. What you need is the Free Air Delivery figure. That's always a lot less then the displacement figure

You will also need the hardener for the lacquer.

Blasting to remove paint/corrosion on soft metals needs great care as you are likely to do a LOT of damage with most DIY mediums. So you really need bead or vapour blasting. Shot is an absolute none starter.

Edited by paintman on Tuesday 29th December 18:34

[Anatol]

Don't try to regrind and polish rims without access to a wheel lathe. Using a hand-held polisher is not a substitute.

HTH

Tol

[7even]

Its a bit of an insight as to why they are so expensive to refurb. All great advice above. Being in the trade you get an understanding of whats involved in a task like this. To do it to the above standard is probably not short of a weeks work. I and probably most of the painters here would subcontract jobs like this out, its very, very specialised indeed.
Good luck if you do decide to give it a crack.