Nice shiney spiders

[itiejim]

Got fed up with one damaged alloy, so I decided to make the most of my current paternity leave and refurbish the lot.

Two down, two to go.

[dirty boy]

Any details? looks (by the pictures, not the result ) that it was a DIY job...

[itiejim]

I was indeed a bit of DIY, I used aerosols from Halfrauds - primer, colour coat and clear coat - a can of each for each pair of wheels. The colour is the exotically named "steel wheels".

I wanted something darker than a normal silver but not an anthracite and I must say, I'm really pleased with the results, they are as good as a set of rims I had done professionally over the winter. I've cut, polished and waxed them since the earlier photo and I just can't wait to get some new tyres on now!

[optimax sniffer]

Nice job. Where did the TVR decals come from?

[itiejim]

See here for the stickers:

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Excellent quality and very easy to apply. The guy suggests that they can be applied over the top of the clear coat, however, I stuck them on the colour coat and clear coated them over the top with no problems.

[morebeanz]

Did you have to fill at all, or just a light sanding? I think mine will take rather more than just a quick sand and paint, and wondered what sort of filler you might use?

[itiejim]

One alloy was quite badly curbed, nothing deep, but a good 6" length of scuffing. I started by cleaning them all up with a wire brush attachment in a drill, then filed the rim to get rid of any rough edges and used normal, good quality body filler. If you've got any real chunks missing I'd use something like liquid metal, you can always fill over the top of that if necessary.

then I used some 200 grade glass paper to get the shape right, before flatting them properly with 1000 grade paper. I then put the primer and colour coat on and used 1200 grade paper to flat back the colour coat before putting the clear coat on.

At the end I just used cutting compound, polish and wax to get a glassy smooth finish.

[Byker28i]

I got lazy, paid £50 per wheel. For that the nice man welded in where I'd curbed the wheel and reground it before all wheels were stripped, sprayed etc.

I did my wife's wheels and wished I'd never started.

[morebeanz]

I've considered the pay-a-bloke approach, but since I'm picking up some new wheels soon, I thought I could afford to have a go myself before getting a professional to bail me out!