*Steel* wheel refurb
Author
Discussion

BluePurpleRed

Original Poster:

1,138 posts

247 months

Monday 21st November 2011
quotequote all
Hi,

I have a slightly odd request. I have decided that through the winter I would let my E36 M3 go and get a little runabout to get the Mrs through to her full license by April / May.

I managed to get a little Polo runabout at the weekend ( trials and tribulations in actually getting a good car for £800 - £1000 could be a whole other thread ! )

It looks pretty much like the image below. Except for the wheels. If it was possible to get them back to like that for less than £40 a corner I would be very keen!




At the moment they are a bit tired but not too bad as the previous owner has hubcaps over them but I think the car would look a million miles better with just nice steels like in the picture.

I am based in SW London and don't need the car daily so could drop it off somewhere if needed. If anyone knows of a place that could do something without costing the earth I would be interested!

I guess look into buying the new steels and swapping the tyres over might be a good call if they are not too expensive thinking about it!

Mr MXT

7,774 posts

304 months

Monday 21st November 2011
quotequote all
If its a snotter, why not just DIY and spray them silver?

BluePurpleRed

Original Poster:

1,138 posts

247 months

Monday 21st November 2011
quotequote all
Yeah I was thinking that but if they are £30 each from somewhere having done that before (and taking quite a lot of time!) it seems it could be better to get new ones etc.

Its a basic car but in really good nick and I think doing something to the wheels that wouldn't affect insurance would be nice to do.

Just having a think really.

BluePurpleRed

Original Poster:

1,138 posts

247 months

Monday 21st November 2011
quotequote all
Had a look on the web and I think a good look at the wheels to see their condition is in order.

I think a sand / dremel in places and then a silver spray ( exhaust paint IIRC? ) with some new / pattern / refurbed centre discs may be what I want to do.

I think as the steel and centre can be made to look good I will try for that as I never really see any hubcaps that look good. I might have a look for some later VW ones that but need to be carefule as a lot look like they are trying to be alloys, and not in a good way. :P


FRMATT

526 posts

183 months

Tuesday 22nd November 2011
quotequote all
If you are painting them yourself this is a good idea to prevent overspray:


BluePurpleRed

Original Poster:

1,138 posts

247 months

Tuesday 22nd November 2011
quotequote all
Cheers guys. I agree, a bit of set up and some elbow grease will be the way forward. If I stuff it up then I can always put the hub caps back on and just have slightly brighter wheels behind.

When I was about 20 I had a MkII Golf and I went the other way and had some ok hub caps so sprayed the wheels black with exhaust paint after cleaning them up and then the hub cap looked better on a dark, even background.

I would prefer to get the centre caps and then just make the thing tidy and original like that photo really.

Its a properly basic shopping car but I am still going to try to make it look good ( for not much money ) and take an interest in it. I just love any type of car once I spend a bit of time in it. It already looks better after a wash and once I get some AutoGlym on bits of it, it should tidy up pretty well. It hasn't got any rust on it anywhere that I can see either.

lordlee

3,137 posts

266 months

Sunday 11th December 2011
quotequote all
Could always have a look around a few scrapyards or polo's breaking on eBay as I am sure there are some good condition wheels left. Most scrappies charge between 10-15 for steelies so it's well worth a shot.