How To DIY Alloy Wheel Repair Refurbishment! (pics)

[joshwa]

the lacquer should do the job fine, but keep them waxed with turtle wax (or similar) as well to help protect them... i've got a vintage set of 5 '80s ford pepperpot alloys to do sometime - will be using your hand guide..

On the subject of turtlewax - do you think there's any difference between car wax (like turtlewax) and alloy wheel wax?

I've tried both - the alloy wheel wax (again turlewax stuff, but in a spray bottle) seems like clear wax - but I can't really tell any difference between it and the traditional (car) turtlewax.

Josh

[J4MES]

not used the spray type, but i'm inclined towards the 'traditional' wipe-on stuff - you'll get an even coat which you can always reapply easily.. but it's turtlewax, so either will be decent (imho of course..)

[SilentDeath]

I would say liquid is best. The spray cans will have other non-wax things to make it more sprayable, there will be far less in the can, and cost more...

spraying wax cant work too well (imo), since you will get droplets of wax rather than a smoth surface created by wiping. It probably wont stay on as long either...

[93gboyle]

Good Jobs on the alloys, very good job, just a quick question, how is the best way to rub down a set of 16 spoke alloys. I bought them very cheap to put on my 2002 fiesta as i have a feeling i will wreck them but would like to respray them. I have attempted it once, and got an okay job, but the paint was quite thin inbetween the spokes (the inner of the spoke)

[sparky-sparks]

Great work on your wheels, I dont have the guts to try my self so I got fenwicksupplies dot com to do mine They did a fantastic job, even came out to my house to do them. Sorry carnt put a link up yet but google will get you there. I saw their van in my local dealers and got chatting to the technician, thought if the dealer uses them why not me.

[SilentDeath]

Just wondering how much paint/lackquer you all used?

Since its about £7 a can in halfords, and my guess is that I could need 5 cans or more if Im going to lacquer them properly (and not just the outer face, wouldnt want them to corrode badly inside..)

Im not going to paint them though, just lacquer after I get a decent finnish on them (wheather it be smooth pollished, or wirebrushed, not sure - you dont see many alloys with a brushed finnish, they all have crappy dull painted finnish that doesnt shine in the same way.).

Also, many different types of laquer - acrylic, cellulose, epoxy etc.. I know acrylic sucks and wont last more than a few weeks, although most seem to be this type. Halfords have a few cans of cellulose type which I think would be best (costs more)

Im also going to have a look for a local shop that could lacquer them, since I guess they will have plenty of laquer, for all the things they paint, might be cheaper than buying cans of the stuff (for a better finnish)

[mmh]

from personal experience, halfords paint and laquer is terrible...

get yourself to a local paint store, where they specialise...

i use my local one (www.romartautomotive.co.uk) and thier color match is excellent.

nice work on the refurbing too. havent done it personally, but theres a guide on the car forum im part of and it looks like it could be a bit of fun.

[GoNz0]

it can also be worth a visit to your local powder coating unit, you can get then coated with a variety of materials, im not 100% sure if they do a clear acrylic coat, but thats hard as nails and the wheels would be good for years to come !

thats my plan, a trip up the motorway on the right day and they will pop them in on a run and coat them with clear.

[SilentDeath]

Spoke to many people today..

I will possibly try tinned lacquer (the sort usually used for wood - however I belive it is polyurethane, which can be used on metal, and might even find some cellulose stuff too...) - rather than spray cans, which would be far too expensive

...but I found out that I wont need them lacquered, *if* they are not painted, and they get a regular oil/wax to prevent corrosion (to be done after washing car etc, probably also after long journeys or near sea)

Also I will probably not touch the hub side of the wheel. It wont be seen, and the original lacquer is still good there.. but I will clean up the rims/tyre seat, as parts have started to bubble and might affect the seal.

I found a company that can bead blast them for £10-15 per wheel. Its quite a lot, but might be worth it. It would give them a nice but slighty matt finnish (or rough matt finnish if they were sandblasted first).
Not sure about this, but going to look for a cheaper place.
Bead blasting will not touch the lacquer, so would need to be removed first by me, or sandblasting (sandblasting eats aluminuim very fast in my experience although they tell me they can turn it down a lot, and i think he said it wouldnt cost more).

[Civic786]

you no what that is a very good guide i strarted mine pics comming soon keep ur eyes here lol

[midzt]

I've been doing this with my wheels. I've done one so far. But had problems masking off the tyre, i eventually managed to do it. But now doing my second wheel, the masking tape won't stick to the tyre again.

Any tips?

[joshwa]

Some people cover the tyre in vasolene - then any spray goes on the vasolene and you just wipe it off afterwards - although I've never tried it myself.

[greenalien]

fill dents, scratches, kerbing etc (with david's isopon filler from motorworld),

...at which point, you may have invalidated your insurance and created a potential death trap. Alloy wheels MUST only be repaired by a qualified welder/repairer and then subsequently heat-treated to take out the welding stress. If the wheel was badly damaged enough to need filling, it should be scrapped. Any filled damage just hides a potential stress point that could cause the wheel to crack and fail suddenly, most likely under heavy cornering stress. Sell a repaired wheel done with disguised filler and it could be a criminal offence, regardless of how nice it looks. Bottom line is, alloy wheels can't be refurbished cheaply and attempting to do so is very dangerous. Sorry to 'rain on your parade', as the irritating Astra advert would have it, but alloy wheels are expensive for a reason - they are highly engineered, safety critical components and must be treated as such.

[J4MES]

I think we're talking minor imperfections caused through day-to-day wear here pal(surface scratches/scrapes caused by kerbing/stone chipping etc.), not cracks though spokes caused by crashing! You use filler on your walls at home, and don't expect the roof to come crashing down

[greenalien]

I think we're talking minor imperfections caused through day-to-day wear here pal

Problem is, once it's ben filled and painted, how can you tell what the underlying damage is? I wouldn't touch painted alloys with a barge pole.

[hitman67]

Since its about £7 a can in halfords

£5.49 in my store (Motorworld) and based on what customers have said Halfruads service (at least in kendal) is a joke.