DIY alloy wheel refurb

canhefixit

Has anyone attempted a diy alloy wheel refurb?

These wheel have quite a few dents/chips/scrapes from hitting/clipping kerbs etc, they also have a centre plastic clip in piece which hides the wheel nuts and they are fairly discoloured with paint flaking away.

This is a cheap car I bought as my own project so it defo gonna be a diy job if possible.

Is there a special paint for alloys or is regular spray paint ok?

What im thinking is sand them right back, prime and paint but what to do with the dents aroudn the edges?

Cheers

ARGINITE

canhefixit wrote: »

What im thinking is sand them right back, prime and paint but what to do with the dents aroudn the edges?

Yes it can be done, just normal spray paint works well with a decent coat of lacquer afterwards. Currently doing this to the wheels of the Rex and they are turning out well.

As for the dents around the edges just use filler and sand it down.

canhefixit

ARGINITE wrote: »

Yes it can be done, just normal spray paint works well with a decent coat of lacquer afterwards. Currently doing this to the wheels of the Rex and they are turning out well.

As for the dents around the edges just use filler and sand it down.

Is there a special filler for alloy wheels? and are you sanding them right back to metal?

cheers

ARGINITE

canhefixit wrote: »

Is there a special filler for alloy wheels? and are you sanding them right back to metal?

I'm just using body filler I picked up in Halfords. I sand the bit I intend to fill back to bare metal. The rest of the wheel I just remove the lacquer and then paint. I'm no expert and could be doing this completely wrong BTW.

canhefixit

ARGINITE wrote: »

I'm just using body filler I picked up in Halfords. I sand the bit I intend to fill back to bare metal. The rest of the wheel I just remove the lacquer and then paint. I'm no expert and could be doing this completely wrong BTW.

Nice one hopefully get at that job the weekend, have to make a shopping list:

silver spray paint
lacquer
sand paper
filler
alloy cleaner

And then im good to go!

ARGINITE

canhefixit wrote: »

Nice one hopefully get at that job the weekend, have to make a shopping list:

silver spray paint
lacquer
sand paper
filler
alloy cleaner

And then im good to go!

You will also need primer.

Wibbs

What ARGINITE said is the same way I've done it in the past. Came out nice too. Only slight diff was I used that metal based filler instead of standard body filler. Preparation is everything canhefixit. If it's as smooth as a babies bum before you paint the top coat then the paint goes on really easy. Good luck, it's a sense of satisfaction to do a job like this.

BillJ

Sorry to thread hijack a bit but i'm also thinking of doing this.

Picked up these last weekend:


Am I mad to try refurb these with no experience? Or if I put in the proper preparation should I be ok?

Also wondering is it a good idea to use nitromors to remove all the paint or is sanding sufficient?

ARGINITE

BillJ wrote: »

Am I mad to try refurb these with no experience? Or if I put in the proper preparation should I be ok?

Also wondering is it a good idea to use nitromors to remove all the paint or is sanding sufficient?

No not mad with a bit of prep work and taking your time it should be fine.

I would just sand then back to metal where needed and just key the paint for the rest of the wheel before painting.

BillJ

Thanks, they will also need a lot of filler for the curbing marks so i think it's going to be a long job to prep them.

Any rough guide to how much primer, paint and lacquer is needed for four wheels?

And are halfords reasonably priced or should I go to the local motorfactors?

hoodie6029

this post might be helpful
and this one

HJL

@BillJ

BMW forums also recommend Wurth paint as it is the best match for original colour. Or else it is the actual paint they use, can't rememeber exactly.

BillJ

Cheers will look it up!

hop2it

I seem to remember that ford moondust silver is the best match .

BillJ

@canhefixit i picked up some isopon metal filler in halfords and tried it out on one of the wheels i've sanded and it seems to fill the curbing well, sands easy too.
http://www.halfords.ie/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_11101_catalogId_15551_productId_192879_langId_-1_categoryId_212459

goldenwonder

i resprayed mine today
left one on the car when it got late
i left some of the old bits on the surface and just went over it and then lacquered it.
looks alot better now and cost less than 20 euro
up close you can start to see the roughness but theres no peeling lacquer or bet in brake dust anymore
img 216 before
217 and 222 after