My attempt at wheel refurbishment

Post by **Bazboy** » 21 Jul 2008 03:40 pm

Ok i recently purchased some GLT rims from chris and they look awesome, but i decided to have a go at refurbishing them to try and make them look shiny and new, unfortunately i did not take too many pics as the weather did not look like it was going to hold up for long lol

I couldn't really get rid off the scratches because i didn't have the time to buy and use body filler or what ever it is which is used.

Before i could start spraying the wheels i needed to prep them, to do this i used 600 grade wet/dry paper and basically rubbed down the wheel to get rid of the original laquer and most of the paint a muck which covered the wheel, once this was done i went over the wheel with white spirit to remove and grease which could be left on the wheel. once this was done i masked the tire and sprayed the wheel with grey primer which took about 3 coats to get a nice even finish.

Heres a pic of the wheel before i started and after i prept and primed(1st Coat) the wheel.

After i had primed the wheel i left it to dry and then started to apply the silver spray paint took about 4 coats before i was happy with it, then i moved on to laquer the wheel up because this gave it a good and strong finish.

Heres the wheel after i had finished, ignore the cheese white writing on the tyre i was bored lol.

Anyways i am well chuffed with the final product and cant wait to get started on the other four wheels, hopefully in time for retro rides.

Dan

Post by **Jason B** » 21 Jul 2008 05:04 pm

hehe, cool! I'm going to sort my wheels soon

Post by **Chris_C** » 21 Jul 2008 05:31 pm

Awesome stuff, you've made those look a lot better mate. Any one got any idea what car they would have come off? I've only seen them in brochures and on Aymat's car before.

Post by **jtbo** » 21 Jul 2008 06:34 pm

Very nice improvement

Now hardest part will start, finishing them all. I have read that it can be quite hard to finish all four.

I don't think that I could pull that off, I mean my patience tends to quit right about when sanding starts to feel repetitive and thus I have not even started with that

I have several alloys that truly would benefit from polishing and laying new laquer to them.

Post by **Bazboy** » 21 Jul 2008 07:13 pm

Yea Im going to attempt to do two on weds and two on thursday, hopefully shouldn't take me too long managed to do one in a day and that included buying the stuff so should be able get the rest done on a couple of days. Should be good when there all done, and the car is lowered around them.

Dan

Post by **jtbo** » 21 Jul 2008 07:30 pm

Indeed, that will be good looking wheels for years

Post by **kaos** » 21 Jul 2008 08:30 pm

cor im just gonan get mine shot blasted and powdercoated:D easy!

Post by **Jason B** » 22 Jul 2008 12:39 pm

lol, I'm too far away from where I could get mine shotblasted and coated for free

- Oh well, I need the exercise and believe me when I say that you don't want to sand manky cross-spokes down by hand, its quite a long job!

Website · Post by **antiekeradio** » 22 Jul 2008 04:40 pm

a mate of mine has a Kärcher tool that fits on a high pressure 'power cleaner' (or how do you guys call this?)

it has the regular 'bajonet' connection and has an extra hose with which you can suck up dry sand from a bucket or bag.

the sand gets mixed and sprayed with the water from the nozzle.

this works quite well, you can choose the abrasiveness by using different types of sand.

Post by **Chris_C** » 22 Jul 2008 05:14 pm

antiekeradio wrote:a mate of mine has a Kärcher tool that fits on a high pressure 'power cleaner' (or how do you guys call this?)

Pressure washer over here

antiekeradio wrote: it has the regular 'bajonet' connection and has an extra hose with which you can suck up dry sand from a bucket or bag.

Bayonet

Don't think we can get sand blasting type things here though, though you think a Karcher product would be all over where they sell the main units! I'll go on a hunt!

Website · Post by **antiekeradio** » 22 Jul 2008 05:59 pm

its not included in the regular kit of accessories, but I think any dealer should be able to order one.

Post by **jtbo** » 22 Jul 2008 07:33 pm

My father has same set too, I have compressor and sand blasting tools, however sand is not perhaps best possible stuff, glass balls ( it is kind of sand) is perhaps better as that would make surface bit smoother or so?

But I might give a go with sand blasting with some of my spare 13" wheels.

Post by **Jason B** » 22 Jul 2008 07:38 pm

ideally I'd get something like that, but I'm a cheapskate when it comes to things that don't enhance the performance of the car (and have general student attitude to money)

Post by **Bazboy** » 22 Jul 2008 09:56 pm

To be honest with 600 grain wet/dry paper it took me about 30 mins to prep the wheel, so wasn't hard and that got the rim smooth and ready for the primer. The lacquer gave the wheels a real good smooth finish. Money wise it cost me about 20 odd quid for the materials and hopefully that'll last me for the other 4 wheels, if not ill grab some more.

Cheers Dan

Post by **pete-d** » 22 Jul 2008 10:32 pm

There's also a great 'howto' on this on www.rwdvolvos.org in toe 200 series technical articles.

Pete