Wheel refurbishing

[Oil-burner]

Right, this is kinda my forte so here goes.


If you have tyres on get the bead pushed down so you can get to the lip

Give them a damn good wash

Now if theres any damage you want to flat it out with a rough grade paper p80 or p120 or if its really bad use some alloy filler.

When youve got all the damage out you need to decide whether youre going to go all out on them and completely strip the paint (no need imo, they wouldnt be totally stripped if you took them to a garage to do)

If you are just going for whats needed then you wanna feather out the paint edges that youve made whilst rubbing the damage out.
Use a finer grit paper for this like p180 when you're feathering it out you should start to see the layers of original paint they need to start look like this


Now when you're happy its all flat go over the whole wheel with p320 to give a good key for primer!

Once this is done give it a good clean and wipe over with some panel wipes (or a bit of turps on a rag will do) this is to remove any grease and crap on the prepped surface.

Now you need to get your primer ready.

*bit of a tip here, when using rattle cans leave them in some warm water for 10 mins before using them. They dont want to be hot but they need to feel warm.
If you shake it and it feels cold to touch put them back in*

Since you've now gone through the paint and bare alloy is showing you need to give it a coat of ACID ETCH PRIMER.
this is important as it bites into the metal to give the best paint adhesion possible.
You only need to give it a light coat of etch as its expensive so you'll easily have some left out of a can doing 4 wheels.

Now youll want your normal primer (im guessing it'll be grey primer if you're painting them a normal colour)
You want to lay 3-4 good coats of primer on them
Remember light even coats, dont try to slap too much on all at once else you'll get runs!
Let it semi dry between coats (you'll see what I mean when you do it, once the vapours have evaporated it sort of leaves a matte finish)

When its covered completely leave it to dry in a warm dry place for as long as possible!

Next you're gonna need a cheap can of black pound shop paint and give all your primer a dusting (dont cover it just so it looks spotty)
Leave this for a bit or get a hair drier on it.

Now you want to get a bucket of water with a bit of washing up liquid in it. And some p800 wet and dry.

Now you want to flat all that black paint back off!
This will leave the primer feeling smooth as a babys shit box!

Now give it another wipe down with the panel wipes and get ready for paint.

As before with the primer light even coats until you are happy with the coverage.
If you're using a metallic finish spray a very fine coat over the wheel to finish. (This makes sure all the metallic flakes haven't sunk into the paint)

Again leave to dry completely then its lacquer time

Dont flat off your top coat!! Youll just ruin it!

Now lacquer is the hardest part to get right, you need to put enough on to get a glossy finish but not so much that it runs off the wheels.

Your first pass wants to be a light dusting to give the rest something to stick to.
When it it sticky to touch (obviously on an inconspicuous area) you are ready to lay the rest of the lacquer as you did before.
Remember its easier to put too little on than too much.

When its done again leave it to dry for as long as possible.

Then when it is COMPLETELY dry give it a buff up and admire you new wheels!

Heres one I did earlier


Have fun!!