Restoring original alloys

[paradyne]

My original 5 spoke are looking a little sad these days - they arent damaged from kerbing etc, but the lacquer and contrasting paint is coming off.

If I had the spare money I'd send them to a specialist to refurb them. But I can cope with polishing, painting and lacquering myself.

So the question is - What is the best way to restore / polish / paint them?

Cheers,
Nick R

[valjo]

rebuilding alloys isnt so expencive. i paid for all 4 wheals about 40-50 eu one years ago. And they look like new. So i guess it is the best way to fix it.

[Dr H]

In the UK you will pay upwards of £30 each wheel for a good job.

DIY-wise is it a case of removing the lacquer (paint stripper or sandpaper) and then lots of elbow grease with wet and dry I guess. Then clean the wheels with a solvent before lacquering.

To do it properly tou really need to remove the tyres, which can be difficult to do at home.

Anyone got any 'make it easier' tips?

Leigh

[Zorro]

Dont bother laquering. I have had mine refurbished twice and it is impossible to keep the lacquer from crazing so I took it all off. Should have done it years ago.
The bare alloy responds well to Autosol !

[audiman]

Evening Zorro!! Hope that exhaust is ok

I need to do my wheels soon. Has anyone got a good picture of what the 5 spoke wheel should look like from the factory?

Mine have been sprayed silver and not polished alloy. Also what sort of colour is the darker bit?

Pics please

[Dr H]

Not sure if these help but:

http://www.s-cars.org/s2/Gallery/011.jpg

http://www.s-cars.org/s2/Gallery/stephcar.jpg

[Zorro]

I am attempting to attach a photo of my unused spare which is probably what you are looking for. This computer thingy is not making it easy, I suspect the file is too large. Can someone tell me how to prepare it for attachment.

[Dr H]

Open the file in a photo editing programme and resize it. Save it as a smaller file and check how large it is with Windows explorer or similar.

HTH

[Sidspud]

I've just phoned a company local to me to ask about refurbishing my originals (they currently live under my bed!).
I was quoted £25 each. I think that's quite reasonable. I've heard of other peaople getting quotes of up to £75! :eek2:

[Dr H]

A place here in Sheffield will take your wheel, remove the tyre, clean (blast it) front and back, powder coat (silver) front and back, refit tyre, new valve and balance (adhesive weights) for £28+vat

They will even take the wheels and a new set of tyres and fit the new ones once they have refurbed them, you have to take the old tyres for disposal.

I think I'll be paying a vist before winter sets in because my wheels won't survive any more salt etc, the state they are in!

[Zorro]

Thanks for help. I have reduced size to below 102kb but it still won't attach. The image size was also getting rather small. Rats!

[Zorro]

Hey it worked!
It is coming back to me now. The reason I was keen to re laquer was that the original finish had tiny groves from the turning which gave an irredescent effect thro the laquer. I tried to replicate this by having them refinished on a lathe. That worked fine, it was stopping water getting under the laquer I had the problem with. This also happened on the original wheels which were all replaced under warranty for that reason.
I doubt if Tom has much chance with a warranty claim as it looks as if some assassin has had them painted or powder coated.
With a little effort you can get a really elegant finish on the bare alloy but you lose the irredescence.
Winter use could be an issue but I have been using the 15" wheels of an early URQ with winter tyres as stopping on snow was a problem up here!

[s2driveruk]

Mine are bare alloys and to be honest if you clean them fairly often and apply some peek or similar then they stay in pretty good nick - mine we even okay over the winter like this and they are mirror finish when clean

A bit of wet and dry paper (very fine) will also remove any major brake dust marks and other surface rubbish without affecting the finish too.

I was going to get mine refurbed but actually i like them as they are

Cheers,

David

[s2driveruk]

Tom,

On my wheels and the original spare the contrast colour is like a dark metallic blue/grey colour if that helps!

David

[Doug_RS2]

Zorro - those wheels look good - you need to get a bigger picture of them though.

You say you had your wheels on a lathe? Did you do this yourself? I need to find somewhere - reputable - to take some metal of a couple of alloys - to change the offset slightly - any recomendations?