DIY wheel refurb'

[vRS_Pagey]

I've been planning on getting my 18" Zeniths refurbished however after fitting a new set of wheels to the marauder, I have decided to have a go at the job myself.  Tbh 3 of the wheels weren't that bad, light kerbing and lacquer flaking, however 1 was quite badly damaged, not to be put off I attacked them with a random orbit sander, and a file!   
After cleaning them up with some household cleaners and a nasty concoction of chemicals from the garage, repairing the damage with body filler and sanding I was left with the following -











Unfortunately 2 of the tyres have quite substantial rim guards so I will need to crack the bead to be able to paint them correctly, the other 2 aren't as bad, so I masked them up and gave them 2 coats of primer.  Once dry I gave them both a light rub down with 1200 grit wet and dry.  This left the following:









So far so good, now to decide on colour, OE silver or slightly darker?  I was going to go anthracite, but to go that dark I would need to refurb the entire wheel, not just the face.

[parks]

top effort, well worth a try for the saving!!

[vRS_Pagey]

So far it has cost 10 quid, that's for a roll of 2" masking tape and a 500ml tin of grey primer which I got from Partco as the nozzle gives a far superior spray pattern than Halfrauds carp!  I will probably need a 2 second tin to complete the job and to prime the GTi side skirts I am getting for swmbo's Golf GT.  I will get the paint mixed at a specialists and an aerosol filled, for this and a couple of cans of lacquer I would estimate a further £35-£40.  So total cost of refurb (not including my time) 50ish quid. 

[RSam84]

i did the same when i owned my Rs turbo, looks like your doing a really good job!

[Weston]

I'd be interested to see the final result. I was gonna get my winter wheels refurbed but can't justify it. This might be a good option 

[vRS_Pagey]

I'd be interested to see the final result. I was gonna get my winter wheels refurbed but can't justify it. This might be a good option 

The irony is, I was going to practice on my 'expendable' winter alloys first, I must of had a moment of madness to attack the Zeniths.....

[vRS_Pagey]

Small update, I have now cracked the beads on both offending tyres.  All 4 wheels are now fully repaired and primed.  On to the decision, as the wheels will be going back on the car as part of a 'return to standard' exercise when it comes to selling (long way off), I have decided against a full blown colour change to anthracite, but I would like to go slightly darker than the OE silver, can anyone give recommendations on suitable colours to try, preferably with a code to get the paint mixed?

Cheers, Lee.

[denis]

just go into a paint/bodyshop suppliers and ask to look at the colour chips

[Weston]

How long has it taken to get to this stage?

[vRS_Pagey]

How long has it taken to get to this stage?

Total 'my time' not including cracking the beads on 2 of the tyres, I would estimate........3-4 hours max.

[daboy3000]

What filler did you use and when using the sander what time of abrasive did you use?  I know nothing about orbital sanders but I'm going to attempt to do a two tone refurb on mine soon.

[denis]

What filler did you use and when using the sander what time of abrasive did you use?  I know nothing about orbital sanders but I'm going to attempt to do a two tone refurb on mine soon.

on alloys its best to use a metal based filler, not normal body filler

on sander you want to use around 180-400 grit discs/pads, can be bought cheap from motor factors/bodyshop suppliers, or even screwfix

[daboy3000]

Stupid question but is this normal sand paper or one for metal?

[denis]

most sand paper can be used on everything, but don't buy cheap crap because its useless

[vRS_Pagey]

Tbh I just used normal body filler, but the amount required was minimal, I used 240 grit normal (wood) sand paper attached to my sander, some bits needed hand sanded, for this I used 150 grit, to flatten back the primer I used 1200 grit wet and dry and when I flatten the lacquer prior to polishing I will go with 2000 - 3000 grit wet and dry.