[misc_work] Time For My Wheel Refurb Thread!

[omega 82]

my misses reckons that if i have any ideas about doing this to my wheels in our house then ill be living in the kennel with the dog!!!

[Tom Fenton 1,525]

I have a set of wheels to do soon, reading all this is making me feel tired already, I may give in and send them to be blasted and coated!! However I do have the advantage of a garage to do them in, and some power tools to help with the rubbing down, still going to be plenty to do by hand though I fear

[pugman211 0]

like mentioned before, get them dipped in acid or blasted. then thats the hard part done. then its just a quick sand on the primer to make them smooth before paint.

[chocolate_o_brian 0]

What Pugman211 said. If I'd known they were so much hassle to sand down, I'd have probably looked a favour from a mate to dip them or shotblast them.

 

Not forgetting my wheels have been painted before a couple of times, the last seeming to be with bloody lead paint or Hammerite

 

Now I've got all the leg work done though and have nice smooth wheels ready for paint, I am currently enjoying a nice sense of self satisfaction.

 

Last pic for today, all 4 done...

 

Gonna wash them tomorrow AM and then primer ready to be left overnight.

 

I presume giving them a blast with my Karcher outside would be ok, along with a scrub in soapy water? Any other methods folk have used, as I want the cleanest surface possible for primer. Have preperation wipes which I can use afterwards.

 

Ta

[kennygti 0]

cant beat that feeling when they look good when there done and you can say i did them by hand. I did with mine and they were a right mess. About 400 layers of paint throughout the years but look awesome now Your doing a great job. Mine need doing again soon so will post my progress thread. Only thing with black wheels is the stone chips

[pugman211 0]

you can blast them with the karcher, that wont affect the finish of the primer. Whats important is to make sure there is no damp water anywhere, so if you have a small compressor, blow the wheels dry. Then degrease them with whatever you have (your using wipes arent you?)). Then tack rag them, then simply put your primer coats on, me personally id give them at least 2-3 coats. 1st coat quite light, incase the primer reacts with metal, (should really use an etch primer first, but you will be ok).

 

Awaiting next batch of pics!! lol

[willmounsey 1]

Your getting on well mate fair play

 

lol isn't sanding just the best past-time ever

[chocolate_o_brian 0]

Day 7

 

Right, first job of the day was to wash the first 2 wheels. I decided this morning to do 2 at a time due to limited space in my shed

 

So, washed the wheels with a kitchen wash pad in some Autoglym soapy suds. Gave both wheels a really good scrub but not to roughly, and hosed down with the Karcher...

 

Then dried with a clean microfibre towel and gave both wheels a wipe down with a Halfords paint prep wipe. This got the last of the contaminents off...

 

Wiped with the microfibre towel again, and then went over the hard to reach bits with the Mrs' old hairdryer to prevent dampness...

 

My workplace for the sprayage after shifting all garden stuff...

 

Now for the levitational aspect of the wheels. The first bright idea was to drill some holes in the shed and suspend some wire for the wheels to hang off. I thought this was a brill idea, very inginuitive...

 

ALL ABOARD THE FAILBAOT

 

This idea failed miserably when I tried to hang a wheel off it. All it did was flop and wanna drop off (bit like me when I'm drunk with the Mrs). So... second bright idea was to find some old wood in the backyard and make a pair of brackets to hang the wheels off. Only downside being I'd have to flip the wheels over to do the fronts/backs.

 

Got to work...

 

Et voila...

 

The wheels are now sat in the shed as I write this...

 

Think I've made the best out a difficult situation. I'm gonna go give them 3-4 coats of primer on the faces and then when touch dry, flip them over and do the inners. While all this is going on, I'm gonna wash, dry and paint prep wipe the other 2 wheels. This should hopefully see me with fully primered wheels for tomorrows proper painting/laquering.

 

More later...

[chocolate_o_brian 0]

Just to ask also as preperation for tomorrow...

 

What is the best way to paint? Is it to do 3-4 layers of paint and then add laquer 15 mins after the last coat? Or is it to let the paint dry overnight, then sand and add laquer after?

 

I would prefer the first option on a timescale thing, but want to know other folks opinions.

 

Cheers

 

Andy

[pugman211 0]

Do 1 coat on the inners, then flip them and paint the fronts. Thats the more critical area to be right, if you paint the inner last, overspray will fall on the fronts etc.

 

As for painting tomorrow, you want a few coats of base with 10 min between coats, (less if the paint is dry enough), then after the last coat, i'd leave it around 30 min before lacquer. That way the base will be nice and dry, ready for the clear coat.

[kennygti 0]

Do 1 coat on the inners, then flip them and paint the fronts. Thats the more critical area to be right, if you paint the inner last, overspray will fall on the fronts etc.

 

As for painting tomorrow, you want a few coats of base with 10 min between coats, (less if the paint is dry enough), then after the last coat, i'd leave it around 30 min before lacquer. That way the base will be nice and dry, ready for the clear coat.

 

 

Agreed with doing the backs first although if you have already started it should sand out quite easily.

[chocolate_o_brian 0]

Thanks for that...

 

Right bit of an update,

 

Just letting the 4th layer of primer dry on the first 2 wheels. I ended up doing the fronts first, so will worry about the overspray tomorrow, my bad.

 

As for the primering itself, I'm quite happy but not fully.

 

Basically it seems to be going on quite thin. After the first layer, virtually nothing looked different...

 

Then I did the second layer about 15 mins afterwards and it did cover better but some of the dark patches of sanding were still easy to see. I sprayed a little more inbetween the spokes as these received littler coverage...

 

Some close ups to show what I mean after the second layer...

 

Third layer...

 

Now I am typing this while I wait for the forth layer to dry. I can say now there will be some small patches where the various greys would still be visable. Thing is though, I have gone through nearly one can of primer just doing this, and I need to give the inners a couple of coats each realistically also.

 

Is it ok to sand the primer down tomorrow like this? Is the primer supposed to cover everything, as I could end up doing double figures in layers eventually.

 

Help appreciated, thanks.

[chocolate_o_brian 0]

Ar*e.

 

I'm gonna need more primer easy. Just done first inner on one wheel and I'm out of one can already. Gonna need 4 cans all in I reckon. Not good considering this is supposedly a budget job. Argh!!!

[kennygti 0]

All the primer is for is something for the paint to stick to so i wouldn't worry too much. However when i painted my wheels i used roughly 1 and half cans of primer per wheel so your not doing too bad.

[pugman211 0]

yea it will take a few cans. its hard to describe how to do this, but your first coat is spot on, you then want 2 more coats of primer, but you want them quite wet now. (this will reduce the amount of cans you end up using). When i say wet, you want a heavy coat of primer so that the paint looks wet in appearance. do the same with the 3rd coat and then thats it.

 

On the insides, you want just 1 light coat, then 1 heavy coat. Then leave the wheels till tomorrow to sand.

[chocolate_o_brian 0]

Thanks guys. Well the stage I'm at now is 4 coats on the wheel faces, and 2 on the inners. As said I did one light coat then one heavy on the inners. I will have to get some more primer from Halfords asap, otherwise this could spill into another day as I have 2 wheels unprimered. Bugger

 

Can I ask how much actual paint was used? I have 2 cans of white paint for the wheel colour itself, will that be enough?

[kennygti 0]

Thanks guys. Well the stage I'm at now is 4 coats on the wheel faces, and 2 on the inners. As said I did one light coat then one heavy on the inners. I will have to get some more primer from Halfords asap, otherwise this could spill into another day as I have 2 wheels unprimered. Bugger

 

Can I ask how much actual paint was used? I have 2 cans of white paint for the wheel colour itself, will that be enough?

 

I used a can on each wheel doing the same as your primer dusting your first coat and then heavy coats

Also agree again with pugman. It is very hard to explain lol

Edited April 13, 2009 by kennygti

[Guest Chinn]

I just done some wheels on my 106 but i first used filling primer then white primer then white then clear just finished 2 off now the other 2 are in white primer

 

looking good mate remember to give them a gentle sand down after the primer

[chocolate_o_brian 0]

Right, last update for today as I'm a broken man

 

Got 2 wheels in primer. 4 coats on the faces, 2 on the inners.

 

4 coats on the faces...

 

2 coats on the inners...

 

Settled down in the living room and finished for the night - the wheels, not me; I've gotta do some cleaning up after myself ...

 

Plan for tomorrow is to get 1 can of primer and another 2 cans of paint from Halfords (another £20) and then I have enough paint for definite. Hopefully 2 cans of laquer will be enpugh for all 4 wheels, 2 coats on each me thinks. But I shouldn;t be thinking of that as I have to primer the other 2 wheels tomorrow. Bloody 'ell.

 

Thanks for the help thus far fellas much appreciated.

 

P.S. bust my front mudflaps too tonight faffing about, so the Pug is not 100grammes lighter but worth £25 less

[willmounsey 1]

I used 2 cans primer, 1 white and 1 laquer for each wheel bearing in mind they were 17" rims and i wanted a good durable finish.

 

Your spraying is sound mate, i notice the overspray tho try holding the can a bit closer it'll reduce this and you;ll get more paint on the wheel

[chocolate_o_brian 0]

I used 2 cans primer, 1 white and 1 laquer for each wheel bearing in mind they were 17" rims and i wanted a good durable finish.

 

Your spraying is sound mate, i notice the overspray tho try holding the can a bit closer it'll reduce this and you;ll get more paint on the wheel

 

Aye, just learning the ropes

 

Will sand down tomorrow when I get the other 2 to the same level.

 

Just to remind onself, when I sand the primer, should I use the 1200 wet/dry paper wet and not dry? Then give the wheels a rub down with a cloth.

Edited April 13, 2009 by chocolate_o_brian

[pugman211 0]

spot on matey!! Your doin a top job!! These will look mint when they are finished.

[chocolate_o_brian 0]

spot on matey!! Your doin a top job!! These will look mint when they are finished.

 

My camera is cleverly hiding some small blemishes and other defects. They're not perfect by far, but after some sanding and white paint, they may look better.

 

Plus they look funny currently as some of the dark grey patches are still visable, like when you see a sexy bird wearing a black bra under a white blouse

 

Shall see what tomorrow brings.

[willmounsey 1]

Aye, just learning the ropes

 

Will sand down tomorrow when I get the other 2 to the same level.

 

Just to remind onself, when I sand the primer, should I use the 1200 wet/dry paper wet and not dry? Then give the wheels a rub down with a cloth.

 

Use a 600 mate you'll be there for ages with the 1200, that's normally for de-nibbing after paint /laquer (getting any dust nibs etc that have stuck to the paint whilst drying).

 

If you find the 600 not doing much change down a coarse 520-420 but the 600 should be sound and aye use wet less chance for error this way.

You can use dry but you have to be a little more careful when sanding, you could quite easy take the paint off the eges of spokes etc.

 

Looking forward to the end result mate keep up the good work

 

Will

[chocolate_o_brian 0]

Day 8

 

No pics as of yet, but the plan for today is as follows...

 

1. Get the other 2 wheels primered up in 4 layers outside, 2 inside.

2. Get them inside when touch dry for overnight drying.

3. Sand down already primered 2 wheels with 600 wet - thanks wilmounsey!

4. Maybe get the paint on them and laquer tonight.

 

Tomorrow would be paint and laquer the two getting primered today.

 

I have thought though, that after sanding the primered wheels, I will rub down with a clean cotton cloth rather then wash them with my power washer. I think this could take primer off the wheels and leave me unsightly marks. So use cotton cloth as said with just warm water and then wipe down with a paint prep wipe and dry thoroughly.

 

This sound good?

 

Also, what do folk do about the paint/laquer stage? I presume its several coats of paint inside first, then outside, being careful not to overspray? Then the same with the laquer 30 mins after.

 

Again anal I know, but I wanna be 100% sure before I start.

 

Also, gonna call Polished Bliss and order some Poorboys wheel sealant to protect the wheels before they go back on the car