ST170 alloy wheel refurb
15-10-2010, 10:26 AM
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ST170 alloy wheel refurb
Im looking into refurbing my alloys as they have a few scrapes and scufs and are starting to corrode between the spokes.
does any one have any tips on the process? what grit sand paper to use, the best fillers and paints etc?
cheers
does any one have any tips on the process? what grit sand paper to use, the best fillers and paints etc?
cheers
15-10-2010, 12:09 PM
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Had mine coated again by a company a few months ago - they were badly corroded between the spokes. £55 a wheel and no hastle. I know that's not the advice you were after but just a suggestion if you can't be arsed doing it yourself.
15-10-2010, 12:43 PM
#3
In my experience i have found that if you paint a wheel yourself it is VERY suseptable to stone chips from the road. Paint is soft
Your wheels will be peppered in no time. Get them powder coated, the finish is durable and will last. With the cost of materials required to paint a wheel yourself and the time it takes (AGES) pay some one to coat them
Your wheels will be peppered in no time. Get them powder coated, the finish is durable and will last. With the cost of materials required to paint a wheel yourself and the time it takes (AGES) pay some one to coat them
16-10-2010, 09:18 AM
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Hi mate,to answer your original question go over any badly damaged areas I.e heavy chips with an 80 disc on your sander until no obvious marks remain.any really bad areas you can use filler but fibreglass is a far better option,much stronger.
Get a tyre place to break the bead on each of the wheels,but not take your tyres off completely as this will give you a lot more room to play with.mask the tyre off with 2" tape so you don't end up damaging it with your sander on the 80discs.
After you've 80'd off the bad areas,then go over them with 240grit then do the whole wheel with 400 grit. You then need to scotch pad any areas that you couldn't get at with the 400 disc so the paint/primer has a surface to "key" to.
Dependent on how fussy you are,you may get away with only priming the areas that you've put fibreglass on,remember alloy wheels are quite soft once you start on the 80 disc so it's actually quite rare to need to fill them unless its really bad damage.
Aerosol primer will be fine for the job if it's small areas only but try and get the acid etch instead as this binds really well to bare metal/fibreglass etc.
Make sure you do a good job of the masking,things like the valve,tyres etc.you need to paper over the full tyre as the overspray will get everywhere.
Give the wheels a thorough clean with panelwipe/degreaser and then tack cloth them to remove any dust and shit and then your ready to paint.
Assuming your keeping them silver you'll need to use basecoat and laquer,for a full set of alloys about a 1/4 litre of both,you'll need the thinners and hardner as well,mix is 2:1 basecoat:thinners for the paint and 2:1 laquer:hardener and 10% thinners for the clearcoat,this all assumes your able to use or have access to a proper spraygun and compressor.also,to get a really good finish and avoid major runs you need to get some heat in there as well,gas burner would be perfect.
As the boys said above you could end up spending a few quid on materials if you haven't got anything lying around,at a guess with discs and paint etc about £100 at a guess.
An average bodyshop should be around £50 per alloy but if you could do the prep for them and just get them to put the paint on,personally I would have charged about £80 for the privilege,100 max (paint supplied) so you could save a few quid that way?
Hope this helps.
Get a tyre place to break the bead on each of the wheels,but not take your tyres off completely as this will give you a lot more room to play with.mask the tyre off with 2" tape so you don't end up damaging it with your sander on the 80discs.
After you've 80'd off the bad areas,then go over them with 240grit then do the whole wheel with 400 grit. You then need to scotch pad any areas that you couldn't get at with the 400 disc so the paint/primer has a surface to "key" to.
Dependent on how fussy you are,you may get away with only priming the areas that you've put fibreglass on,remember alloy wheels are quite soft once you start on the 80 disc so it's actually quite rare to need to fill them unless its really bad damage.
Aerosol primer will be fine for the job if it's small areas only but try and get the acid etch instead as this binds really well to bare metal/fibreglass etc.
Make sure you do a good job of the masking,things like the valve,tyres etc.you need to paper over the full tyre as the overspray will get everywhere.
Give the wheels a thorough clean with panelwipe/degreaser and then tack cloth them to remove any dust and shit and then your ready to paint.
Assuming your keeping them silver you'll need to use basecoat and laquer,for a full set of alloys about a 1/4 litre of both,you'll need the thinners and hardner as well,mix is 2:1 basecoat:thinners for the paint and 2:1 laquer:hardener and 10% thinners for the clearcoat,this all assumes your able to use or have access to a proper spraygun and compressor.also,to get a really good finish and avoid major runs you need to get some heat in there as well,gas burner would be perfect.
As the boys said above you could end up spending a few quid on materials if you haven't got anything lying around,at a guess with discs and paint etc about £100 at a guess.
An average bodyshop should be around £50 per alloy but if you could do the prep for them and just get them to put the paint on,personally I would have charged about £80 for the privilege,100 max (paint supplied) so you could save a few quid that way?
Hope this helps.
16-10-2010, 10:44 AM
#6
You will find that the paint coating on the wheels is very thick, unless the wheels are heavily kerbed then all marks should just be in the paint coating. My st170 alloys were qite badly scuffed, I blasted the paint off and the actual metal was mint.
As above though, by the time you've bought all the materials and spent hours doing it, it would be far more cost effective to get them done professionally! When I bought all the materials it came to around £100, and I didn't need any rubbing materials as I have a shot blaster at work and have access to as much wet and dry paper as I need!
As above though, by the time you've bought all the materials and spent hours doing it, it would be far more cost effective to get them done professionally! When I bought all the materials it came to around £100, and I didn't need any rubbing materials as I have a shot blaster at work and have access to as much wet and dry paper as I need!
16-10-2010, 10:49 AM
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You will find that the paint coating on the wheels is very thick, unless the wheels are heavily kerbed then all marks should just be in the paint coating. My st170 alloys were qite badly scuffed, I blasted the paint off and the actual metal was mint.
As above though, by the time you've bought all the materials and spent hours doing it, it would be far more cost effective to get them done professionally! When I bought all the materials it came to around £100, and I didn't need any rubbing materials as I have a shot blaster at work and have access to as much wet and dry paper as I need!
As above though, by the time you've bought all the materials and spent hours doing it, it would be far more cost effective to get them done professionally! When I bought all the materials it came to around £100, and I didn't need any rubbing materials as I have a shot blaster at work and have access to as much wet and dry paper as I need!
Some excellent points there.
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17-10-2010, 05:00 PM
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cheers for all the info and comments guys. it seems like its going to be easier to get someone else to do it due to lack of materials etc. i'l have a ring round
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