Is respraying alloys silver ever a good idea?

[Fred the Clio]

Hi guys,
I want to respray my 182 alloys in an more OEM silver as I'm sick of anthracite and miss the 'freshness' of silver. Anyone got any experience on this or care to share their opinion?
Cheers,
Fred

 

[Knuckles]

Why wouldn't it be a good idea?

I changed some black ones to dark silver/light anthracite a while back and it was infinitely better

 

[Fred the Clio]

Why wouldn't it be a good idea?

I changed some black ones to dark silver/light anthracite a while back and it was infinitely better

I've heard that silver refurbs can look cheap and nasty appearing more matte than glossy. Guess I'll have to find out.

 

[Bluebeard]

As long as whoever refurbs them knows what they're doing, they'll look as good as the day they left the factory.

If you have no opposable thumbs and use s**t materials with crap prep and dothem in your shed, with dust and silicone everywhere, then yes, they'll be s**t.

 

[Knuckles]

I've heard that silver refurbs can look cheap and nasty appearing more matte than glossy. Guess I'll have to find out.

They'll look dull after the colour coat but then you lacquer over them

 

[Fred the Clio]

As long as whoever refurbs them knows what they're doing, they'll look as good as the day they left the factory.

If you have no opposable thumbs and use s**t materials with crap prep and dothem in your shed, with dust and silicone everywhere, then yes, they'll be s**t.

I DIY refu

They'll look dull after the colour coat but then you lacquer over them

View attachment 194240 View attachment 194244 View attachment 194247 View attachment 194248

They look solid. I've refurbed before but my prep wasn't perfect. I've got plenty of time on my hands to do this properly now though. Thanks for the advice lads.

 

[Darryl_1983]

Plenty of places that will do powder coating pretty cheap.

I've refurbed wheels in the past myself and have had mixed results. For the time and risk of them turning out rubbish I don't think it's worth the hassle over a cheap powder coating.

Using decent primer, paint, lacquer, filler, sand paper, etc it's going to cost over £50 in materials. Places like city powder coating can do a full set of wheels for £80, this increases in price if you want same day turn around and tyre removal, and fitting.

 

[alistairolsen]

Always paint rather than powedercoat. Always

 

[Fred the Clio]

Plenty of places that will do powder coating pretty cheap.

I've refurbed wheels in the past myself and have had mixed results. For the time and risk of them turning out rubbish I don't think it's worth the hassle over a cheap powder coating.

Using decent primer, paint, lacquer, filler, sand paper, etc it's going to cost over £50 in materials. Places like city powder coating can do a full set of wheels for £80, this increases in price if you want same day turn around and tyre removal, and fitting.

It's a tough one. Do it at home or take it to a shop. In my area prices are minimum £40 a wheel which adds up pretty quick. A home refurb is half the price. Maybe if it was a 2ltr I'd get them powder coated. I referred my current alloys in anthracite and was happy with the finish but with silver- it's a lighter colour so will show up scratches more. Thanks for the advice!

 

[Fred the Clio]

Anyone know a decent silver for the wheels? I've got Iceberg Silver. Any ideas if this would replicate a standard alloy well?

 

[Fred the Clio]

Always paint rather than powedercoat. Always

Not sure I agree with this. Powder coating is generally regarded as a much more durable finish from what I've heard.

 

[Fred the Clio]

As long as whoever refurbs them knows what they're doing, they'll look as good as the day they left the factory.

If you have no opposable thumbs and use s**t materials with crap prep and dothem in your shed, with dust and silicone everywhere, then yes, they'll be s**t.

Looks like my last message got cut short- sorry about that. Agree with you. I DIY refurbed my current set a couple of years of ago and came up decent. Any ideas on an OEM silver?

 

[Jekyll]

Iceberg silver would be too blue for wheels. If sticking to a Renault silver, use titanium.

Or just get some silver wheel paint. It's nice and bright and looks oem.

 

[Fred the Clio]

Iceberg silver would be too blue for wheels. If sticking to a Renault silver, use titanium.

Or just get some silver wheel paint. It's nice and bright and looks oem.

Thanks for the heads up. Swaying towards Audi Titanium Silver. It seems others have used it with good results. Will exchange the paint tomorrow :up:

 

[alistairolsen]

Not sure I agree with this. Powder coating is generally regarded as a much more durable finish from what I've heard.

Oh Im sure it can be.

It is however thick, never looks right, impossible to touch up and a total PITA if you ever want/need to refinish a wheel again in the future.

If it was that good, OEMs would use it and as far as I'm aware, they all still use a paint based process.

 

[KitsonRis]

If I am not too late to the party but get them coated once painted in some kind of protector/sealant. I painted my wheels orange a few years ago and looked mega smart. Put them on the car and after a few months the brake dust started to eat the paint away between the spokes. In hindsight I should have used more paint and protected them (I did lacquer them too). Also doing track days didn't help as the extra heat help to burn the brake dust in

On my new wheels I used Gyeon Rim Q2 quartz protector and then their sealant to keep the crap off. Made such a big difference to their appearance and how they dealt with brake dust. Made cleaning them well easy too.

 

[Christopher]

Iceberg silver would be too blue for wheels. If sticking to a Renault silver, use titanium.

Or just get some silver wheel paint. It's nice and bright and looks oem.

Mercury is an awesome colour for wheels too.
Really bright but with a slight pearl.

 

[Fred the Clio]

If I am not too late to the party but get them coated once painted in some kind of protector/sealant. I painted my wheels orange a few years ago and looked mega smart. Put them on the car and after a few months the brake dust started to eat the paint away between the spokes. In hindsight I should have used more paint and protected them (I did lacquer them too). Also doing track days didn't help as the extra heat help to burn the brake dust in

On my new wheels I used Gyeon Rim Q2 quartz protector and then their sealant to keep the crap off. Made such a big difference to their appearance and how they dealt with brake dust. Made cleaning them well easy too.

Thanks bud. Yeah I've just let the lacquer cure for a few days and I've just hit it with some wax (haven't got any sealant). Hopefully that should do the job for a while and stop the brake dust eating away at the finish [emoji106]


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[Fred the Clio]

Anyone wondering how they came out I'd say pretty good! Would I recommend a DIY refurb to anyone- hell no. It's a false economy- the money you save is negligible. Having said that it's a rewarding process.
I bought some eBay rim protectors to prevent my hard work being ruined. 182 alloys have a stupid design with the protruding spokes. Colour is Audi Aluminium Silver from Halfords.


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[jamesycc]

Your right about false economy. Takes alot of time to prep them for a decent finish.

I did a repair and refurb on a single wheel and that took long enough, rewarding as you say but I'd pay next time. If only to get a really glossy finish.

 

[Fred the Clio]

Your right about false economy. Takes alot of time to prep them for a decent finish.

I did a repair and refurb on a single wheel and that took long enough, rewarding as you say but I'd pay next time. If only to get a really glossy finish.

Definitely mate. For the sake of £50 it's not worth it. I've probably put about 15 hours into these wheels. Getting the paint off was the hardest thing. Seems like all the paint strippers on the market are pants! Not strong enough!


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[jamesycc]

Aftermarket strippers have to be so safe nowadays they're almost useless.
First time I used nitromors, 1995 it was the b****cks. Used some a few years ago for a similar job and it was terrible by comparison.

 

[magic354]

Anyone wondering how they came out I'd say pretty good! Would I recommend a DIY refurb to anyone- hell no. It's a false economy- the money you save is negligible. Having said that it's a rewarding process.
I bought some eBay rim protectors to prevent my hard work being ruined. 182 alloys have a stupid design with the protruding spokes. Colour is Audi Aluminium Silver from Halfords.


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Be careful with those rim protectors! I fitted those to a 520d before the owner went off on a Euro Trip (he bought them and asked me to fit) and all four of them eventually flew off!! Mind you, this only happened around 100mph apparently.

 

[Fred the Clio]

Be careful with those rim protectors! I fitted those to a 520d before the owner went off on a Euro Trip (he bought them and asked me to fit) and all four of them eventually flew off!! Mind you, this only happened around 100mph apparently.

Ffs. [emoji23] I hope they don't. Thanks for the heads up.


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[Fred the Clio]

Aftermarket strippers have to be so safe nowadays they're almost useless.
First time I used nitromors, 1995 it was the b****cks. Used some a few years ago for a similar job and it was terrible by comparison.

My dad was telling me that back in the day when you got nitromors on your hand it would burn like hell. I used some screwfix stuff and it look 3 to 4 applications and a pressure washer to get about half the paint off. The rest I had to use a flapwheel!


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[Fred the Clio]

Aftermarket strippers have to be so safe nowadays they're almost useless.
First time I used nitromors, 1995 it was the b****cks. Used some a few years ago for a similar job and it was terrible by comparison.

My dad was telling me that back in the day when you got nitromors on your hand it would burn like hell. I used some screwfix stuff and it look 3 to 4 applications and a pressure washer to get about half the paint off. The rest I had to use a flapwheel!


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[jamesycc]

Oh yeah, that stuff would sting back in the day.

 

[jamesycc]

Oh yeah, that stuff would sting back in the day.