Well then guys and girls.... I finally got around to refurbishing my alloy wheels, they were standard silver and I refurbished them to gloss black.
List of items you will need:
Primer (I bought 5 large cans, however, because they were going from silver to black, the inside had to be done so I found out I needed alot more than I would if I was just doing the front of the wheel)
Colour of your choice (gloss black in my case, again I about 5 large cans)
Lacquer (2 large cans)
Sandpaper (ranging from 120 (quite coarse) to 1500 (fine for getting glass like finish)
Metal Filler (if you have large chunks out of the wheels, however in this case I didnt so none was needed)
...................................................................................................
First thing I did was to get the wheels of the car and my car was left up on axle stands for a few days:
Here are a few pictures of my wheels, werent too bad just minor scuffs in places and bits of flaking:
I would reccomend getting the tyres taken off the wheels when refurbishing it is 100% easier
The wheels were firstly thoroughly washed and cleaned with de greaser to remove any grease or grime on them, I then went about sanding the inside and the outside down with 120 + 240 grit sandpaper as the lacquer and paint was quite tough to take off, after this is done they will feel rough, then gradually go to say a 400 paper so they are smoother and eventually to a 1200 grit sandpaper and they should feel like glass. I cant stress how important the original sanding is, this willl take many hours but its crucial if you want a good finish at the end, I used wet and dry sandpaper and when I was happy that every nook and cranny was smooth I washed them down and let them dry so that there was no dust on them:
I got a large piece of wood and put a few nails in it just to rest the wheel on when spraying. The spraying was done in my garage which was quite warm, however make sure there are windows open and plenty of air for ventilation, but you dont want big gusts of air that will blow dust all over your sprayed wheels
Next step was to start priming the wheels... make sure you thoroughly shake up your spray cans, then on the whole priming stage I did about 6 good coats of primer, leaving about 15 - 30 minutes in between each coat, try not to do coats that are too thick:
I reccomend leaving this to dry thoroughly preferably over night... then the next morning I used 1500 wet and dry sandpaper on the wheels so that they felt like glass, you dont have to sand it too hard but just so everything feels like glass, again then wash the wheels and let them thoroughly dry.
Then is time to start the colour of your choice, in this case mine was gloss black, I did about 5 or 6 coats of top coat, I did 2 or 3 leaving about 15 minutes in between each coat, then left it a few hours and came back and did another 2 or 3 coats.
Leave them dry overnight at this stage before doing anything else:
Right... at this stage, some people do actually use 1500 or 2000 wet and dry to sand down before lacquering, if they feel rough then I advise to do that but only lightly and leave to dry completely. After I had sprayed mine they were still feeling smooth so I felt this not necessary.
Next stage is to lacquer, I did 3 coats of lacquer on the wheels, leaving about 15 - 30 minutes in between coats. This I found to be the hardest stage, when lacquering if you put too much on its very easy to create runs in the lacquer, but at the same time, if its too thin then you can get splatter effects, so just take extra care when doing this stage:
A photo of the completed wheels and also on the car:
I hope this guide helps you guys, im not a pro at writing guides but hopefully this gives people a few useful pointers
List of items you will need:
Primer (I bought 5 large cans, however, because they were going from silver to black, the inside had to be done so I found out I needed alot more than I would if I was just doing the front of the wheel)
Colour of your choice (gloss black in my case, again I about 5 large cans)
Lacquer (2 large cans)
Sandpaper (ranging from 120 (quite coarse) to 1500 (fine for getting glass like finish)
Metal Filler (if you have large chunks out of the wheels, however in this case I didnt so none was needed)
...................................................................................................
First thing I did was to get the wheels of the car and my car was left up on axle stands for a few days:
Here are a few pictures of my wheels, werent too bad just minor scuffs in places and bits of flaking:
I would reccomend getting the tyres taken off the wheels when refurbishing it is 100% easier
The wheels were firstly thoroughly washed and cleaned with de greaser to remove any grease or grime on them, I then went about sanding the inside and the outside down with 120 + 240 grit sandpaper as the lacquer and paint was quite tough to take off, after this is done they will feel rough, then gradually go to say a 400 paper so they are smoother and eventually to a 1200 grit sandpaper and they should feel like glass. I cant stress how important the original sanding is, this willl take many hours but its crucial if you want a good finish at the end, I used wet and dry sandpaper and when I was happy that every nook and cranny was smooth I washed them down and let them dry so that there was no dust on them:
I got a large piece of wood and put a few nails in it just to rest the wheel on when spraying. The spraying was done in my garage which was quite warm, however make sure there are windows open and plenty of air for ventilation, but you dont want big gusts of air that will blow dust all over your sprayed wheels
Next step was to start priming the wheels... make sure you thoroughly shake up your spray cans, then on the whole priming stage I did about 6 good coats of primer, leaving about 15 - 30 minutes in between each coat, try not to do coats that are too thick:
I reccomend leaving this to dry thoroughly preferably over night... then the next morning I used 1500 wet and dry sandpaper on the wheels so that they felt like glass, you dont have to sand it too hard but just so everything feels like glass, again then wash the wheels and let them thoroughly dry.
Then is time to start the colour of your choice, in this case mine was gloss black, I did about 5 or 6 coats of top coat, I did 2 or 3 leaving about 15 minutes in between each coat, then left it a few hours and came back and did another 2 or 3 coats.
Leave them dry overnight at this stage before doing anything else:
Right... at this stage, some people do actually use 1500 or 2000 wet and dry to sand down before lacquering, if they feel rough then I advise to do that but only lightly and leave to dry completely. After I had sprayed mine they were still feeling smooth so I felt this not necessary.
Next stage is to lacquer, I did 3 coats of lacquer on the wheels, leaving about 15 - 30 minutes in between coats. This I found to be the hardest stage, when lacquering if you put too much on its very easy to create runs in the lacquer, but at the same time, if its too thin then you can get splatter effects, so just take extra care when doing this stage:
A photo of the completed wheels and also on the car:
I hope this guide helps you guys, im not a pro at writing guides but hopefully this gives people a few useful pointers
