Diy Alloy Wheel Painting ....?

[ricky101]

Hi,

Most places refurbishing alloy wheels need the car for about a week, unless you happen to have a spare set of wheels! so not keen on loosing the car for a week, plus being rather old ( the car and us ! ) cannot really justify the £250+ they want for doing 4 wheels.

Quiet a few ytubes on Diy repainting alloy wheels but wondered how good the finish really is and more importantly how resilient it is ?

Anyone tried painting their own, brush or spray , and can suggest what readily available UK paints are best ? Most ytubes seem to be US ones and US paint products.

Plenty of time on our hands to sand them down and paint one at a time, using the full size spare steel wheel to keep us on the road.

 

[Burnerman]

I guess it really depends on the state of your wheels at present.....if the lacquer has failed, if they are chipped or whatever.
If you really want a professional finish, the tyre comes off, the existing wheel paint is removed in a dip tank and then it’s repaired, damage buffed out then primed, painted and lacquered.
However, the likes of Chipsaway will come to your door and do the job for you, without removing the wheel, never mind the tyre. They can exactly match the colour, too.
It’s cheaper if you can go to them, of course.
Personally I think a DIY refurbishment would be rather short lived but you’d need to remove the lacquer and existing paint on the whole wheel (metallic silver paints are hellish to match in), prime with an etching primer then gloss colour followed by a lacquer coat.
You can get all you need from Halfords or motor factors if you want to bash on.
John

 

[JohnD]

Hi,

Most places refurbishing alloy wheels need the car for about a week, unless you happen to have a spare set of wheels! so not keen on loosing the car for a week, plus being rather old ( the car and us ! ) cannot really justify the £250+ they want for doing 4 wheels.

if they do a decent job, the price is quite reasonable. You won't do it as good yourself, and there is a lot of time and effort cleaning and rubbing down old wheels (especially the inner drum, which needs doing to keep it clean)

Maybe schedule it for a week's holiday or a quiet time?

Is it a wheel place you're looking at? Or a car sprayer? Wheel paint needs to be very hard and glossy.

The other thing you can look at, for an older car, is a set of wheels in good condition from a breaker. They can be very cheap.

 

[ricky101]

Hi,

There are a few small rim /kerb marks, nothing very heavy, its the central area around the four stud holes that look really bad with flaking and bubbling, the actual holes looking very black.

Appreciate what the pros do, but as said they want a lot of money and the car for a week.

Have looked for similar second hand rims but all in equally poor or worse condition or too far away to collect.

Plenty of time to do it ourselves, just wondered how effecive diy was and how well the diy Alloywheel paints stand up ?

 

[Belle427]

I’d agree with the above but if your confident then have a go.
Good prep is a must and is time consuming.
Last time I considered doing it I was looking at the E-Tech paint/lacquer range on Amazon but I just couldn’t find the time to have a go myself!

 

[JohnD]

you can use a variety of wire brushes in an electric drill or dremel-like tool (wear goggles or visor as sharp bits can fly off). Thin paint is less prone to damage round the stud holes.

if you deflate the tyre you can get at the bead edge

for the smooth parts of the drum, medium wet and dry

but I don't think I'd bother again. Too much time and effort.

if you can get second-hand wheels cheap enough, you could get those done, and swap over as and when you need new tyres. With the tyre off you can do a better job. I have a spare set of wheels for winter tyres.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

I had my fronts done for about £80 a wheel or thereabouts, it was only one night and I just found somewhere that offered a courtesy car. Lifetime guarantee too.

 

[ricky101]

Too much time and effort.

If you can get second-hand wheels cheap enough, you could get those done, and swap over as and when you need new tyres. With the tyre off you can do a better job. I have a spare set of wheels for winter tyres.

Thanks, but we have plenty of time on our hands with all these lockdowns etc, plus it will help keep us active !

That was our thinking as well, have seen an identical pattern /size on ebay, ( not that many of them around these days) so will try repainting that and get the local garage to swap the tyre over.

I had my fronts done for about £80 a wheel or thereabouts, it was only one night and I just found somewhere that offered a courtesy car. Lifetime guarantee too.

We have enquired a several local places, most seem to send them away hence needing a week, but even places who do it themselves said they would need the car for most of the week, perhaps why the quoted a bit cheaper than your fast turnaround £80 a wheel.
Just not worth spending all that money on having 4 wheels done on such an old car.

 

[Stivino]

My local powdercoating place will do the whole lot in one day. I think it's about £50/wheel. But don't quote me, I know them so I never pay full whack.
I wouldn't bother faffing about with them, you might get a good result for a couple of months but when winter comes the corrosion will be back.