Good places to shop for wheel refurb supplies

jvanzyl · October 26, 2015, 13:58

Hey guys,
So I've managed to get hold of some old pfl wheels to fit winter tyres to, and I need to refurb them.
I'd like to do it myself to save cash, can anyone recommend any good places to get the primers, paint and lacquers from?
Halfords was coming in for almost half the cost of getting a pro to do it!
I appreciate there is a big difference in the quality of some of these suppliers products so please do recommend any particular brands that you know have good results?

Cheers!

Dougster7 · October 27, 2015, 22:19

Type in 'wheel painting' on here and you'll find some good info. The big cost you'll save is on the labour time spent prepping the wheels depending on the condition they're in. I found the average cost from shops as about £175-£200 for the 4 wheels. if you do it all yourself including sanding materials you should save a lot more than half the cost, around £50 should do it. However I spent over 20hrs doing my first set from start to finish, the hardest bit was the clear coat as kept getting runs and having to sand back. Watch out for min temps now, you don't want to be spraying anything less than 15 degrees C or you'll have major runs, thankfully just on the wheels lol. You'll find all you need on the other thread and don't forget the etch primer. Good luck and have fun

jvanzyl · October 28, 2015, 15:41

Thanks man- didn't think about the temp dropping! Will have a look on the other thread.

lamcote · October 30, 2015, 15:03

Can anyone tell me about wheel powder coating?

Do they just coat the outside face of the wheel or do they coat the entire wheel including both sides and the dish of the rim etc?

Thanks

Dougster7 · October 30, 2015, 17:55

They can do both, always ask what you get for your money to avoid disappointment / surprise. I'm not a fan of powder coating as wheel is put to high temps during the process that can weaken the alloy, not always but sometimes.

dkirkwood89 · November 10, 2015, 10:04

Quote from: "Dougster7"Type in 'wheel painting' on here and you'll find some good info. The big cost you'll save is on the labour time spent prepping the wheels depending on the condition they're in. I found the average cost from shops as about £175-£200 for the 4 wheels. if you do it all yourself including sanding materials you should save a lot more than half the cost, around £50 should do it. However I spent over 20hrs doing my first set from start to finish, the hardest bit was the clear coat as kept getting runs and having to sand back. Watch out for min temps now, you don't want to be spraying anything less than 15 degrees C or you'll have major runs, thankfully just on the wheels lol. You'll find all you need on the other thread and don't forget the etch primer. Good luck and have fun

Perfect s:bowdown: :bowdown: s:bowdown: exactly what I was looking for

I plan to do this as well when I get time

jvan - have you started yours yet?

Jrichards20 · November 10, 2015, 10:25

I did my white ones a while ago.

I thought they came out well s:)

s:) took a whole weekend mind, but was worth it s:)

s:)

p.s Ignore the red arrows, pic was originally used for something else s:)

s:)

dkirkwood89 · November 10, 2015, 12:49

s:lol: :lol: s:lol: i did start looking at the arrows

Yeah looks really good. A lot of sanding and prep work then? A lot of light coats?

I heard there is some kind of polish you get to put on at the end...

I can't wait to give mine a go, they really need it. I got a cheap second hand set of FL ones with nuts and tyres...theyre in better condition than my own s:oops: :oops: s:oops:

Dougster7 · November 10, 2015, 13:04

You can buy wheel wax but normal polish (I use Autoglym HD wax) does the same job so I've found, helps repel brake dust. You'll have arms like popeye after refurbing a set of wheels....unless you've got some good tools for the occasion

dkirkwood89 · November 12, 2015, 08:10

Quote from: "Dougster7"You can buy wheel wax but normal polish (I use Autoglym HD wax) does the same job so I've found, helps repel brake dust. You'll have arms like popeye after refurbing a set of wheels....unless you've got some good tools for the occasion

s:(

s:( unfortunately no tools...but I'm only 5ft 3 so could do with the workout anyway s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

jvanzyl · November 12, 2015, 14:17

Quote from: "dkirkwood89"
Quote from: "Dougster7"Type in 'wheel painting' on here and you'll find some good info. The big cost you'll save is on the labour time spent prepping the wheels depending on the condition they're in. I found the average cost from shops as about £175-£200 for the 4 wheels. if you do it all yourself including sanding materials you should save a lot more than half the cost, around £50 should do it. However I spent over 20hrs doing my first set from start to finish, the hardest bit was the clear coat as kept getting runs and having to sand back. Watch out for min temps now, you don't want to be spraying anything less than 15 degrees C or you'll have major runs, thankfully just on the wheels lol. You'll find all you need on the other thread and don't forget the etch primer. Good luck and have fun

Perfect s:bowdown: :bowdown: s:bowdown: exactly what I was looking for

I plan to do this as well when I get time

jvan - have you started yours yet?

Hey
I started and then got distracted and have yet to return to them! So far I'm 4 hours in and not yet fully stripped my first wheel! s:-( :-( s:-(

I'm using a drill with a sanding flap and also a circular wire brush attachment.

All the blurbs I read said to fully remove all paint.... This is seriously time consuming...

Dougster7 · November 12, 2015, 19:38

I didn't on mine and see no reason to sand all paint off the wheels, you only need to sand down to achieve a smooth surface and as a key to the primer. I had a file across some areas where light kerbing / scuffs showed. Yes it sure is a long process by hand but seriously there's no reason to go back to the metal....unless anyone can come up with a reason otherwise? Im a few months down the line and they still look like new s:)

s:)
I'd watch using the drill for sanding down as this could create ridges / imprints in the metal that may not be visible now but when paint goes on you'll see everything. Some rough emery cloth 60g or 40g should be fine to clear blisters and blemishes fairly quickly, then you'll need to step up the grit to 80 / 150 / 240 or so, I jumped up to 600 to finish off before primer.

dkirkwood89 · November 13, 2015, 10:03

How long did it take you to do that sanding down Doug?

jvanzyl · November 13, 2015, 10:29

Crap... You serious? I've basically been getting this thing down to basic metal....dammit what a waste of time..

Jrichards20 · November 13, 2015, 10:34

I sanded mine down to the metal, it may not have turned out any different if I hadn't, but gave me a bit of piece of mind that it would last a bit longer if I didn't.

Dougster7 · November 13, 2015, 11:38

Quote from: "dkirkwood89"How long did it take you to do that sanding down Doug?

Probably spent 2hrs max per wheel sanding, go as rough as you need to sand off and stage up to smooth off, max 400 - 600 will be adequate. I had a small sand blaster which was no use for the main part of the wheels but did clean up inside the rear of the spokes very well as they were impossible to get into by hand. pretty similar as painting a car body, no need to sand right to bare metal, only removing damaged paint and keying it for the primer, if you have bare metal showing at all make sure you use etch primer, couple of light coats will be good, don't whack it on or you'll have trouble later on.