Refurbish rims, anyone got any experience?

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Morten 1

Morten 1

Active Member
Posts
161
Location
Bergen,Norway
Hello all.
Bought a set of 17" rims for silly money, including the spare. As my existing summer wheels, same rims but 16" need new rubber, I thought I would give it a go and refurbish these. Previous owner seem to have just painted over them with a spray can, which does not look to good.

I see there are several different kits on the bay, anyone got any experience with this type of work? Does not have to look 100%. Also thought I would go in a different direction with the colour, gun metal grey perhaps? Got some anthracite grey Team Dynamics on my MNX F, I like that colour.. :)

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Anyway, I am open for suggestions, some have also suggested plasti dip or whatever it's called..


Existing 16" summer tyres.:

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And here are some pics of the new ones, the 4 without rubber is not to bad. I recon a lot of sanding and a few layers of paint? The spare is def. worse..

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I've not used any of those kits but there are companies that refurbish mag wheels. I bet you will have them in Norway too. The ones near me make them look like new again - a very good finish. That option may give you greater expense but also greater satisfaction than perhaps a kit which is poorly applied. Over to you!
 
Some of the companies that do small bodywork scratch and dent repairs, such as 'Chips Away', also do wheel refurbs or know people who do ...

worth asking around ?
 
As always, it's the preparation that makes the most difference to the finish.
You need to sand as smooth as possible with finer and finer grade paper to get rid of the pitted surface where the alloy has corroded. You can even use filler on bigger scrapes.
Etch primer to bond properly to the metal, possibly some high build primer after that, sanded again and a few coats of colour, preferably with some clearcoat on top of that.
If you can find a local 'sand' blasters they should be able to blast the wheels right back for pocket money - saves you sanding so much and gets rid of all dirt and corrosion in one go.
Plasticote can be peeled off if you get bored with the colour or finish -just make sure there is 'real' paint underneath for when that happens. It's probably not the best finish if you intend much off-road work - it's relatively easilly scraped.
So I'd say, lots of sanding, etch primer, high build primer, top coat and clear coat - the actual brand of paint won't make that much of a difference. Remember that your wheels get the worst of the road conditions, so it pays not to scrimp too much if you want them to keep their looks!
 
He ^^^ is entirely correct. Its just a lot of elbow grease required.

Personally, I think life is too short for sanding down alloy wheels so I would bang some thick paint like hammerite over the top, or if I was really fussy I would get them done professionally. Maybe you have the stuff already, but if you have to go out and buy all the various grades of sandpaper, primer, paint etc etc, I bet its not THAT much dearer to get them done properly.
 
Thank you all for your input! Much appreciated! The problem is the price over here, I have made some inquiries, and looks like it's around the £200 mark for one wheel.. And I have 5.. So that's out of the question. :) Would probably be cheaper to ship them over to the UK and have them done there.
Will have a go at doing it myself, will report back. Don't have a lot of spare time , so it's going to take some time. :)
 
Morten said:
Thank you all for your input! Much appreciated! The problem is the price over here, I have made some inquiries, and looks like it's around the £200 mark for one wheel.. And I have 5.. So that's out of the question. :) Would probably be cheaper to ship them over to the UK and have them done there.
Will have a go at doing it myself, will report back. Don't have a lot of spare time , so it's going to take some time. :)
Click to expand...

Have you any holiday for a continental trip ...

Maybe not to the UK, but there must be somewhere it is cheaper ... Germany where the car is king for example ... :confused:

Might have some more research to do ... good luck :cool:
 
Top Tip!
Don't use 40 or 80 grade sandpaper for the rough bits!!!!!

Can't think who would be stupid enough to do such a thing but be assured if you do you will be sanding the scratches out for weeks, and every time you think you have them sorted, spray a couple of layers of paint on and the scratches will still be there. :eek:

Edit
If you have a good compressor sand blasters are pretty cheap on ebay.
 
Last edited:
Alibro said:
Top Tip!
Don't use 40 or 80 grade sandpaper for the rough bits!!!!!

Can't think who would be stupid enough to do such a thing but be assured if you do you will be sanding the scratches out for weeks, and every time you think you have them sorted, spray a couple of layers of paint on and the scratches will still be there. :eek:

Edit
If you have a good compressor sand blasters are pretty cheap on ebay.
Click to expand...

haha, if the result turns out to be bad, I could always use the set of 5 almost 100% 16 inch alloys and buy new rubber for them. :) I have done many things over the years, but ref. alloys is not one of them. :) Thanks for the tip, I've got a good compressor and a sand blaster, so I think that is the way to go. A famous man once said, "how hard could it be??" ;)

Let me put it this way, they can't turn out any worse than the current state.. (?)
 
Dippypud said:
Have you any holiday for a continental trip ...

Maybe not to the UK, but there must be somewhere it is cheaper ... Germany where the car is king for example ... :confused:

Might have some more research to do ... good luck :cool:
Click to expand...

It would have to be the UK.. :) To many MG parts that needs to be changed, as well as the Expansive lander. Every time my parents R75 needs a major service, they book a trip to the UK and visit Lates.
Been to Germany numerous times, but there is something special with the UK. The culture, humor, TV-series and movies, just love it! :)

My MG's 5AS alarm unit is soon crossing the ocean for a second time to have a new fob programmed. :)

It's very sad that the Newcastle- Bergen ferry seized to exist. Hope it returns soon! Need to drive all the way to Denmark to the town of Esbjerg now, a long detour. :(
 
Morten said:
haha, if the result turns out to be bad, I could always use the set of 5 almost 100% 16 inch alloys and buy new rubber for them. :) I have done many things over the years, but ref. alloys is not one of them. :) Thanks for the tip, I've got a good compressor and a sand blaster, so I think that is the way to go. A famous man once said, "how hard could it be??" ;)

Let me put it this way, they can't turn out any worse than the current state.. (?)
Click to expand...

I bought a set for my MGF and had a go at refurbishing them. Unfortunately I was that stupid person using 40 and 80 grit. After several weeks (intermittently) sanding, spraying, cursing, sanding, spraying and cursing some more, sandin..... you get the drift, I now have them fairly well sorted and will get new tyres on them for the summer. My son did the same on a set for his scubie (without the 40/80 grit) and he got great results in a couple of evenings.
 
Quick update, two down, three (perhaps two, the spare is very badly damaged) to go..

EDIT: Now in primer, not the colour I'm going with... For the record. :)

Lefser%20FL_zpscfjrtm0q.jpg
 
I have repaired several sets of alloys.

remove all the loose stuff and road dirt - i used a nylon brush on the end of the drill to start with
then wet and dry - start roughish (180) and get smoother (600)
you can then start to prime and discover all the small imperfections...............and prime again etc etc
I used a spray gun and BMW "Felgen Silber" for the colour

then finish off with clearcoat

finally take the rims and tyres to get them refitted and watch the monkey destroy your hard work with his crappy tyre fitting machine :(
 
Good man. If they look well with colour they will look great with clear coat.
Make sure you give the clear coat at least a week to harden before having tyres fitted.
 
I did a set last week, bought a set of 16" to put some all terrain tyres on ( which I haven't yet!) got a set of 5 for £42 on eBay.

Firstly I gave them a good clean with wheel cleaner then soapy water.

There wasn't too much damage on them, just some fairly light scratches. Rubbed them down with 180g then 600g wet and dry. Washed them down again.

Gave all a coat with high build primer and rubbed down again.

Then I gave them a coat of primer and flatted with 1500g, gave them a second coat and flatted again.

Then I gave them 2 coats of satin black paint (spray can), drying with a heat gun (gently!) between coats.

Then I gave them 4 coats of lacquer again drying with a heat gun. Luckily the weather was really sunny so left them out in the sun to harden as best I could.

Never tried it before but thought, it's only a set of 42 quid wheels!!! And to be honest well happy with the result, they're not perfect but only cost me less than 20 quid in paint and sand paper!

One wheel as it was
7C4C6BB9-70EA-4D4F-86D8-EA8A63EFE5DD.jpg
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After being rubbed
34B69A86-ED3A-4013-A318-EC35845628BB.jpg
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Primed
FAA6885B-0E90-495F-8C73-AF6088AFF1A6.jpg
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Finished set
D24080CD-128C-476F-98AB-6701D287B6DF.jpg
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