Her indoors MX5 wheels were tatty and I found I could buy new Mazda wheels for £180 from an ex Mazda garage - less than the cost of powdercoating in Scotland.

Now I have a set of flaking rims I thought i could put a set of winter tyres on - how can i jazz them up a bit? I have about £100 to spend on them - any suggestions that don't involve aerosols

Cheers!

The answer really is as simple as.... sand them down, primer, top coat, lacquer.
If you don't want to use rattle cans, then do you have gun and compressor?

Plastidip?

Its funny how times change. In the old days no one thought about it or talked about it, if a set of wheels looked a bit rough it would be off with the tyres, a couple of grades of wet and dry, primer, paint and laquer. Job done.

Now it's amazing how the norm has become sending wheels away for refurbishment and putting up with high prices for what is at best semi skilled labour.

quote:

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Originally posted by Not Anumber
Its funny how times change. In the old days no one thought about it or talked about it, if a set of wheels looked a bit rough it would be off with the tyres, a couple of grades of wet and dry, primer, paint and laquer. Job done.

Now it's amazing how the norm has become sending wheels away for refurbishment and putting up with high prices for what is at best semi skilled labour.

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ha ha at some of the above...

sand down and primer then top coat and lacquer... then watch it fall off in the not distant future... no-one above mentioned you must etch prime alloy as normal primer will not stick to it...

you can now get 2k basecoat extra sparkly silver for wheels so have a look round ebay for some cheap material and then watch it pickle up... however i wish you all the best in the refurb of your wheels...

as a professional painter i am astounded at what i see in the trade with d.i.y attempts and cost cutting quality back street repair shops...

quote:

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Originally posted by doobrychat
ha ha at some of the above...

sand down and primer then top coat and lacquer... then watch it fall off in the not distant future... no-one above mentioned you must etch prime alloy as normal primer will not stick to it...

you can now get 2k basecoat extra sparkly silver for wheels so have a look round ebay for some cheap material and then watch it pickle up... however i wish you all the best in the refurb of your wheels...

as a professional painter i am astounded at what i see in the trade with d.i.y attempts and cost cutting quality back street repair shops...

---

I've done alloys with rattle cans and they have looked fine and lasted OK, I used silver smoothrite as it looks just like powder coating after a couple of coats.

I know some powder coaters use silver smoothrite on the centre caps of newly powder coated wheels because it is so similar a match.

[Edited on 7/10/13 by Scuzzle]

quote:

---

Originally posted by doobrychat
ha ha at some of the above...

sand down and primer then top coat and lacquer... then watch it fall off in the not distant future... no-one above mentioned you must etch prime alloy as normal primer will not stick to it...

you can now get 2k basecoat extra sparkly silver for wheels so have a look round ebay for some cheap material and then watch it pickle up... however i wish you all the best in the refurb of your wheels...

as a professional painter i am astounded at what i see in the trade with d.i.y attempts and cost cutting quality back street repair shops...

---

A decent finish that lasts well is pretty easy to achieve at home. I did a very quick refurbon a set of alloys 18 months ago as follows.
Jetwash wheels
File bad scuffs, followed by wet and dry in 320 on those areas then 600 all over.
Wipe down with thinners
Couple of coats of aerosol on the bare bits (upol stuff) then a squirt of primer
600 on those areas and a wipe down
Topcoat. I had some black synthetic paint so used that in my little spray gun.

Been in use fulltime, car rarely washed, maybe twice? And even using softish asbestos brake pads, when washed the wheels come up fine.

In fact seem to be lasting better than some professionally refugee wheels, though not quite as good a finish.
Time, less than 8 hours, probably £20 of materials max. I used a fraction of a can of etch, similar primer and less than 1/2l of paint.

[Edited on 7/10/13 by cliftyhanger]

I have refurbished many sets of alloys myself for my own cars.

I always just use aerosols, and theyve always been fine!

sand down
primer
colour
laquer
done

just apply each coat very thinly and add as many coats as you can be bothered too!

to give you an idea, I recently did my 'new' compomotives as a very quick rough job (track wheels)

this took me around 4 hours start to finish

before


during


after




like it say, it was a very rough job, but the finish is still good! and unless you go sideways through gravel and grind along kurbs, the paint wont be damaged

This costs me around, £30
the paint I use is just the stuff my local car shop has, yellow tin, cant remember the brand

to do a best a job as i can, itl take me maybe a full day to do some 15's

Just give it a go!

Mazda wheels are a bitch for corrosion. Corrosion is a bitch to grind down, especially around those inside edges. As always the prep takes the time. Painting them is the easy bit.