Restoring a set of ALU wheels - what to do?

Website · Post by **coyote1980** » Tue Jun 19, 2007 8:37 am

Hi!

The tyres on my Taurus rims are almost worn, so I want to start using my VESA wheels with fresh tyres.

The wheels I bought have some slight parking damage and small spots of corrosion. So I want them professionally restored with a longlasting quality. I won't be doing a thing myself, but want to be sure that my wheels get the best possible treatment.

Step 1) Sandblasting - no questions

Step 2) Galvanizing - is this recommended for aluminium wheels? Or only done with steel / iron wheels?

Step 3) Spraypainting or powdercoating? I have read that powdercoating gives a stronger finish, but has the risk that you easily damage the coating when tightening the wheelnuts. The finish or spraypainted wheels is said to be nicer and smoother. I just don't know how big the difference is between the finish.

Any comment welcome

JohnTurbo · Post by **JohnTurbo** » Tue Jun 19, 2007 10:24 am

Galvanising is coating steel with zinc to stop it rusting. Really rough finish, and not applicable here.

Williewammes · Post by **Williewammes** » Tue Jun 19, 2007 7:24 pm

Hey there,

I would say sand blasting first, but with a fine sand to get a nice result.
After that I would do powder coating. It is better resisant than spray coating when applied right.

Good luck with it.

regards,

Wiljen

robkendall · Post by **robkendall** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 9:06 am

not sure over there, but you can buy toughened polymer alloy wheel paint over here.....get it from most motor factor shops....
respray and then laquer as per any other part of car....i just did the pug alloys retro white with red emblems

had the wheels shot blasted first, then rubbed them down with nice wet and dry, then rub alcohol into the metal and gently run a blow torch around until all the alcohol has gone (you can see the 'damp' marks drying)....this removes any moisture from the metal and lets the paint stick better.
rgrds
rob

Anton_K · Post by **Anton_K** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 11:18 pm

Some alloy refurbishment "googling" a while ago made me think UK is the place to fix alloy wheels!? HavenÃ‚Â´t found such companys in Finland yet..search continues

Anyhow, what I read on different car forums is that some people had bad experiences with powdercoating if the sandblasting was too rough.

I would say sand blasting first, but with a fine sand to get a nice result.

Some seem also to prefer gentle glass or aluminium blasting before powdercoating.

Off topic: there was an article about dry ice blasting in a finnish oldtimer car magazine where an original Volkswagen beetles wheel arches was dry iced and the result was quite amazing. All the dirt removed, shiney undamaged paint left and the rust spots was revealed. Propably ideal for cleaning and restoring a quite good chassi..I will keep it mind if I found in the future an early Volvo 480 86...

Regards,
Anton

Website · Post by **coyote1980** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 1:54 pm

Thanx for the tips

Indeed galvanising is only done on steel wheels, not alu wheels, so that's off the list.

The blasting will be done not with sand but I believe a somewhat larger material.

I will visit a restore company so they can point out what the finish will look like either coated or sprayed. I prefer coating since it's stronger, but some companies told me that the finish was quite crude. I believe one of the companies where I informed advised to coat it, and then spraypaint it for a somewhat smoother finish.

Website · Post by **coyote1980** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 4:13 pm

Well, I have come back to my choice to have the wheels sandblasted and recoated! Some months ago when I got the wheels they looked terrible. I bought a steam cleaner to clean them thinking 'if this doesn`t work, nothing does'. And it didn't work. Made the wheels a bit cleaner, but couldn't remove brake dust.

Today I decided to give it a go with aggressive wheel cleaner with acids (the one you cannot use on chrome wheels). And the result was amazing Mike

So now it's merely a matter of waxing the wheels and order a set of new tyres

Sooooo happy, this saves me some money again

Roo · Post by **Roo** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 5:20 pm

They look really good, I actually thought it was a picture of the wheels repainted to begin with.

You just have to keep them like that now and I dont envy you of that.

Williewammes · Post by **Williewammes** » Fri Jun 29, 2007 5:22 pm

Respect!!!

They definitely look great.
Post some pics when on the car

Regards,

WIljen