Wheel Refinishing

[Josh S]

Hello DMCToday'ers!

I recently picked up a spare set of OEM wheels. Two of the wheels (one front, and one rear) have some gouging to a few of the spokes. The finish is also peeling/flaking on all the wheels.

I'd like to strip the wheels, repair the gouges, and refinish the wheels - all myself, unless it's cheaper to have them professionally done. While I've painted several sets of steel wheels in the past, I've never done any kind of work to alloy wheels. Needless to say, I have a ton of questions and was hoping that you guys could provide me with some assistance. The best professional quote I've received is from Detroit Wheel and Tire - $500 on the set for a powder-coated finish.

First step - stripping the wheels:

Mediablasting or chemical - which is better/easier/preferred? If mediablasting is the way to go, what kind of medium? If chemical is the way to go, what kind of chemical?

Second step - repair:

What brand/type of putty/filler do you guys recommend using?

Third Step - refinishing:

Powdercoating or painting?

I was thinking about getting one of the Eastwood dual voltage systems - anyone have one or know much about them and whether or not they're worth the money?

http://www.eastwood.com/paints/hotcoat-powder-coating/powder-coat-guns.html

Or would it be better to spray paint? If so, are there any primers and clear coats that are better than others out there?

Thanks in advance for any and all advice that you guys have for me!

--Josh S
#1798

[stev...@gmail.com]

I have no clue about repairing wheels but this topic raises a question I my own.  

What would happen if you put one of these wheels in the oven?  

I recently refinished my seat rails.  To remove the paint I placed them in my oven and turned on the self cleaning feature for a couple of hours. This turned the old paint into ash which I was able to rinse off.  I then spent a week brushing several layers of black rustoleum on them and I am very happy with the result.  

What would happen if alloy wheels were put in the oven at high temperatures?  Would they become warped because they are an alloy?

As far as painting goes, I would use a $5 can of rustoleum. 

Steve Rice

#16510

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<Damaged Front Zoom.jpg>

<Damaged Rear Zoom.jpg>

[Bill Robertson]

One quart of brushed Rustoleum (used a foam brush to get between the spokes): https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/312184_262880320423892_753630573_n.jpg
Had enough paint for 7 coats IIRC.

Attacked the rims with a wire wheel first, then primed them with etching primer.

Painted the rims with the tires installed -- just laid them flat on cinder blocks and masked the rubber with blue mask and newspaper.

Bill.

[Josh S]

Good advice here so far and a diverse set of options!

Over on Talk, the only reply I'd expect to get is to have them professionally powdercoated.

@Steve - not sure about heating off the old finish, the amount of heat it would take to do so, and if it could potentially damage the wheel in the process. Regardless of what I decided to do, I was going to pre-bake each wheel in the electric oven in preparation of finishing.

@Bill - your wheels look GREAT! I'm curious about one thing you mention though - is there a reason that you went with a self-etching primer vs an epoxy based primer?

Thanks guys!

[Bill Robertson]

Paint doesn't like to stick to aluminum. In theory etching primer adheres better. We'll see....

Bill.

[Stephen Rice]

I'm not sure about heating off the old finish either. I wasn't too worried about my seat rails warping but wheels are critical. I am curious if anyone has dine it before though.

Steve Rice
#16510

[Bill Robertson]

My rims had brand new tires attached (Cooper Cobras, thank you very much) -- putting them in an oven would have been dramatic but a very bad idea.

Bill.

[Josh S]

OK, here's what I've been able to find online pertaining to Steve's question:

The lowest quality aluminum/alloy wheel will become susceptible to warping at temperatures around 700F. I'm not sure as to the 'quality' of our wheels, however, I'd expect them to be of at least a mid-grade quality, so they're probably OK at temperatures up to 850F-900F - let's just assume this.

According to what I've been able to find online, our wheels apparently came powder-coated from the manufacturer/factory.

Powder-coating, depending upon the quality, will have a burn-off temperature of between 900F, for a low-quality powder, to 1,600F for a high quality / industrial grade powder.

So you definitely wouldn't want to try to bake the finish off our wheels, as at the temperatures required to do so, you'd almost certainly risk damaging the structural integrity of the wheel in the process.

I think I'm going to try a chemical strip, followed by a 60 grit media blast, followed by my repairs, followed by a pressure wash, followed by a 40 minute prebake at 450F, followed by a wipe-down with paint prep, followed by an etch with pure phosphoric acid, followed by an Alodine treatment, followed by an epoxy based primer (2 coats), followed by a polyurethane (2k) base coat (2 coats), followed by a wheel specific clear coat (1 or 2 coats). I think doing all that should pretty much do the trick and give me the kind of results I'm looking for.

I've also been toying with the idea of doing a custom color scheme, using the dark grey of the early wheels on the rim and spokes, the silver of the later wheels on the hub, and a medium gloss black on the lip, notches in the spokes, and in the lug holes. Any opinions on this - either negative or positive? Keep in mind that this is merely a spare set for me, as I still have the original OEM dark grey set with NCTs mounted that my car came with.

I also plan on doing something 'special' with the center caps, but I'll save that as a surprise and show when I'm done :-)

I'll try to visually document everything I'm doing with this wheel repair/refinishing for use on the site, but I doubt it'll be as good as Steve's videos.

[Bill Robertson]

I attacked mine with a wire wheel, masked off the tires with newspaper, sprayed them with a rattle can of etching primer, then painted multiple coats of brushed Rustoleum enamel until the can ran out (7 coats IIRC -- I was aiming for 10).

Bill.

[Josh S]

@Bill -

Did you use a foam brush or hair brush?

--Josh S.
#1798

[Bill Robertson]

Foam brushes between the spokes, normal brush across the flats. I buy el'cheapo foam brushes and throw them away after each coat rather than trying to clean them. Opposite on the normal brush -- you get what you pay for there.

Don't paint Rustoleum in direct sunlight or the paint sets up too fast and the brush strokes won't smooth out.

Bill.