I have started so I will finish.....eventually!

in9999

A2OC Donor
I have had the car just over year now and although the car is a daily driver I decided (like most people) to have a winter and summer tyre setup.

Thought I would splash out on a new shiny set of 8Z0601025AZ33...........£1300!, yeah right, that aint going to happen.

So duly visited @Clackers to collect a spare set of lightweight wheels (Covid window) and obviously a brew and a natter.

Not in bad condition but they did have 'under laquer' corrosion so decided to try a home based refurb. After the wheels were stripped I did consider having the wheels ceramic bead polished but even that would have cost £600 so I though the only option was to finish the job in true 'on the driveway' style.

Wheel face masked, primer etch, top coat (I probably guessed the wrong colour) and H2k gloss finish.
1000, 2000, 3000 then polishing cone and pad with Mothers mag and aluminium polish.

The fact that I can show only one finished wheel indicates how long this process has taken and that I would recommend (1) saving for a new set (2) get them sprayed or (3) use a diffrent wheel style.

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That's amazing: I very much admire your tenacity! Very nice indeed.

One thing's for sure, those wheels will always mean more to you than a set simply bought and bolted straight on.

I like this design: Pepperpots get all the lightweight glory but these come very close weight-wise. I've just moved my set of these plus the 17" sport ones (all ratty) and the weight difference is absolutely outrageous.
 
Wow what a very impressive finish.

Cant believe it’s only been just over a year since you had it. A lots happened since then I suppose ?
 
Looks Great!

Sorry, I'm curious: Picture 3, top rim backside. There are 10 holes present........ How deep are they drilled and maybe you know if they are also drilled in 5X100 or different PCD (5x112?)?
 
Looks Great!

Sorry, I'm curious: Picture 3, top rim backside. There are 10 holes present........ How deep are they drilled and maybe you know if they are also drilled in 5X100 or different PCD (5x112?)?
Mmm, not really taken any notice until you mentioned it. They do go quite deep, maybe 112 spacing but as it is a small wheel I doubt if it would have been safe to drill all the way through......maybe another bit of weight saving.
 
They do look fantastic. I am rapidly going off the 17" that came on m'ladys car, these or SE would be the ticket.
 
They do look fantastic. I am rapidly going off the 17" that came on m'ladys car, these or SE would be the ticket.
The only thing with 15" wheels is they can look lost in the wheel arch. 17" do give the A2 a sportier stance but at the cost of ride quality
 
Excellent work sir, I'm in the process of refurbing my wheels and I noticed in your pics the wheels on the planks of wood have some sort of stripper agent at work, may I ask what you used to strip them and also what you used to get the chrome effect?
 
Morning,

What a remarkable transformation you have accomplished. They really do look great.

Thanks for sharing what can be achieved with a ‘few hours’ dedication.

Very tempted to do this to a set of Pepperpots.

Kind regards,

Tom
 
Morning,

What a remarkable transformation you have accomplished. They really do look great.

Thanks for sharing what can be achieved with a ‘few hours’ dedication.

Very tempted to do this to a set of Pepperpots.

Kind regards,

Tom

You could use these to do it Tom, not expensive at £50 either


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Sent from the future
 
Excellent work sir, I'm in the process of refurbing my wheels and I noticed in your pics the wheels on the planks of wood have some sort of stripper agent at work, may I ask what you used to strip them and also what you used to get the chrome effect?
Hi, the photos of the wheels hanging on the wood are showing them being sprayed, what looks like stripper is the blue masking tape with primer etch on it. I used a local guy who charged £10 per wheel to strip back to bare metal. The chrome effect is achieved using a rotary polisher with grit going up the scale until the surface is flat enough to use metal polish with a pad.
 
Hi, the photos of the wheels hanging on the wood are showing them being sprayed, what looks like stripper is the blue masking tape with primer etch on it. I used a local guy who charged £10 per wheel to strip back to bare metal. The chrome effect is achieved using a rotary polisher with grit going up the scale until the surface is flat enough to use metal polish with a pad.
Do you know how the local guy did the strip back to bare metal? Was it a dip (acid) or blast (bead) process?
Mac.
 
I've often wondered what acid they use for this. Stripping the wheels is always the worst bit of any refurb.
 
Barry, this method is in common use...


That looks like the stuff, left a really good clean alloy surface. The only other tips I received was a) when you are ready to paint the surface just use water and allow to dry naturally and b) don't spray paint them in the back garden. Pah! what do they know. i did mine in the car port ;)
 
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