Question,refurbish alloys

[daveb47]

Son has decided to keep his slk (Pleased about that )

It has amg alloys which are a bit scuffed & he wants to refurbish them.

Any hints and tips please.

[cort16]

Beware as some refurb places fill and paint and don't powder coat. You always want powder coat as normal paint just isn't up to it.

The place I used had the car for 36 hours and charges 180 quid for 4 18" wheels and did a pretty find job of it.

[Parky]

I have heard GLG Powder coatings on the A13 in Dagenham are good. Not too far from us Dave. Otherwise I think Elite Tyre and Auto do refurbs (near TetleySmooth).

 

Wouldn't the Autoshite way be Fairy liquid and silver hammerite based?

[purplebargeken]

Don't fuck about doing them at home. Send 'em out for refurb bearing in mind all of the above. 

[vulgalour]

Agreed.  You can DIY them but for how much more soul destroying alloys are to sort than steels, especially if you want a nice finish, you're best off farming them out.

[Lankytim]

I've found powder coating can flake off tbh!!

[320touring]

I've found powder coating can flake off tbh!!

I've seen it flake off round bolt holes, leading to loose bolts-great fun at a track day. its really up to the quality of workmanship-done properly its a good way to repair wheels

[stuboy]

ive just filled and rattled can'd them...

[Pillock]

I've done it at home for the price of a abrasive pad and some rattle can paint, so maybe £20.

 

Trouble is it looks like I spent £20 and did it at home. It'll never look as good as the professionals.

[Crusty Sills]

Have a look on the interweb and see if you can find a mobile wheel refurbisher in your area.

They come to you door and charge around £40 per wheel.

[Skizzer]

Stick them on eBay and replace with steels. This is Autoshite.

[londonm]

I've done a perfectly good job with filler and rattle can. The trick is to obviously do as near damn perfect job as possible with filler, then not localise the paint over the repair but the whole wheel. Lacquering the wheel after really helps also. Send it away to be professionally done by all means, but you and I know within 24 hours you'll scuff them again. Don't buy cars with alloys that extrude out of the tyres in the future fella.

[Hendry]

I've done a perfectly good job with filler and rattle can. The trick is to obviously do as near damn perfect job as possible with filler, then not localise the paint over the repair but the whole wheel. Lacquering the wheel after really helps also. Send it away to be professionally done by all means, but you and I know within 24 hours you'll scuff them again. Don't buy cars with alloys that extrude out of the tyres in the future fella.

Or buy tyres with rim protection bands on them.

 

As for refurbs, I've had a few done and quality varies massively just like good and bad body repairs, I've had one where they'd put the tyre back on and flaked off a bit of the powder coat, my current car had one wheel refurbed due to kerbing when I bought it at a main dealers, they got a mobile refurb van in, job looked good until about 4/5 months later when I noticed large chunks completed flaked off through to the base alloy, where I'd obviously gone over potholes the impact whilst not damaging the tyre, suspension components or the alloy itself (ie buckling, denting or flat spotting) the "bump" was enough to cause the coating to flake off.

 

Prices have gone up hugely, 5 years ago I paid £35 and that was considered expensive then, last year I paid £60 and that was the going rate everywhere.

[gordonbennet]

Yes bloody prices have gone up.

 

Last set i had properly refurbed it cost me £120, thats only about 6 years ago, same place quoted me £220, LapTab Birmingham, bloody good job mind.

 

I have a set off the Outback currently being refurbed by Wheel Clinic at Northampton, costing £45 a wheel, they were well scabby after 12 years but no scuffs (215/60 x 16 sensible tyres helps), so we'll see what the finished product is like soon, i normally would have paid LapTab whatever they wanted but i no longer drive the car transporter so don't pass the place nearly every day, fuel for two trips would have put another £60+ time on the job.

 

Cheapest place i know of is citypowdercoating.co.uk in Birmingham, mixed reviews.

 

Proper baked on powder coating is the only long term solution, LapTab's finish lasted years, much better than Mercs own shoddy wheel finish.

 

I only let two places remove and refit my tyres, not just for price, they take care,  plenty of lube..no sniggering at the back.

[spike60]

Results for rattle can and lacquer, as done and 18 months later. In 2nd pic I was getting tyre details but all the wheels still look like that, unchanged. A big factor in doing them is wheel design, these are smooth and simple, a lot are major PITA.

[spike60]

It can be a pain it you're doing them on the cheap and they still have tyres on, duct tape is about the only thing that sticks to tyre sidewalls to mask them. Deflating the tyre helps so you can get the tape tighter into the bead. Simonez 5 Wheel paint works well with clear laquer.

[gordonbennet]

Well, picked the wheels up today from The Wheel Clinic Northampton, very good job, well pleased, he bunged me new tyres on when i collected too.