How to refurb your own alloys

[JimC64]

The topic - How to refurb your own alloys cheaply back to as new condition.
Why? - Damn cat run out in front of me and I had to swerve clipping a kerb.....on hindsight, maybe I shoulda took it out!
Visited Kwik fit this am who took my newly acquired spare out and swapped the tyres and fitted for me leaving the damaged wheel off the tyre.

Now onto the how to -

Firstly, for those of us owning Audis, Bm's or Vw's you really have to buy Wurth paint. This is what the manufacturer uses from new and is a perfect match

Products used




First thing is to sand down the damaged area as much as possible as shown




Once the rim has been sanded down, fill the damage with filler and allow to harden




Sand again until a smooth level surface that matches the original is obtained and then add primer
As it was a spot repair I masked off the unaffected areas





First coat of paint - good match too




Second coat of paint + lacquer




Finished rim




The whole process took around 3 hours from start to finish and will look even better left overnight
I'm really pleased with it and it'll be going back into my boot as my spare.

Comments welcome

Thanks

Jim

[benjie]

Great guide, well done! Is the paint easy to get hold of (i.e. motor factors) or is it more specialised?

[JimC64]

Thanks Benjie, when I took the wheel to Kwik fit the next day to get the tyre fitted they couldn't believe the quality of the repair and asked how much it had cost? When I told them I had done it myself they examined the rim much more closely to try and find the repair
The absolute must is fill n sand, fill again if necessary and then sand sand sand until a smooth finish is obtained for the absolute best results.

As for the paint....the Wurth stuff is a MUST.....I tried to do a set of wheels for the Jag with some Halfords stuff and had to re do them in the end.

You can buy the paint from

Wurth UK Ltd
1 Centurion Way
Erith
Kent
DA18 4AE

Tel - 08705 987841
www.wurth.co.uk

All the best and good luck.......lookin forward to the pics

Jim

[NickPicks]

Good job!

How tough is the repair? ie, how will it stand up to the boys at the tyre place levering the tyre onto it?

[JimC64]

Hi Nick, thanks for that.
I'd say it was pretty tough and yes probably tough enough to withstand that kinda treatment. I'd probably keep an eye on when they were doing they're thing though to make sure they use their lever on another part of the wheel if to be as safe as possible. Sounds like good advice but not sumthin I did although everything was fine
Come to think of it .....I never had any problems with the alloys I did for the Jag some time ago ( 2 sets ) both with little nicks n scratches pretty much all round the rim ( the wifes car - not mine!! ) and never even gave that a thought when they replaced the tyres.
Good question though Nick


All the best

Jim

[benjie]

Originally Posted by JimC64

All the best and good luck.......lookin forward to the pics

Jim

Ooh, bloody hell, calm down! I only asked! To be honest though, I will probably have a go, but in the summer holidays (I'm a teacher).
Mind you, I'm not very good with detailing, but I think anything will be better than the way they look now!

Thanks for the info though!

[JimC64]

Lol.....ok Benjie
why not see if you can find an old alloy from an old car / scrapyard or whatever and have a go and see what kind of results you can achieve? You'll be amazed and also good practice.
If I can be of any help please feel free to pm me or mail me at any time

Cheers

Jim

[benjie]

OK, thanks for that, I appreciate it. I might just practice on my spare and see how it goes. I may not take the tyres off though as my parts that need fixing are well away from the edge - and caused by the previous owner I might add!

[JimC64]

Benjie....exactly what I did on my Jag wheels. Just make sure to use plenty of newspaper n masking tape to tape off the tyre


Jim

[SMEG]

HI,

My Passat wheels could do with some paint,have you got the paint and laquer code please?