Wheely good advice needed...

[HarveyB]

Evening,

Has anyone here had their 8 spoke OZ alloys refurbed? Mine are okay but the lacquer's peeling off in places and there's some pitting so they let the car down a bit.

As a result I've been looking into my options but I know very little about this in particular or alloys in general.

I've been told that the choice is diamond cutting or powder coating, with diamond cutting being the method most likely to get them looking as they were when they were new (?).

BUT, I've also been told that the results of diamond cutting these wheels is not great and so realistically the way forward is powder coating...

Does anyone have any experience with these wheels?

[foxy600]

Had mine powder coated, can highly recommend it as they are easier to clean and hard wearing. If you get the 'chrome' effect paint finish they look great, here's one I made earlier!!!...

Edited by foxy600 on Thursday 17th May 23:29

[tvrgit]

I had mine diamond cut and lacquered, and they looked fab. Problem is that the tiniest chip in the lacquer results in spreading corrosion under the lacquer, so it's not long before it looks crap again. You can get a good guarantee for paint or powder coat, but they don't give a decent guarantee for diamond cut and lacquer because they know it won't last...

I ended up stripping the lacquer off and just polishing the bare metal, which looks even better - only problem then is that you're never done polishing the damn things.

I like the idea of powder coating and foxy's photo looks good - I was thinking of black chrome or something like that. Dunno though...

[HarveyB]

foxy600 said:

Had mine powder coated, can highly recommend it as they are easier to clean and hard wearing. If you get the 'chrome' effect paint finish they look great, here's one I made earlier!!!...

Edited by foxy600 on Thursday 17th May 23:29

Now that does look the business. What wheel nuts are those?

[HarveyB]

tvrgit said:

I had mine diamond cut and lacquered, and they looked fab. Problem is that the tiniest chip in the lacquer results in spreading corrosion under the lacquer, so it's not long before it looks crap again. You can get a good guarantee for paint or powder coat, but they don't give a decent guarantee for diamond cut and lacquer because they know it won't last...

This is pretty much what I was told

tvrgit said:

I ended up stripping the lacquer off and just polishing the bare metal, which looks even better - only problem then is that you're never done polishing the damn things.

I like the idea of powder coating and foxy's photo looks good - I was thinking of black chrome or something like that. Dunno though...

I was also told that this was an option but that it would then be a PITA to look after.

ETA: As a relatively newbie, I'm really enjoying working my way through your website- an inspration to us all!

Edited by HarveyB on Friday 18th May 07:52

[spivvy]

had mine done as black chrome just wash and wax to keep them shiny

Edited by spivvy on Friday 18th May 08:41

Edited by spivvy on Friday 18th May 08:42

[z_chromozone]

tvrgit said:

I had mine diamond cut and lacquered, and they looked fab. Problem is that the tiniest chip in the lacquer results in spreading corrosion under the lacquer, so it's not long before it looks crap again. You can get a good guarantee for paint or powder coat, but they don't give a decent guarantee for diamond cut and lacquer because they know it won't last...

I ended up stripping the lacquer off and just polishing the bare metal, which looks even better - only problem then is that you're never done polishing the damn things.

I like the idea of powder coating and foxy's photo looks good - I was thinking of black chrome or something like that. Dunno though...

How long did it take to polish them and what did you use.
Z

[tvrgit]

z_chromozone said:

tvrgit said:

I had mine diamond cut and lacquered, and they looked fab. Problem is that the tiniest chip in the lacquer results in spreading corrosion under the lacquer, so it's not long before it looks crap again. You can get a good guarantee for paint or powder coat, but they don't give a decent guarantee for diamond cut and lacquer because they know it won't last...

I ended up stripping the lacquer off and just polishing the bare metal, which looks even better - only problem then is that you're never done polishing the damn things.

I like the idea of powder coating and foxy's photo looks good - I was thinking of black chrome or something like that. Dunno though...

How long did it take to polish them and what did you use.
Z

It took bleeding ages! After getting the old lacquer offf with stripper (an hour per wheel in itself, if you're trying to be careful) I polished each wheel in 3 or 4 stages, using various grades of metal polishing paste and mops (available from frosts.co.uk) before a final polish with Meguiars metal polish on a polishing ball in an electric drill. I think it took about 3 or 4 hours per wheel.

I did them in April last year, and details are in my website diary.

They looked like this at the time:



They don't look like that now

[barkychoc]

Surely if you polish them, you then need to lacquer them otherwise you have bare metal open to the elements ??

[tvrgit]

barkychoc said:

Surely if you polish them, you then need to lacquer them otherwise you have bare metal open to the elements ??

Exactly - but the lacquer don't stick see? So your wheels look cack again in no time anyway.

Whereas if you polish them and keep polishing them, and dry them properly when they get wet, and polish them again, and then realise that maybe you didn't dry them properly, so you polish them again, they always look nice.

And you always look knackered and you stink of Autosol (not anusol, that's a different problem altogether caused by sitting on a cold garage floor polishing wheels...)

[ketvrin]

tvrgit said:

barkychoc said:

Surely if you polish them, you then need to lacquer them otherwise you have bare metal open to the elements ??

Exactly - but the lacquer don't stick see? So your wheels look cack again in no time anyway.

Whereas if you polish them and keep polishing them, and dry them properly when they get wet, and polish them again, and then realise that maybe you didn't dry them properly, so you polish them again, they always look nice.

And you always look knackered and you stink of Autosol (not anusol, that's a different problem altogether caused by sitting on a cold garage floor polishing wheels...)

I have been using Autoglym "Wheel Sealer" to try to keep the polished finish for longer and it kinda works. If you finish the wheel with Autosol to the best standard you can, then spray the wheel with the wheel sealer, its a kind of silicon spray intended to protect your alloys from staining by brake dust etc. then buff it off after a short time (follow instructions on container) you will find that the polish doesnt dull so quickly.
Make sure you fill the gaps between the spokes with rags so you dont spray silicon all over your discs
Unfortunately I dont think that using this sealer will help after application of anusol, but I have to confess I have not tried...

like this ...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/AUTOGLYM-ALLOY-

Edited by ketvrin on Friday 18th May 15:53

[eddietiv1]

I had mine refurbed a few months ago, they look great but its a lot of effort protecting them.I dont use mine in the wet but the time i did there was salt on the roads aswell,it took about an hour with autosoll and then put normal wax on them.I would say its worth it if you keep it out the wet otherwise i guess powdercoating is the easier option.