Yep lots of people do once it starts peeling slightly ... or they just like that mirror shine instead of the factory "cut in a lathe" appearance
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Wheel refinishing project
- Thread starter kymmee
- Start date
Yep lots of people do once it starts peeling slightly ... or they just like that mirror shine instead of the factory "cut in a lathe" appearance
pont1230
Well-Known Member
yea it's a lot of work I did my honey comb rims on my 1979 trans am before I sold it,also did a set of gta rims that I bought just to restore them and flip them for more than double of what a paid for them on e-bay.:dance
olishing them is the easy part but there is a lot of sanding involved depending on the shine you are looking for I started with 220 grit all the way to 1000 grit..robert lee
Gold Member
Yeah what the hell Rob, why no pics, we want to see the finished product....:drool:
kymmee
Silver Member
Thanks. Yeah, I'm excited to get them back-he has had them since November, but don't want to bother him too much. He did get my 89 Formula paint work done in about a week, so I was glad about that.:thumbup:
kymmee
Silver Member
Looks real good! Hope mine turn out that nice!
kymmee
Silver Member
Picked my rims up late last night. They look really good, the aluminum will need polished again as he has had them for about 6 months. The color is ever so slightly different, but very very close. My guy ended up sandblasting them down to bare aluminum, painted, then cleared the gold. He grumbled a bit about how hard it was to get the paint to cover all the laces, but he did a great job. Charged me around $350 dollars for all six, which was a GREAT deal.
Next step is to get new tires mounted, get them on the car and that will be a big accomplishment!
Here's a few pictures. Taken with my new smart phone, I need to learn how to use it better. lol
Comparing OEM with new paint.
Close up of the paint.
Next step is to get new tires mounted, get them on the car and that will be a big accomplishment!
Here's a few pictures. Taken with my new smart phone, I need to learn how to use it better. lol
Comparing OEM with new paint.
Close up of the paint.
They look great Kim, got 2 sets I need to get done one of these days ... might do it next year.
Mark T-TB
Car Crazy from birth
WOW! They look great! :cheers:
Looks like a pretty good photography job, too (I keep sayin' that my "smart phone" is smarter than I am... still learning). I do think that it is handy to always have a camera with me.
Hope I get to see the finished product on the car in-person.
What the painter said about painting all of the "laces" is exactly why I knew NOT to consider trying any "home refinishing" on wheels like that. I can't even imagine how tedious that could be.
Looks like a pretty good photography job, too (I keep sayin' that my "smart phone" is smarter than I am... still learning). I do think that it is handy to always have a camera with me.
Hope I get to see the finished product on the car in-person.
What the painter said about painting all of the "laces" is exactly why I knew NOT to consider trying any "home refinishing" on wheels like that. I can't even imagine how tedious that could be.
kymmee
Silver Member
FINALLY got the rims mounted tonight! Been really busy and something else always took priority.
Love the look of the Firehawk Wide Ovals! Could not take the car for a drive, just ran out of time. The stance of the 4 wide lipped rims looks pretty cool IMO.
Hope to get the car out for some good pictures soon.
Love the look of the Firehawk Wide Ovals! Could not take the car for a drive, just ran out of time. The stance of the 4 wide lipped rims looks pretty cool IMO.
Hope to get the car out for some good pictures soon.
Mark T-TB
Car Crazy from birth
TTA984
Gold Member
Looks great Kymmee! Now you can rotate your tires when needed with no problem!:yes:
Kim, just to circle back on the paint code etc you used to confirm what you posted prior to getting the wheels back is what was used (gold) in the end.
Just gearing up to have all the info I need to get my two sets done next year at some point.
Just gearing up to have all the info I need to get my two sets done next year at some point.
kymmee
Silver Member
Yes, Jan, the paint code I posted is the one that was used on the wheels. Like I said earlier, it was not 100% the same as my originals, but very close. Also my originals were on a 50k car, so they may have faded somewhat. If you feel more comfortable, do some research and see if you come up with the same code. Let me know what you find, thanks.
Thanks Kim, trying to gather all the info I have into one single source so will share this with you all ...
Dropped off one of my wheels this morning to get refinished ... we'll do the one first just to make sure they will be done to the highest standard ... then another 7 will follow
Company is local to me and do lots of wheels for high-end sports cars ... and the UK Porsche club members used them regulary and speak highly of them ... and the owner is very active supporting the members and a great guy to talk to so look forward to see the result.
Kim used the same paint code etc that you used so thanks for that !
Once I get the wheel back and I'm happy with the result I'll post a few pictures up and also describe the process they used.
Company is local to me and do lots of wheels for high-end sports cars ... and the UK Porsche club members used them regulary and speak highly of them ... and the owner is very active supporting the members and a great guy to talk to so look forward to see the result.
Kim used the same paint code etc that you used so thanks for that !
Once I get the wheel back and I'm happy with the result I'll post a few pictures up and also describe the process they used.
I left two wheels with them, one as a reference as it's the only 100% original one I have spare (others lip been hand polished and looks like spraypainted centers) ... anyway they send me a few pictures ...
Primer is powder coated, the gold is wet paint ... next they will machine the lip and then clear coat (powder again) the complete wheel
Once done I will go there and see how it turned out before we do another 7 giving me two complete sets.
Took them a while to sort out the color based on the color codes in this thread, seems like it might have been discontinued from the PPG and others systems so they had to get them to update the systems with the "old" information to get the correct color mixed up.
Will be interesting to see in person how well they turn out. Should have this one all done during next week.
Hmm. for some reason I can't attach any photos ... not sure what's wrong DontKnow:
Primer is powder coated, the gold is wet paint ... next they will machine the lip and then clear coat (powder again) the complete wheel
Once done I will go there and see how it turned out before we do another 7 giving me two complete sets.
Took them a while to sort out the color based on the color codes in this thread, seems like it might have been discontinued from the PPG and others systems so they had to get them to update the systems with the "old" information to get the correct color mixed up.
Will be interesting to see in person how well they turn out. Should have this one all done during next week.
Hmm. for some reason I can't attach any photos ... not sure what's wrong DontKnow:
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It's as close as you can get comparing to the original wheel ... will be slightly darker once the clear powder goes on after machined but should still be pretty close.
They had a hard time getting the right paint based on the paint codes we have and you posted Kim, apparently old codes that no longer exist in the system but they got PPG to dig them out and add them to their system.
I hope to have the complete wheel done in a couple of days time ... then if all looks good they get the other 7 I have (so two sets in total).
Not cheap to get them done and if I didn't already have the 2 sets of wheels I would just go buy a new repro set ...
