Wheel Refurb

[Jake_GTI 0]

just acquired a set of original 1.6 speedlines for my gti, they need a bit of a refurb! can anyone reccomend a place that does this job for not a huge cost, cheapest ive been quoted so far is £240 for 5 wheels, i'm not exactly flush at the mo so wondered if anyone knew! other option is have a go at doing it myself but i need the car (when its back on the road, hopefully tomorrow) and dont really have time!

i live in west sussex, cheers guys

Edited March 2, 2011 by Jake_GTI

[Tom Fenton 1,542]

To make a decent job on a budget, assuming they are not horrendously grotty, I would get the tyres off, then do the donkey work rubbing them down yourself, plenty of elbow grease, down to something like 600 grit paper. Then put on a light coat of primer and see what they look like. If there are areas needing more work go back over these. When happy go over in 800 grit wet for a final prep.

 

THEN find a decent local bodyshop, get them to do the topcoating and lacquering for you in 2k lacquer. If you go round a few places I am sure you will end up with a decent price.

 

A lot of people spend hours doing the donkey work then spray them using poxy Halfords cans, these cost a fortune for enough to do a set of wheels, and the finish is poor no matter how good a sprayer you are as the paint is ridiculously thin. Remember you can offset the £50 odd you might spend on crap rattle cans against what a bodyshop will charge to do them in proper 2 pack, this is decent durable paint and will stay looking good, all you will need to do is clean them with soap and water.

[SurGie 54]

For alloys its best to use etch primer. It acid burns the surface for good adhesion, especially for aluminum.

[MerlinGTI 3]

Ive done a few sets of wheels myself now (at home and at work). Im currently doing some BBS RM splits.

 

Thing Ive found is if your fussy like me, the paint strip and hand sand route is a hell of a lot of work. So much so you will wish you just paid the cash for someone else to do them!

Materials from places like halfords are also extremely expensive and will the best will in the world the finish will be good at best with poor durability.

 

What im getting at is if you just want a quick key up and respray home DIY is the way to go. Bare metal respray, heavy kerbing and corrosion or obtaining perfection is just more hassle than its worth @ home.

 

I work at a big bodyshop and their retail 'furbs are shoddy. Not cheap either at approx £60 a wheel. Bodyshop grade paint (ICI, Sickens etc..) is very expensive. Doing all the hard work yourself and still getting charged around £30 a wheel just for paint doesnt appeal to me. Saying this you will get a very good finished product providing you do the prep yourself.

 

The other option is a dedicated wheel refurb place like Lepsons (Kent) They do everything from start to finish for around £50 a wheel. The end product is unbeatable. We use lepsons for the more fancy stuff and they never dissapoint.

Its actually considerbly more expensive to have them only preform part of the process though for some reason.

 

Option number 3 (or is it 4? who cares )is what I would do if I was you Find a non wheel related powder coating place and get them blasted and coated.

More durable than even 2 pack (HS) paints and the best bit is this will be the cheapest option. Theres a place near me that blasts and coats wheels for £20 each. Its a no brainer for a simple 1 piece alloy imo.

Edited March 2, 2011 by MerlinGTI

[Jake_GTI 0]

Option number 3 (or is it 4? who cares )is what I would do if I was you Find a non wheel related powder coating place and get them blasted and coated.

More durable than even 2 pack (HS) paints and the best bit is this will be the cheapest option. Theres a place near me that blasts and coats wheels for £20 each. Its a no brainer for a simple 1 piece alloy imo.

where abouts are you based?? am defo interested in powder coating as i want them to look good but cant afford a proper refurb

[Last Legend 0]

I had some steel wheels sand blasted then powder coated last Year (2010) and when they came back they were light (non metallic) grey rather than silver,check what colour/shade they'll come out like before getting them done.

[MerlinGTI 3]

I'm in Kent mate.

 

I belive the place in question is called Eirth metal refinishers and are based in Dartford Kent. I can't vouch for their work as I haven't used them myself.

[monkee87 2]

There is a place in hailsham that does shot blasting + powder coating for £35-45 a wheel iirc. Never got anything done by them so I can't tell you how good they are, but they're very reasonable and I'm sure they'd do a good job.

 

Just a thought as it's closer than somewhere in Kent.

[Atari Boy 11]

The other issue with 1.6 wheels is how you deal with the polished centre area. To be OE they need to remain polished.

[timstemi16 0]

theres a guy near coventry who does exchange wheels. i had a set of 1.9 gti wheels off him for £140, iirc the 1.6 wheels are abit cheaper. Have a look for 205 gti distinction on google

[Atari Boy 11]

I spoke to the chap about 1.6 wheels, he certainly does them although without a polished centre.

[Daviewonder 533 3 Cars]

am defo interested in powder coating as i want them to look good but cant afford a proper refurb

 

Theres a place in Chichester that does powder coating, I've heard a lot of good reports about them but never used them myself.

 

LINK