4 spoke alloy recondition

[MiniMan]

Hi there,

So my car went into the bodyshop on Monday to clean up a few spots of rust here and there.

While I was there I asked about reconditioning all 4 wheels (standard silver 4 spoke alloys) fitted on my 1.6 laser mk3 1986

He said it was possible but he would gloss them as its cheaper (£25 per wheel) ... he said the current finish is more of a satin and could be achieved by powdercoating but not worth the money

So basically I wanted to know... does glossing the wheels look good!? Does anyone have any examples ... also I'm thinking of getting the inserts done in black what do you think!?

Would appreciate the advice as its a bugs decision and will be £100 for all the wheels

Thanks
Sam

[Andrew 2.8i]

Hi Sam,
My thoughts are that if the sprayer is just going to paint the wheels and not refurbish them properly, you may as well do it yourself and save £100. £25 per wheel sounds too cheap to be a proper job.
Just my opinion!
All the best,
Andrew.

[MiniMan]

Hi Andrew

Cheers for the advice. Hes a mate of a mate so hence the good rates and I've used him before on the mini. The wheels are in pretty good condition but I think someone attacked two with a rattle can hence why I want to get them professionally sprayed. I don't think hes going to sandblast the wheels down just blow sand down the worst bits (I.e where its blistered) and blow them over.

My main concern is glossing the wheels... will this look really out of place!? That's why I wanted to see a photo or two of anyone who has glossed their wheels

Thanks for the advice so far Andrew

Appreciate it
Sam

[Andrew 2.8i]

Hi Sam,
Sorry I can't be of any more help, other than suggesting that in my opinion the black inserts on the 4 spokes always looks better than silver all over.
I'm sure someone will have some photos of gloss finish wheels.
All the best,
Andrew.

[pbar]

I think that it might make them look too non original. And therefore that may make them look out of place. Just my opinion, but refurbish them by all means, but not change they way they look. Use different wheels if you wish to do that.

[stevemarl]

My thoughts are that if the sprayer is just going to paint the wheels and not refurbish them properly, you may as well do it yourself and save £100

TBH, I would say, provided they`re not badly kerbed, (and that`s just 5 minutes with the chemical metal...) it`s a fairly straightforward DIY job. Hammerite smooth silver is a perfect match, both in colour and texture to original, so it can even be blended if you didn`t want to do the spokes for eg. Seriously, I wouldn`t suggest this if it didn`t give good results - I am pretty anal about these things!

[nigecapri]

Agree with Steve,
Few quid for various grades or abrasive paper and a few tins of spray. Tidy up the iffy bits, spray & dry then re-smooth any visible marks. Couple of top coats and away you go. Keep a spare tin for touch-ups. Spend you spare sixty or seventy quid on rustkiller, waxoyl, plugs, oil & new brake linings etc.

[Andrew 2.8i]

Agree with Steve,
Few quid for various grades or abrasive paper and a few tins of spray. Tidy up the iffy bits, spray & dry then re-smooth any visible marks. Couple of top coats and away you go.

Hi,
There are some informative tutorials on youtube if you're not sure how to do it.
Andrew.

[MiniMan]

Hi,

Thanks for the advice... so I told my body guy to forget about the wheels after your advice! I reckon I'm going to have a go with hammerite smooth silver at the weekend!

Its more of a temporary thing till i can afford these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/13x7-DEEP-DIS ... 1c38a6d4fa

Can someone just give me a bit of advice for future. The JBW rally wheels... are these a straight swap? and can I use the current tyres I have on my RS 4 spoke alloys? or will I need new tyres all round

Thanks

Sam

[Andrew 2.8i]

Hi Sam,
The size should be a straight swap although you will need a PCD of 4x108 for Ford fitment.
Andrew.