Because we should.
I've seen a few threads lately and I'm about to start refinishing a set of Turbo Twists and could use some professional (or internet professional) advice. Seems like there's a lot of ways this can go wrong.
sand
Bondo topper in for the curb rash
sand
Primer? High fill?
sand?
2-3 coats of wheel paint
2-3 coats of wheel clear
profit?
I drop them off at the refinishing place and have them ground down, welded back up, and powder coated.
Unless you LIKE that kind of work the pros do it better and pretty reasonably. I like that kind of work so I'll add some info to this thread when I have time.
A picture would help - I'm not familiar with the term Turbo Twist, and others may not be either.
Some 996 wheels I got for a price I couldn't pass up.
They're straight but have some curb rash.
All the curb rash really.
I am a lousy detailer, and can't be bothered to keep most of my vehicles clean, so, given the average attention to detail given by GRMers, this may not be too helpful. Still, here goes.
I half a** scrubbed these aluminum rims with a wire wheel, primed them with extremely cheap primer, and rattle can clear coated them. I am astounded at how well they have held up.
That is all.
As mentioned in another thread. I have sandblasted and powder coated a set before. They turned out decent. Stripping them down is a lot of work though. It also takes a big oven to fit a 17" wheel.
I've followed the basic path you've laid out with good, temporary results. I use Permatex metal filler to take care of nicks, scratches and minor curb rash. It's generally pretty easy to bring the wheels surface back to the right contour. Primer, 4 coats of base color, 4 coats clear, gratuitous wetsanding to bring it all to a glossy shine and they look great. Unfortunately, in my experience it is all too easy to begin accumulating new chips from regular use. Maybe I'm just anal, but after all the work I put in I am very disappointed to see tiny chips showing up just weeks after finishing them up.
I've moved on to Plasti-Dip. Following the same basic prep work, I hit the smoothed and primed wheels with the magic of Plasti-Dip which looks great AND holds up to regular use. I have one set of winter wheels that still look great after four seasons of use. No chips or damage to the finish. The only downside is that it's harder to geat a really, really smooth finish, and any texture in your topcoat will promote holding dirt/grime. You can clean Plasti-Dip with a soft brush, but going in too hard could damage/tear the dip. And, the very best thing about dip is that you can peel it off and change it to something else easily.
In reply to 11110000 :
What layer chipped?
I'm trying to get a clue as to where I need to spend my effort.
I've done quick and dirty rattle can jobs at work that seem to hold up okay but they were always a 10ft job. I just did a quick sand and then a few coats of rust oleum silver. Somehow I seem to have better luck when I don't use primer. Buuuut the bondo I picked up to fill in the curb rash is red and that's going to show through probably without primer.
I'd get chips through to the primer. Sometimes just the clear, but usually all the way to the primer. With a dark wheel finish and gray primer, this was unfortunate.
Going to redo my caddy wheels in the next weeks. I'll be borrowing a buddies blast and powder setup. For most minor curb rash a sand and powder covers nicely as the powder covers the countour gaps pretty well. Prismatic powders had the right Porsche arctic silver for the Turbo twists pretty reasonable so that is what the Caddy wheels will get.
84FSP said:Going to redo my caddy wheels in the next weeks. I'll be borrowing a buddies blast and powder setup. For most minor curb rash a sand and powder covers nicely as the powder covers the countour gaps pretty well. Prismatic powders had the right Porsche arctic silver for the Turbo twists pretty reasonable so that is what the Caddy wheels will get.
I did chrome base with the clear tinted black with prism. They looked amazing in sunlight.
The first pic is how they came into the US, five coats of flat black paint. I started stripping them but ended up sandblasting them because they were factory anodized. The bolts were powdercoated chrome but it aged to a dull finish and I ended up with chrome krylon which worked a treat and held up for seven years when I sold them.
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