wheel painting

[Azazello]

I am proceeding with my new wheels restoration...
Degreased with NaOH this evening, then I was suggested to sand with 400 paper, than wash with nitro, spray primer and then colour.
I bought a filler/primer spray can.
There is some rust on the wheels, nothing serious but diffused... I do not think I will remove it completely with sandpaper... The guy who sold me the primer said it is sufficient to remove the superficial rust, the firm rust is not a problem and will not come out of the primer.
I am quite diffident, and I am thinking of a first layer of rust converter, then a bit of sanding and after this the primer...
It is a good idea? I will waste my time because the shop guy was right? There is some kind of incompatibility between the rust converter and the primer?

Waiting for suggestions...

 

[bob86600]

For my R6 I used fine sandpaper, a primer thick, two paint thick, and a varnish one.
Original wheel :

After sandpaper and protection :

With primer :

With paint :

With varnish :

And on the car :


Only with 3 bombs...
And don't forget to put waxing on the tyre for a better aspect (it was not done on these pictures).

 

[Azazello]

Mine is a more radical job, wheels are without tyres and the rear + shoulders are a bit more rusty tha the "face"...
Yesterday, as I said, the wheels were degreased, today I removed the great part of the rust (at least the superficial one) and not adhesive paint with a wire-brush mounted on my drill...
Tomorrow will be sandpaper day, I think...

 

[bob86600]

Arf. I have done painting on bad wheel there is two weeks ago, the result was bas as the wheel, but it was verry rusty.

Can we have some pictures of your wheels during their restauration ?

 

[snailshed]

Azazello,
If you want a top quality job, its really worth having the wheel faces sand blasted. It takes all the paint off the hard to sand areas, grinds away the light surface rust and leaves the wheel face keyed ready to spray with primer. I always thought it too costly to justify on old wheels but I have a guy locally who only charges £5 a wheel. The improvement in finish justifies it. If you don't know anyone with the kit, visit any local metal working shop and they usually have contacts... (It works well on bumpers too)

 

[pepper]

I'd agree with snailshed, getting the sand blasted and then respraying them makes the job much much better!


Don't get them powder coated though, its not the right stuff for wheels!

 

[Azazello]

These are my wheels:




This evening maybe photos after NaOH, wire brush and sand paper...

 

[ggcton]

These wheels were blasted and powdercoated bit expensive but recovers the wheels.I have had many wheels powdercoated without problems.

before

After

Gary

 

[bob86600]

Oh, I didn't understood that you were talking about "Fergat". Had you find the good dark grey for the paint ? A friend is looking for a paint code to make his wheels on his R12 TS. If I can help him...

I hope that we're going to have photos, I want to see your traitment

 

[Azazello]

Oh, I didn't understood that you were talking about "Fegat". Had you find the good dark grey for the paint ?

I'm not so conservative, I will not keep the same colour as the original.
Just found out these beautiful wheels (one of the best for our little cars, on my own) on a used item site (subito.it is the italian equivalent of lbc, same graphic, access with same username and password...) for 80 euros... Quite a lucky guy I was.
I'd like to have them painted the same grey of the bumpers, and the darkest areas black (I will envolve my sister with a little brush, she's more inclined than me to this precision works).
I was even thinking of doing them white as the car, but maybe it will look a bit more "sporty"...

 

[Azazello]

I should go downstairs in my garage to begin working, but it's raining and tis weather improves my natural idleness...
Found out tel. number of a sanding man, now I will ask for prices... But I do not want to spend more than a few tens euros...
Even time is important, too many times they will keep your wheels for weeks waiting to be prepared... and once they've done, you are in the hurry to coat them in primer, before rusting process begins another time...

 

[bob86600]

I'm not so conservative, I will not keep the same colour as the original.
Just found out these beautiful wheels (one of the best for our little cars, on my own) on a used item site (subito.it is the italian equivalent of lbc, same graphic, access with same username and password...) for 80 euros... Quite a lucky guy I was.
I'd like to have them painted the same grey of the bumpers, and the darkest areas black (I will envolve my sister with a little brush, she's more inclined than me to this precision works).
I was even thinking of doing them white as the car, but maybe it will look a bit more "sporty"...

That's not so important for the codes

But for the future colour of your wheels, white will always be black, with the braking dust...

 

[Azazello]

Not so bad, sanded and washed with nitro thinner.

 

[petak]

Don't get them powder coated though, its not the right stuff for wheels!

why do you think powder coating is not for wheels?

Azazello:

You find very nice wheels for R4.
So thinking, it should not be a problem waiting some more time for good prep work.

I would (and will) go for sandblasting with very fine sand (teksture of sand is like a flavour), then zink coating and then powder coating.

H!

 

[Azazello]

Alternative way: phosphating treatment. Now my rust is reacting with phosphoric acid in my garden, flowering on the surface as a white salt. I will wait about an hour, just a shower and dinner, then water abundantly with the garden hose. Tomorrow it will be dry and clean, ready to receive my primer...

 

[Azazello]

Not satisfied at all by the phosphatic treatment: salt does not go away washing, rust appears where water stills... Brushed and sanded another time, less rust indeed, but I do not know if it is for the treatment or for the double sanding...
Today is "primer and filler day".



Tomorrow I will sand the primer with 800 grit sandpaper, then a coat of lucid black (RAL 9005) on the face, that will remain visible in the "cuttings"... Original color should be anthracite gray (RAL 7016, if I am right), but I prefer black because I think that, painting the wheel in stone grey (RAL 7030) the difference would be not impressive...

On monday the quest will be finding stone gray spray cans, in my town i visited an hardware shop, a paint shop and 2 brico centers and I did not find it...

 

[Geoff in the Gully]

I've been using a rust conversion phosphate treatment and also found a bit of excess salt and rust appearing after the washing. I found that drying the parts with towel after washing to blot up the water left over work well to stop rust coming back so soon. My stuff says you have to wash off the excess phosphate before it dries otherwise you get the white salt problem.

This was treated and left unpainted for several weeks in the middle of a wet winter here. No sign of rust returning so I'm happy with it.

Geoff

 

[Azazello]

On the can it was said to wait 1-2 hours before washing, and so I did...

 

[pepper]

None of the car people I know, get wheels powder coated, it's too brittle and cracks and the rust then gets underneath the plastic coating and makes everything worse, if a painted wheel gets scratched it can be coated over far more easily!

 

[petak]

None of the car people I know, get wheels powder coated, it's too brittle and cracks and the rust then gets underneath the plastic coating and makes everything worse, if a painted wheel gets scratched it can be coated over far more easily!

I have heard about this problem before.

But also heard from lot of different sides that it is not so easy to ruin powder coat.

That is why I have decided to immerse wheels into zink (hot galvanising).
Hoping it will be good enough to protect wheel from rust if it gets any scratches.

If it does not work, in few years i will do wheels again, and then I (and all of you) will know for surely that it is not good idea to powdercoat wheels