DIY- Can you cheaply refinish wheels?

[Denton]

I've stumbled upon a set of Borbets locally that need attention. I can get them for quite cheap, and I've always loved the 80's-riffic look of them! :p

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v244/Georgia4Runner/Random%20Pics/2edb_1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v244/Georgia4Runner/Random%20Pics/3465_1.jpg

They're terrible pictures, I know. I'll try to get better/more revealing pics. Not sure if there is curbing (I'm sure there is).

Basically, I'm not looking to win a Concours with these wheels, just want to VERY cheaply restore them. The point is to give me a project to undertake over Christmas break. Lots of elbow grease is fine.

Is there a special way to do this? I was hoping I could just wetsand/Simple Green/Clay/Polish but is there any more to this?

Thanks!

[danielhstout]

I would try to get access to some pneumatic grinders and buffers to get rid of the curb rash and do a polished finish. Or you could just prep them and have them powder coated. I know a place that will powder coat 4 wheels for 120 bucks.

[OneBeLow]

http://bimmer.roadfly.com/bmw/forums...postid=3148502

the first one looks "out of round"

[JerseySi]

Depends what sort of finish you want (as in painted silver as they were, or polished up)
But yes, d.i.y. refurb is easy as pie, just time consuming!
Depends how bad the kerbing is around the edges - maybe you'd have to get that fixed by a pro - although if you're going for a pianted finish you could use a bit of chemical metal, sanded smooth..

Mine were just standard old metric basketweaves, being metric I didn't care too much about taking my time/doing a perfect job etc, didn't even take the tyres off the rims, so sanding round the valves was hard work!
I started with a 120grit wet&dry paper, once the majority of paint was off I went up to 400 grit, used wet..
Once i'd got that as good as it'd get, I just used some Autoglym Cutting Polish (any rubbing compound would work I guess), that brought the shine up nicely :D
Masked off the outer rim, and I think I used 1 1/2 cans of black hammerite to paint the centres up - job done!
If I was doing a proper job, on a decent set of wheels etc, I'd definately laquer the polished parts - alloy goes dull very quickly, especially when combined with brake dust/road crap... To keep mine that shiny, they need cutting polish on them at least once a week!
Took perhaps 8-10 hours per wheel in my case, so yes - perfect as a winter project to do a proper job :D
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v114/RoverDog/Beemer/Beemer2006-06-04001.jpg

[Denton]

http://bimmer.roadfly.com/bmw/forums...postid=3148502

the first one looks "out of round"

Link didn't work...404. Could you try that again please?

The description didn't say anything about bends, but you're right, it does look bent. If that's the only bend that would be what, $60ish to take out? Am I wrong there?

[Denton]

I would try to get access to some pneumatic grinders and buffers to get rid of the curb rash and do a polished finish. Or you could just prep them and have them powder coated. I know a place that will powder coat 4 wheels for 120 bucks.

That's not a terrible idea, but the fact is that I'd like to be able to resell the wheels, and even $30/wheel to refinish makes it look like this project is not worth it. I do not want to lose a dime on this.

I also have no access to grinders and buffers, unfortunately. Well, I do have a Dremel, but not sure of an attachment for it.

[shogun]

http://www.e36coupe.com/technical/Wheel_Refurbishment.pdf
http://bimmer.roadfly.com/bmw/forums/e28m5/8044291-1.html

[Denton]

Depends what sort of finish you want (as in painted silver as they were, or polished up)
But yes, d.i.y. refurb is easy as pie, just time consuming!
Depends how bad the kerbing is around the edges - maybe you'd have to get that fixed by a pro - although if you're going for a pianted finish you could use a bit of chemical metal, sanded smooth..

Mine were just standard old metric basketweaves, being metric I didn't care too much about taking my time/doing a perfect job etc, didn't even take the tyres off the rims, so sanding round the valves was hard work!
I started with a 120grit wet&dry paper, once the majority of paint was off I went up to 400 grit, used wet..
Once i'd got that as good as it'd get, I just used some Autoglym Cutting Polish (any rubbing compound would work I guess), that brought the shine up nicely :D
Masked off the outer rim, and I think I used 1 1/2 cans of black hammerite to paint the centres up - job done!
If I was doing a proper job, on a decent set of wheels etc, I'd definately laquer the polished parts - alloy goes dull very quickly, especially when combined with brake dust/road crap... To keep mine that shiny, they need cutting polish on them at least once a week!
Took perhaps 8-10 hours per wheel in my case, so yes - perfect as a winter project to do a proper job :D
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v114/RoverDog/Beemer/Beemer2006-06-04001.jpg

Wow! You refinished those yourself? Looks like they were done by a pro! Well done!

I'm 99% sure the wheels are clearcoated, and I'm willing to bet the original clearcoat is done for by now, but maybe the paint underneath is fine and was hopefully protected by the clear. I'd obvously be willing to reclear, but I don't know how to do that either.

I've seen curbing "removed" with putty filled in, then sanded, then painted. Sounds fine to me, but the durability is certainly questioned here.

I'd also think that this project would be a bit easier than yours, as it is not a two-piece wheel, and it silver all around.

[Denton]

Thanks for the links, shogun. Reading right now! :D

[JerseySi]

thanks!

Your prospective whels would most certainly be easier - although not because of the 2 piece thing - mine aren't 2 piece either! If they were, i'd have split them & done a proper job - they're just standard basketweake rims..
Yours will be easier because you only have 5 flat spokes to sand/polish etc..
Not sure if those would be clearcoated on top of the silver paint or not, either way i doubt you'd be able to remove the clear without damageing the silver to the point of needing to respray them..

As for doing fresh clearcoat, either on polished rims or painted, personally I'd just get a couple of aerosol cans of decent quality clear laquer (perhaps high temp laquer, maybe it'd be a stronger finish?) and blow it over the polished finish..
If you've never weilded a spraycan before, it's really not hard to do - although you might like to get a can or 2 of cheap colour & some scrap tin to practice on - multiple light coats are the way, not 1 or 2 thick coats..

My wheels (did) look good from a distance & in photos, although when you get up close they're not so hot - the hammerite bubbled a little on the spokes, I was in a rush to get it done & didn't follow my own advice above! :s
Close up shot reveals the not-so-hot finish, that, and they needed another polish when I took this pic! (like i said -bare alloy dulls very quickly)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v114/RoverDog/Beemer/2006-06-22001Medium.jpg

[Denton]

thanks!

Your prospective whels would most certainly be easier - although not because of the 2 piece thing - mine aren't 2 piece either! If they were, i'd have split them & done a proper job - they're just standard basketweake rims..
Yours will be easier because you only have 5 flat spokes to sand/polish etc..
Not sure if those would be clearcoated on top of the silver paint or not, either way i doubt you'd be able to remove the clear without damageing the silver to the point of needing to respray them..

As for doing fresh clearcoat, either on polished rims or painted, personally I'd just get a couple of aerosol cans of decent quality clear laquer (perhaps high temp laquer, maybe it'd be a stronger finish?) and blow it over the polished finish..
If you've never weilded a spraycan before, it's really not hard to do - although you might like to get a can or 2 of cheap colour & some scrap tin to practice on - multiple light coats are the way, not 1 or 2 thick coats..



Thanks!

So you're saying that once I strip the wheel down to the bare metal, I could technically just go over it with a few coats of clear laquer? Would it look good? Like the finish on an E36 M3 wheel? I could handle that, but I'm not sure what you're talking about. I'm very new to this.

And I have noticed that the rim itself is alloy, it's just the center portion that is silver, even though it's one piece.

[JerseySi]

Thanks!

So you're saying that once I strip the wheel down to the bare metal, I could technically just go over it with a few coats of clear laquer? Would it look good? Like the finish on an E36 M3 wheel? I could handle that, but I'm not sure what you're talking about. I'm very new to this.

And I have noticed that the rim itself is alloy, it's just the center portion that is silver, even though it's one piece.

Basically yes, thats exactly what i'm saying :D
The whole rim will be alloy, just the centre sprayed silver, with the outer rim being polished, before the laquer goes on.. Can't realy tell from those pics if thats the case, but certainly sounds like it..
Strip off all the paint until you're left with a bare alloy surface, over the whole wheel - you'll find it'l be a bit fiddly in the 'corners', where the rim curves in to meet the middle, but still nothing a few hours & some attention to detail won't fix - you'll pick it up pretty quick..
The most important thing is not to use too harsh grade sandpaper - I started off with 120 grit, alloy is quite a soft metal, and you'll notice once you've rubbed the wheel down with 120grit to get the paint off it will look pretty 'scored'.. Dont worry about getting every single last bit of paint off at this stage, just move up to something like 400 grit paper (easier to sand wet too, the paper won't clog as easily). The 400 grit will not only smooth the scores you've made with the 120 but should also take off any remaining traces of paint..
If you wanted, you could move from 120 grit paper to say, 240 grit, then work up to 400, then perhaps 800 - if they're a winter project then time is on your side.. mine were a bit of a rush job, they're far from perfect when you inspect the surface close up, but good enough from a couple of feet away that you get a decent reflection..
Once you've got a smooth finish with the sandpaper (you probably won't see a lot of shine, if any, yet), move onto some rubbing/polishing compound.. There's all sorts of different ones available, depending on what part of the world you're in - anything designed to polish alloy up will work just fine, as I said, I used Autoglym Cutting Polish on mine as it was all I had to hand - took a fair bit of elbow grease (had a right arm like popeye afterwards!), but it took the surface from a 'brushed' type finish, to a proper polished finish, pretty quickly..
If, once you've done this, you still see scratching/scoring marks, it's probably that you've not worked the fine-grade sandpaper quite enough - no bother, just crack the sandpaper out again, get the marks off, & re-polish until you're happy with the result.
If you've stuck with it, you should by now have a mirror-like finish - especially with those wide flat spokes you should be able to see yourself in them! :D

Now it's just a case of preserving that finish - wipe over the rim with thinners and make sure it's spotlessly clean - any dust or anything left on the rim at this stage will spoil the laquer, & mean you'll have to strip it back & do it again!
With a clean rim, & a clean workspace to spray them, crack open the laquer and put a very light 'dusting' over.. Leave until tacky (do the other 3, them come back to the first) then another light coat - heavy enough to provide coverage, but not so much that it'l run.. repeat for as many coats as you feel you want, I'd do a good 6 or 7 coats on wheels at least, considering what they have to deal with..
Spraying laquer is slightly harder than normal paint, beacuse paint you can see easily where you've covered & with how much - laquer, being clear, is naturally harder to see..

All this might seem pretty daunting at first, but really - it's not that hard.. Once you've got the first wheel done, the other 3 will take half the time!
As you say, for a winter project - ideal.. You have time on your side, no need to rush, so you can do a decent job. Mine took, as i said, about 8-10 hours per wheel, start to finish (and yep - I did each wheel in one hit, wheel off in the evening, polished up & painted ready to go back on the car next morning.. Yes, I'm also an insomniac!).. If I was going for a perfect finish I'd double that at least - reckon perhaps 25 hours per wheel... But they'd be 100% spot on after that!)

If in doubt about any part of it, Google is your friend, there's a wealth of info out there..
I would find you some decent links now, but it's 4:40am now, and I really should get at leats a couple of hours kip!

Hope this helps anyway, if it was me - assuming the whels are straight (as another poster questioned), I'd jump right in!

//edit: just noticed - i've written an essay! sorry :D Still, too much info always better than too little I reckon ;)

[Denton]

Boy Jersey, you've really helped out a fellow Bimmerhead with this. I'm waiting on the seller's response on a few questions, and want to see better pics and get a clear understanding of bends, but I'll probably buy them. :)

I owe you a beer! ;)

[JerseySi]

hehe! No worries mate, I figure theres plenty on here that know the e34 inside out & are only too willing to help, having not long done my own rims (& a fair few others/plenty of alloy work in the past) this is something I know all about :D

Next time I do a rim I'll take detailed pics of the process - a pic says a thousand words, and will be useful for when someone asks this in the future! (will be doing my spare set of basketweaves properly when I have the spare time - hopefully fairly soon, but we'll see!)

Trans-atlantic beer? cheers! **clinks glass across the ocean**

Cheers,
Si

[Denton]

Cheers! *CLINK*

I'll update on whether I purchase or not. Even if I don't buy these, I'm open to future endeavors. Looks like fun! :)

If I don't get 'em, there's a few other guys on Bimmerforums who want to restoroe them. I have first dibs so...

[OneBeLow]

http://bimmer.roadfly.com/bmw/forums...postid=3148502

the first one looks "out of round"

try this one

http://bimmer.roadfly.com/bmw/forums/e39/forum.php?postid=3148502

Im in the middle of doing mine too. First one is finished other than the bolts, took me about 7-8 hours but the end results are worth it..I went from 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1200, 1500, 2000, two stages of polishing compound and a final polish. Excuse the shitty cell phone pics..

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b93/2dye4/156111894917_3300.jpg?t=1165946067
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b93/2dye4/156111736325_3300.jpg?t=1165946099
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b93/2dye4/156111701637_3300.jpg?t=1165946147

be prepared to drink lots of beer;)

[Denton]

Thanks OneBeLow!

So this project requires beer? If so, it may be a new career! ;)

I'm glad these wheels don't have bolts like multi-piece wheels! :)

The seller replied to my two questions, then I replied back.


They replied back:
Yes, local pick up is o.k, The rims are currently located in saint Simons Island Ga, at my 2nd home, I am not sure if they are bent or have any vibrations, if it is bent or have any vibrations they are slight.
Let me know
Dena and SHAWN

and,
The only thing I can see is on the rims where the bolt screws into to hold the center cap on might be slightly damage, but nothing noticiable with the cap on. There is a place called .turbiex.sp that will make those rims new.
Thanks so much
Dena and SHAWN

They left a phone number, which I guess I'll call nearing the end. I'm not really worried about where the bolt screws, but am worried about that visible bend and their lack of a half-decent camera.

I replied with this:

Well, I can see a bend in one of the pictures. Considering taking out a bend is about $60/bend it raises my cost enormously. I can't bid until I get some better pictures. Is it possible for you to send better quality/more detailed pics?

If I can't get a good idea of the bends before the auction ends, I'd buy them locally off Ebay if there aren't any visible bends.

Thanks,
Denton