Mongo

Ok my message box is crammed with messages of how to do it. So, I'm just going to type the steps out since I can't make a webpage because f*cking Homestead.com wants my money in order to make one so here they are, Enjoy!

Refinishing Phonedial Wheels:

Required Materials:

- Industrial strength quality degreaser/cleaner or a good quality wheel cleaner. I reccommend Meguiar's Hot Rims. For final degrease before painting, I used Simple Green full strength and scrubbed with scotch brite pads and rinsed thoroughly with water.

- Paint and clearcoat (Wurth Reccommended but I used Duplicolor wheel paint and clear coat and they turned out PERFECT!) NOTE: 2 cans of paint and 2 cans of clear should be enough to do all 4 wheels.

- 400 Grit and 600 Grit sandpaper.

- Bondo or JB Weld filler/putty (this is to fill any deep indentations or curbrash.

- Masking tape for tires and valve stems. Yes! I did mask and the paint turned out as if I took the whole tire and stem off to paint. You just have to take your time and mask every single part of the tire and stem you don't want overspray on!

NOTE! Severely damaged rims will have to have professional refinishing if the metal surface is marred too deeply. I reccommend wheelsamerica.com

Steps:

1) Wash wheel and tire with water and degreaser. Use Scotch Brite pads to remove ALL brake dust on wheel and tire so that the masking tape will stick properly as well as the paint. Be sure to wash the back of the wheel too and try and get as clean as possible.

2) Fill any grooves are mild mars with Bondo or JB weld. Allow the indicated time on the bonding chemicals to dry properly before sanding and primering those areas properly.

3) Start wet sanding with 400 grit sand paper. I reccommend using a sanding block on the bondoed areas so that you can smoothen those areas out more properly to make the paint less wavy. Sand the whole wheel down to primer. Use 600 grit to smoothen the primer out again. Be sure to sand lightly so you don't remove the primer off the wheel and damage the coating.

4) Do a final degrease and clean on the wheel with either Simple Green or an industrial strength cleaner that is diluted. Dry with a soft, low-lint or lint free towel.

5) Masking is the second tedious part to this project. If you have your tires and valve stems completely off, disregard this step and continue on to next step. If the tape doesn't stick to the tire, use rubbing alcohol on it to get the tape to hold and stick better. When masking the valve stem, be EXTREMELY careful not to mask the rim around it. This could lead to chipping later on, you need to get as close as you can. If you overspray a little on the base of the valvestem, don't worry since it won't chip when its pulled, unless the guys working on your tires are idiots or are careless like at Discount Tire company.

6) Ok now to paint! When you paint, be sure to hold the can far away enough to get a nice even spray. (about 6-8") Spray evenly to avoid and clumped or wavy areas. Do about 3 coats and read the paint can when to apply the paint after a certain amount of time when it gets tacky.

Troubleshooting paint bumps or flakiness: I used U-POL paint prior to Duplicolor and I had a rough finish on the wheels. This wasn't bad prep work but bad paint. There was too much texture on the wheels so I had to completely redo them. Be sure to find out about the paint first before you buy the can and make the same mistake I did.

7) Shooting the clearcoat requires good observation and precision. Be sure not to overshooot the wheel and make the clear wavy also. Thick amounts of clear may require color sanding (WHICH YOU DON'T WANT TO DO ON A METALLIC FINISH BECAUSE IT WILL REMOVE FLAKE!!!) Shoot about 2-3 layers of clear coat smoothly and evenly and let the wheels dry and cure completely before putting them back on the car. This should be about 1-2 days depending on type of clear and paint.

8) Mount and show off your blingers!!! =)

NOTE: You may not have fingerprints after your done sanding unless you wore gloves when you do it. Enjoy your smooth fingers!!!! muhahaha!

I hope this clears up any confusion and questions! Enjoy and GOOD LUCK!

Andy

tcmdocs944

Total cost for 4 wheels and time?

How long did you wait before driving?

Mongo

2 days according to what I put up there...

Andy

Chris_924s

IIRC When I refinished my PD's it was about 30 bucks total (I used a Krylon heavy duty metallic) and took about 8 hours. I also handpainted the centercaps, so that added another 4 hours or so overall.

Serge944

Thanks! I guess ill have something to do after i prep my car for paint, afterall.

zehnd

Great thread!

A suggestion for masking if you don't remove the tire.

Let the air out of the tire and tuck 1" tape in between the rim of the wheel and the tire, then tape newpaper to the tape to protect the rest of the tire.

Chris_924s

EXACTLY what I did!!!

tcmdocs944

Any ideas on building up deeper scratches?

Will the bondo filler work or does it need to be body solder or something?

Mongo

If you aren't experienced in filling deep grooves, I wouldn't reccommend doing it. Take it to a professional.

Andy

tcmdocs944

That takes all the fun out of it...

Worst case scenario I the fill pops off and I have to redo it.


Nice write-up.

Mongo

thanks. I feel that I haven't been contributing enough to the forums and posting mostly non-sense topics. I hope this will help shed light on wheel-refinishing. I'll also talk to Skip at Paragon Products to post this up at www.techsession.com

Andy

tcmdocs944

I will shoot some pics when I redo mine and send them your way if you want. I am going to do both my cookies and boxters.

Chris's Loss

...and i painted the lug nuts...

See guys...include the little women your lives and she doesn't nearly as grumpy! Keep her happy and she'll keep you happy!

ErichCS

Thanks Andy - That was a great post! I am about to begin this process myself with the Wurth Paint i purchased. I was debating using the aircraft remover and the wurth self etching primer...What are peoples thoughts on that? Is that better than sanding?

Thanks!
Erich

Eyal 951

i dunno of many women that are enthusiastic about painting lugnuts and using rennlist. Chris got lucky.
~Eyal