So, I got some 6-spokes from NASIOC, and wasn't very happy with the condition they arrived in. A little too much curbage for my taste. Here they are, all washed down. Tough to see all the rash and small nicks with the pic resized for the forum, but each wheel had some sort of damage around the lip. Finish sanded down with 240 grit, filler material beginning to be applied. Beginning to fill the only real 'flattened' spot on one of the lips. Other than this it's all light scuffing with nothing real deep. More initial filling... Here is 3 wheels after final prep and a wash.. ready to be cleaned with thinner, then primed. Some stuff is still visible around the lip but you can't feel it. Should be all covered by paint. So, I primed after this, and wet-sanded the primer with 1000 grit. Last coat of prime... And they're done. Overall I'm pretty happy. It's hard to find anything wrong, you really have to look to spot blemishes. They're on! The contrast in shades of grey is a bit different, but I like it a lot. Thanks Mike for the group buy, mounting these, and the good times checking out your shop!
FYI That filler on the lip of the wheel may get chipped out while getting the tires mounted... Jus make sure that the tech that is mounting them knows that you have that on there so they are more cautious. Looks great. Was the 240 grit to abrasive at all or did you use any other grits? Looking at refinishing my STI BBS Wondering how to go about it. Great post.
looks good so far. what color are you going to paint them? I say duplicolor universal gold (same as mine )
Luckily the only place where the filler is really 'built up' is the one flattened lip I showed, and even there it's not all that thick. All the rest of the nicks I filled in were very, very light. Also, LegacyPGT is mounting the Nokians on these, so I'm sure he'll be careful! :biggrin: I removed the large chunks of filler and generally smoothed it with 240. Then I switched to 400 and hit everything again.
^ Mike did a good job mounting the wheels on my 6spokes. didnt even scratch the paint. these are great wheels for winter. super easy to get the snow out (reason i got them)
Nice, I'm rockin the RS 6 spokes with winter tires on my legacy. Probably not going to put in the time to do any filler on the wheels, but I plan on painting them bronze in the next week or so.
I'm going with duplicolor's gunmetal color. I don't care for gold on Steel Gray, I think it might look a bit goofy. IMO of course.
in all honesty- with wheel paint the prep isn't that important at all imo I've been refinishing sets of mercedes, bmw, and audi wheels and reselling them on ebay and elsewhere quite consistently for a while (a set or two every season when i have free time). I generally just sand with 120 grit everywhere (it is important to make sure to remove all the stock paint), and then go ahead and spray 2 thin coats followed by a slightly thicker coat. followed by no clear or anything, just let them dry. total time=2 hrs for a set of wheels I like the work your doing, not taking away from it etc.- just want to help you to avoid any extra work etc. ooh- i've also run wheels i've refinished that way on my C43 show car with both good durability and show success
^ I just roughed mine up with the sand paper. however I did 2 coats of paint and 2 of clear. IMO the clear helps the durability. there are fairly minimal chips on mine after driving on gravel and other not paint friendly surfaces.
Duplicolor sandable primer (red), Duplicolor "Color-match" Gunmetal, and a Duplicolor acrylic clear coat. Steps were Prep (lol 1 step) 2 coats primer wet-sand 1 coat primer 2 light color coats 1 medium final color 2 light clear coats 1 medium heavy clear coat
I'm probably gonna do this to my winter wheels, I've done a set before, but do you really need the primer?? The duplicolor I've used is specific for wheels and they said you didn't need it.
IIRC, aluminum has an oil in it. It is recommended that you use an 'acid etch' type primer made for aluminum. That gives you a super strong base to apply any paint.
have you done this before using that primer? i would be a bit reluctant to use that primer for this application due to heat.
wheels I finished mine during the same painting adventure. The same technique with Bondo, primer and sanding. Several coats of Einszett Silver Silber Spray Paint and then several coats of Wurth European Blend Lacquer Spray Paint Clear Gloss. Trying to get as close to OEM as possible and I'm happy with the results.
