Got new alloys - DIY painting advice needed!

[dirtydirtyharry]

Hi guys,

I recently purschsed a new set of alloys for my 944. I got them refurbed and powdercoated at a local alloy wheel place the other day in gloss black. However since doing so I wish that I had got a polished lip/silver lip around the outside. They sort of look a bit 'plain' being just black if you get my drift.

I thought about posting a photo of the wheels how they currently look but would rather do so when they are finished so you get the full effect!! []

It has got me wondering if I could achieve the desired effect by spraying the outer lip myself

i.e,

• Wet and dry the outer lip to take the shine of the lacquor away,
• Prime,
• Spray silver
• Re-lacquor using rattle cans)
  

Q1) Would priming and then painting on top of the current powdercoating work?
Q2) Would it 'last' providing I put sufficient lacquor ontop?


I have searched all over the net but the advice is always to strip down the current alloy by sandblasting etc prior to re-priming. Would this still be necessary if the wheel has only just been painted professionally and therefore should stay strong for a fair period of time?

Any advice would be HUGELY appreciated. I have a week off work and im getting 'itchy' fingers! []

Cheers

neil.

 

[dirtydirtyharry]

Cheers for the reply Scotty. You may be right. Im just VERY undecided. My 944 already has porsche script down the side btw. I just feel it looks a bit 'dull' with plain black alloys. It looks quite 'mean' though. Hmmm, not sure.

I did not want to, but im going to post a pic of how the wheels look right now (before centre caps). I also done a photoshop with a polished lip.

I would be very greatful for an opinion as to whether I just leave them all black or have a go at doing a silver lip myself.

Cheers!



OR



Cheers.

 

[Hilux]

Get them diamond cut.

 

[Suffolk944]

For me they certainly look better with the silver rim. As for doing it yourself 'fraid I don't know if your proposed method will have the desired effect. [&:]

 

[dirtydirtyharry]

ORIGINAL: Hilux

Get them diamond cut.

But can you get the lip diamond cut while leaving the rest 'as is'? Would it not cause the edge of the black paint to start to lift away?

 

[Peter Empson]

I really like the look of both, the all black looks very mean (and will cover up brake dust really well too []).

 

[edh]

ORIGINAL: Peter Empson

I really like the look of both, the all black looks very mean (and will cover up brake dust really well too []).

Unfortunately not - brake dust doesn't look black on black wheels, although maybe a matt finish would help.

I like the all black - but maybe with a simple porsche script rather than the stripe? The silver rim picture would also look loads better without the stripe IMO

 

[sawood12]

On a red car I think the all black wheels look better if you can see a bit of disc and red caliper behind the wheel - like the 968CS at the top of the thread. Yours look nice all black as they are, but you loose the detail of the wheel. With the cup 1's being quite a basic and un-fussy design they can carry the look off more successfully I think.

Powder Coating works by encapsulating the component in the plastic coating. If you have an edge then it wont be long until moisture starts getting underneath the coating and it starts to lift an peel. Just think of all those old kids climbing frames where the tubes are powder coated and the coating starts to peel where the holes have been drilled or formed where the frame is bolted together. If you want a polished rim you need to have the wheels painted i'm afraid. You could paint around the rim with Silver paint or another colour, but that might not get the look you're after.

 

[Peter Empson]

ORIGINAL: edh

ORIGINAL: Peter Empson

I really like the look of both, the all black looks very mean (and will cover up brake dust really well too []).

Unfortunately not - brake dust doesn't look black on black wheels, although maybe a matt finish would help.

I suppose the wheels on my S are a sligthly off black, but they hide dust really well. I cleaned the wheels for the first time in about 3 months on Sunday, made a right mess of the drive but the wheels looked the same, just a little shinier afterwards []

 

[Pastry]

as an alternative there was a guy on the tipec site (frog944) who used some rim tape on his black wheels;

post here; http://forums.tipec.net/viewtopic.php?t=2601

Breaks up the solid black.

I think a painted silver lip will look like an attempt at a polished lip, I also think it would be hard to get 100% accurate. I'd just get it professionally machine cut if you're set on it, seen it advertised for £30 a corner but i didnt look that hard for cheaper prices.

 

[Mike_Pollock]

When I was playing with colours for mine I did "silver" spray the rims on a couple over the top of the black and they looked pretty good.
However getting an even colour with the metallic silver in a can was not easy and polishing was definately better.
I certainly would not try spraying the newly redone rims and I agree that diamond cutting them would look good, but only for a short period!
I like the idea of the rim tape, red possibly or could try white.
Mike

 

[Peter Empson]

Easy way to polish the rims []

 

[ChasR]

Problem with polishing your rims is that you would need to clean them every week (a rinse down every week to get the brake dust and grime off), in addition to having a set of winter wheels. A friend of mine has 928 S wheels polished on his Golf VR6 which have stayed in great shape for over a year. Plus they show kerbing less if you are a bit of a lousy parker. But he does use the stock VW wheels during winter time for obvious reasons.

I was looking to buy that 944 in the pics with the wheels instead of my S2. In the flesh I have to admit that the wheels did actually look very smart and were done pretty well (they were in a well finished Satin Black). I am not sure if he refurbed the wheels himself but he did put the stripe on himself with an old motorcycle technique.

 

[mik_ok]

ORIGINAL: Peter Empson

Easy way to polish the rims []

I've used a similar technique to clean up brake discs when I was a poor student...... [8D]

 

[vitesse]

Neil,
Powder coating just happens to be a coloured polyester powder paint applied with an electrostatic spraygun system and melted onto the substrate in an oven.Subsequent touch up of damage is normally done either using liquid enamel paint(normal alkyd type say like the Humbrol model makers paint) but to the same RAL or British Standard colour,or aerosol spray cans of the same colour.
The method you outline is perfectly sensible,flatting the lacquer to get a surface profile so the new spraypaint sticks & then a protective coat of clear lacquer.
If you use one of the better silver alloy wheel paints,you should get a good result-circular masking is the only tricky item.

Comma do a very effective wheel paint can.

 

[dirtydirtyharry]

Thanks so much for the replies guys.

It has given me some more food for thought. I will spend today racking it all over in my brain!

One of the suggestions was that removing the transfers may improve the look of the wheels. I did another couple of photoshops. I apologise for being a pain but opinions as to whether removing the transfers makes either rim look better would be much appreciated.

Transfers and all black wheels



Transfers and silver rims



No transfers and black rims



No transfers and silver rims



The niggle with removing the transfers in that it will make the colour discrepancy around the rear wheel arches look more apparent. []

 

[dirtydirtyharry]

Like this Scotty?

I also tried a red centre cap to see if that looked ok.







Cheers again fellas

 

[John Sims]

Obviously fingers are cheap in Croatia.

I particularly like the application of edge tools. You imagine if you caught a spoke, you could be wearing a file in the middle of your chest.

 

[Hilux]

But can you get the lip diamond cut while leaving the rest 'as is'? Would it not cause the edge of the black paint to start to lift away?

Yup and Nope. Many refurbished wheels are powder coated so the internals are a colour and then the top surface is taken off with a diamond cutter leaving a precise edge.