New Mag Wheel Refurbisher to try ........

[Jamie Summers]

http://tpcs-magnesium-refurbs.co.uk/

Looks like somebody who is likely to know what he's doing being ex-Dymag, and the pricing seems very reasonable at £90 per 17" Mag. Who wants to give him a try .......... ?

 

[RSGulp]

Thanks Jamie. As I'm in the area (kind of) I might pay him a visit once he's up and running.

I've closely followed the progress David B and Jason H have made in finding the optimum way to refurbish magnesium wheels.

It would be interesting to see what process TPCS suggest is best for our mags.

 

[964RS_DAB]

Jamie

my understanding of the organisation you have cited is that they have effectively taken over Dynamag, due to Dynamag encountering trading difficulties.

As Richard mentions in the previous post, Jason aka Wallonia and myself have recently had our wheels refurbed, we used two suppliers

firstly Reality motorworks in Bristol to strip and di-chomate the wheels - the di-chromate is absolutley critical for Magnesium wheels. Reality motorworks are the supplier of choice for Dynamag, in fact Dynamag recommended Reality motorworks to us. The gentleman to speak to is Nick. here's the link

http://www.realitymotorworks.com/

secondly we used Peels motorkraft (recommended by Reality) to perform the final cosmetic preparation (tiny bits of filling etc) and wet painting. Note Reality only offer Powder Coating as a finish, which Jason and me felt may be too 'thick'

Peels link is below - go to the gallery section and then to wheel refurb subsection and you'll see Jason's wheels

http://www.peelsmotorkraft.co.uk/gallery.aspx

The cost varies depending on the state of the wheel and therefore the amount of work required, as a guide £200 per wheel is a good value for budgeting, Peels won't give a firm price until they've seen the wheels.

Both Jason and me were delighted with the results, all 8 wheels are now as good as when they left the factory with all defects restored and the lettering on the rims clearly defined.
Matt Peel is the propritor of Peels Motorkraft
I intended to post some photos of the wheels on to the forum - but haven't got around to it.....
Happy to discuss in more detail if anyone is interested

I hope this helps
cheers
David

 

[Jamie Summers]

David,
Yes TPCS is the new company set up by the ex-production manager at Dymag. I was not aware of potassium di-chromating as an important part of the process, but one would suspect that TPCS ought be aware of that (particularly if it was Dymag who pointed you to Reality Motorworks).

TPCS, as their name suggests also only seem to offer powder coating as a final finish. I do take your point about powder coat being too thick. I had my mags refurbed cheaply three years ago with a powder coat finish which looked ok to start with, though the definition on the lettering was not brilliant. They have not lasted very well, with bubbling and cracking of the finish from very early on. I had thought that the powder coat might be a slightly more resilient finish than paint, but it has proved not to be on the Mags (incidentally a set of ordinary Cup 1s that I had powder coated by the same outfit a couple of years earlier have stood up very well to both road and track use, hence my willingness to let them have a go at the Mags - they did say they knew what they were doing re. magnesium).

It would be very interesting to hear what TPCS have to say about their process versus Reality Motorworks. Rich, if you were going to pop in to see them, perhaps this is something that you could ask them about ? I wonder if they could out-source the di-chromate process to Reality given that the two companies are not situated a million miles apart ???

Overall, I suspect we will find out that you get what you pay for, though I baulk at the prospect of paying £200+ per wheel. Provided TPCS's process is sound (and I would be prepared to give powder coating another go, if the prep work is done right), then £90 per wheel sounds rather more appealing !

Jamie

 

[964RS_DAB]

Jamie

It would surprise me if TCPS are actually sub-contracting the work to Reality. From memory, Reality charged us £60 to strip, crack test, di-chromate, and apply a very fine base primer prior to the paintshop filling and wet painting.

It's feasible that TCPS could get a better price from Reality than we could due to the volumes of business they could offer.

Additionally, I'd be interested to understand whether the £90 includes crack testing and di-chromate, if it does then it's good value, provided your happy with powder coating as a top coat, another short cut may be that the inside of the rim may be left as plain di-chromate or primer in order to reduce costs.

I'm sure there are di-chromate facilities closer to you than Reality in Bristol, I know Creasey Castings in Kent will di-chromate Mag wheels, as they did one of mine when I was experimenting with different processes to get the best and hopefully long lasting finish.

We also experimented with chemical impregnation to prevent porosity within the Magnesium, we used a company called Ultraseal in Slough, but after talking to Steve Turner of Dymag he assured us that Di-chromate was a better solution for a road wheel.

It's quite a mine field when you get in to the detail [&:]
cheers

David

 

[Jamie Summers]

David,
This is the wording from the TCPS website explaining the process. I wonder if the "chemical dip to prevent corrosion" is the di-chromating ? (sorry, not entirely au fait with what that entails ..........). If that is the case, then £90 is very good value ! Steve Turner obviously seems to know about di-chromating, so it might be logical to suggest he would incorporate it into his own process ?????

"A specialist service for magnesium wheels. Consisting of a chemical paint strip, alumina shot blast, dye penetrate crack check, chemical dip to prevent corrosion followed by an electro static powdercoat."

Jamie

 

[RSGulp]

I've sent an email to Steve Turner asking for a lot more detail about the process; whether the chemical dip is di-chromate; crack testing; filling imperfections; priming; whether the powder-coat finish is the entire wheel; whether the lettering will be preserved; etc...

Also asked when I can go to see him in Melksham. If this turns out to be a good one-stop-shop for refinishing our wheels in the correct way (which lasts) then I reckon he'll be getting a fair amount of business from forum members.

I'll report back...

 

[964rsdatabase]

I, for one, am following this thread with interest as I intend to have my mags restored to factory colour now that I am running my BBS split rims. I doubt I will put the mags back on the car for now. More than likely just pack them away for my pension! []

When a satisfactory source is found, it would also be great to add a link from my website.

 

[RSGulp]

ORIGINAL: sapex666

I, for one, am following this thread with interest as I intend to have my mags restored to factory colour now that I am running my BBS split rims. I doubt I will put the mags back on the car for now. More than likely just pack them away for my pension! []

When a satisfactory source is found, it would also be great to add a link from my website.

Which BBS wheels Martin? Any pics?

 

[964rsdatabase]

Not looking their best that day as the M6 was a dirty place! Let me know what you think.

 

[Tony]

ORIGINAL: sapex666

I, for one, am following this thread with interest ....

Me to Martin - car is now on 8 & 9 x 17 NOS Dymags and the originals need refurbing - 1 pair was done a few years ago, powder coated and then extensively hand sanded and painted - the results were excellent but more than £200 per wheel! Now they are showing 'cobwebbing' under the paint.

Is a group deal a possibility?

Tony

 

[964RS_DAB]

apparently the di-chromate prevents the 'cob-webbing' effect - although only time will tell, I had a wheel refinished by Diamond Styling a few years and the cob web started to appear after 6 months []

if you decide to go TPCS route it may best to let them do one wheel initially to see how good the finish is, if the powder is too thick or the wrong colour then you've only wasted £90

regarding paint colour - we struggled to find a paint manufacturer who supplied L61M which is alledgedly the correct colour, according to manufacturers' records L61 is green [:'(], in the end we went with Titanium silver which is a BMW colour - code 354. The colour match to Porsche OEM wheel centres is perfect []

 

[RSGulp]

Re: 964RS Magnesiums...

I sent an email to Steve Turner asking the questions.
I didn't get a reply.
I called him and he said he hadn't seen the email, but then remembered it as I talked through it.
I resent the email and asked him to reply to it, at his convenience, with answers to my questions.
I have yet to receive a reply.

This isn't looking too promising. Which is a shame as I told him how many of us owners are potential customers.

Maybe as a brand new company he's so confident in a successful future he doesn't need our business?! []

 

[Jamie Summers]

Just reviving a very old thread........

I have bitten the bullet and had my mags refurbished by Steve Turner at TPCS, and I have to say I have been very pleased with the experience and the results.
Steve was great to deal with and sent me regular updates and pictures via email as the process progressed. The wheels were stripped, blasted, crack tested, chromate treated and hot powder-coated, and shipped back to me for £395 all-in. Steve was unhappy with the finish on one of the front wheel lips which had some pin-holes in the powder coat which he could not correct, despite re-doing the wheel, so he gave me a 50% discount on that wheel, which I felt was more than reasonable, and the blemish on the lip is pretty insignificant.
These wheels, as others' experience will testify, are extremely difficult to refurb well, and I'm pleased with the results achieved. The one slight area of question is the colour. Steve only has one silver powder coat colour and it is a relatively dull (as in opposite of bright) silver with quite a high metallic fleck content. I have not been able to compare against factory finish, but I think a trained eye would spot the difference. That said I do actually rather like the colour, with the metallic fleck adding an interesting twist. Any imperfections are not filled as these areas tend to fail and blister, so there is the odd nick inside the wheel barrels, which I feel is acceptable.
The finish itself has a very slight texture to it - not totally glass smooth, but not unpleasantly or worryingly so - may be a consequence of the metallic finish. The lettering on the rim is still very sharp and legible (in fact more so than the previous refurb I had had done) - I know is an area of concern for those considering powder coating. The contact pads where the wheel touches the hub were left free of powder coat, and the wheels were beautifully packaged for shipping - really good attention to detail.
Overall this was a very good experience. As a one stop shop, where the magnesium is treated properly, with excellent, prompt service, at a very reasonable price, I would be happy to recommend Steve. Clearly time will tell how the finish stands up, but I have every confidence it will be 100 times better than the previous refurb I had.
Here are some pics.......

1.) after blasting

 

[Jamie Summers]

2.) Crack testing

 

[Jamie Summers]

3.) Finished article

 

[Laurence Gibbs]

Wow i am really impressed with David's fastidious attempt at finding a decent finish. Jamie they look pretty good from the photos and the price is fairly appealing. Had mine done a few years back powder coated black. they bubbled up only very slightly after about six months but have not worsened since. I couldn't recommend the firm given the slight bubbling, which is good as i can't remember who they were now anyway[]Mind you they have been off the car since fitting C4 996 wheels a few years ago.