16" SE Wheels and centre cap refurb

depronman

A2OC Donor
I have over the weekend refurbished a set of 16" SE alloys and centre caps
Firstly pushed the tyres of the rims beads, but left tyres on the rim.
Sanded all the scuffs and marks out of the rims, primed with etch primer, then 4 coats of 2 pack high build primer, left to dry overnight and a good wet sanding with 1000 grit wet or dry used wet.
Final application of stopper in the few remaining marks and one more coat of high build primer, final wet sanding with 1000 grit.
Then applied 2 coats of 2 pack 'gun metal grey', this is a satin finish and does not require lacquer
The rear of the alloys were also rub down and etch primed and given a coat of high build 2 pack primer, then a couple of coats of gun metal grey, final gun metal grey top coat was then applied to the front face of the alloys

I use a Badger airbrush to apply all of the primers and top coats, I find this great for wheels as it allows you to apply the paint into all of the nooks and crevasses

The centre caps were mounted in my lathe via a 4 jaw chuck and the lacquer and corrosion removed from the outer ring using a scrapper aka wood turning
This quickly removed all of the old lacquer and a small amount of the aluminium until the corrosion was removed, then a polish up using a few grades of scotchbrite and finishing with 1000 and then finally 2000 grit wet'ed with metal polish. having the centre cap spinning at 1300rpm certainly made the job a lot easier, only took about 10 mins per centre cap
The polished caps were then given three coats of 2 pack lacquer

The finished product (wheels and centre caps) looks very good and are likely to be my winter set assuming I get on with the 17" alloys that I have bought from A2steve

Total cost was zero as I already had the gun metal grey top coat (from a previous A2 15" wheel refurb, 1lt of 2 pack does a LOT of wheels) and the lacquer and primer was left over from the pumper and skirt repaint
A2 #1.jpga2 #2.jpgA2 #3.jpgA2 #4.jpg
Cheers all,
 
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You are more than welcome to send your wheels for a refurb Pinky

I am just doing a set of 17" 9 spokes at the moment, if I like the ride of the 17" then the 16" may well be forsale

Cheers,
 
You are more than generous.

Be careful - people may take you up on such offers...

I've got to strip my TT alloys - the bead face was in much worse condition than hoped and I can't get a seal on one of them.

I've also got a tiny mark from a scrape which I'll fix at the same time - the painted surface did well. I was expecting a chunk out but it's only a tiny nick.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
You are more than welcome to send your wheels for a refurb Pinky

I am just doing a set of 17" 9 spokes at the moment, if I like the ride of the 17" then the 16" may well be forsale

Cheers,

I think the ride on 17's is ok, assuming you don't have the sport suspension, plus going up a step on tyre profile helps (and corrects the speedo).
 
I think the ride on 17's is ok, assuming you don't have the sport suspension, plus going up a step on tyre profile helps (and corrects the speedo).


I've just put the wifes 17" 9 spokes on my TDI expecting a trip to the dentist. No need as I'm guessing it was the sport suspension on her FSI that didn't play nice with the 17s. Will still likely go to 45 profile for the new tyres though they're overdue a refurb first.
 
Can I send you my centre caps please?

I have Gun metal wheels as well

Firstly apologies as I have only just seen your post, not sure how I managed to mis it

If you still want your centre caps refurbishing then send them to me and I will turn them around as quickly as I can
I have sent you a PM
Cheers,
 
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