Alloy Wheel Refurbishment - Warrington Area
- Thread starter Skipton01
- Start date
Vorsprung durch Technik
A2OC Donor
Thanks for going to the trouble they do look superb! I had a look at the prices and the £20 is a limited offer with tyres already removed so if anyone wants that price get in quick otherwise it's £30 if you take your wheels to them with tyres on. Even £30 is a bargain. Wishing this had surfaced when refurb prices were last discussed. Anyway glad to know now.
Dal
A2OC Donor
I don't think the £20 is a limited offer really - it's been on for at least 4 years.. lol
It's good if you want to change tyres whilst doing a refurb: Get new tyres cheap from Camskill or similar - take them with the alloys and they'll come back complete for £30 a wheel. It could cost you £10 - £15 a wheel just to get the tyres mounted and balanced!
It's good if you want to change tyres whilst doing a refurb: Get new tyres cheap from Camskill or similar - take them with the alloys and they'll come back complete for £30 a wheel. It could cost you £10 - £15 a wheel just to get the tyres mounted and balanced!
andrewparkeruk
A2OC Donor
I'm off to Birmingham tomorrow; I'm sorry now that I don't have any wheels which need refurbing!
Andrew
Andrew
Cloth Ears
A2OC Donor
Ive just had a quote from a mobile alloy wheel repair specialist. He quoted £40 a wheel which I didn't think was bad...... perhaps another option to consider.
I don't have a spare set of wheels, and the car is my daily driver. So I'm not in a position to take the wheels in for a full refurb and, in any event, they're mostly cosmetic scrubs and scrapes, nothing requiring much work, I don't think. So I'm also looking out for a mobile specialist who can come to my house, do the car in the day, and depart.
As always, personal recommendations are worth a ton of Googling. As with the OP, I'm close to Manchester so does anybody have any good experiences of a mobile wheel specialist who serves the Greater Manchester/ North Cheshire areas?
Thanks,
Steve
andrewparkeruk
A2OC Donor
Sorry Steve, I cannot recommend a mobile company. The reason I had mine refurbished was corrosion on the 12 year old rim (nsf) causing my tyre to lose pressure. I would be wary of spending £40 a wheel for a cosmetic job if your wheels are original.
Andrew
Andrew
66Beetle
A2OC Donor
Top Wheels Lancaster. top-wheels.co.uk
Someone on here asked to see photos of what my Azure Blue 1.4 SE looked like with the Genuine Audi 15” Steel Winter Wheels on. I would post photos if I knew how. Put them on the A2 today due to the weather forecast. They’ve got 165 65 15 Vredestein Snowtracs on by the way.
Someone on here asked to see photos of what my Azure Blue 1.4 SE looked like with the Genuine Audi 15” Steel Winter Wheels on. I would post photos if I knew how. Put them on the A2 today due to the weather forecast. They’ve got 165 65 15 Vredestein Snowtracs on by the way.
Birchall
Dick Chown Award 2016
To post a picture just click on the icon at the top of your reply that looks like a landscape picture in a frame. Then click on the window that opens, browse to your picture on your laptop a click on it. As long as it is smaller than 2 Meg it will appear on your reply.
Steve B
drewroberts
A2OC Donor
No that’s stalactites ?Don't troglodytes hang around in caves?
Steve B
66Beetle
A2OC Donor
damadgeruk
A2OC Donor
Have fun! I have been loving driving in snow recently due to the (185/60R15)fulda kristall montero 3 winter tyres it's wearing.
Only problem is getting stuck behind vehicles stranded on summer tyres.
66Beetle
A2OC Donor
Yes. I know the feeling ! Don’t know why fitting Winter Tyres is not compulsory in the UK, as it is in much of Europe. Using Winter Tyres really is a no brainier, if you want to keep moving ! Far as I know you must fit them in Germany when the weather warrants it. In Austria they must be fitted by a certain date in the Autumn. In Switzerland you do not have to fit Winter Tyres but you get Fined if you hold the traffic up because you have not fitted them ?
QUOTE="damadgeruk, post: 304182, member: 3602"]Have fun! I have been loving driving in snow recently due to the (185/60R15)fulda kristall montero 3 winter tyres it's wearing. Only problem is getting stuck behind vehicles stranded on summer tyres.[/QUOTE]
YesY
QUOTE="damadgeruk, post: 304182, member: 3602"]Have fun! I have been loving driving in snow recently due to the (185/60R15)fulda kristall montero 3 winter tyres it's wearing.
Only problem is getting stuck behind vehicles stranded on summer tyres.[/QUOTE]YesY
PeterS
Member
That’s a good price
I had mine done at ChipsAway - I left the car with them and they were done within the day. It was £57 a whee, though. I have used them before for diamond cuts wheels on the A3; that took longer but they did an amazing job so I thought better the devil you know
66Beetle
A2OC Donor
Collected my 16” SE Alloys back from Top Wheels Lancaster today. Really good job. £170 + VAT for 4 full bare metal refurbs, including removing tyres, re fitting, valve and balance with stick on weights. Just don’t want to put them back on the A2 with the tatty original centre caps. Sure I saw someone selling sets of 4 new centre caps on eBay for about £32. Typically I can’t find them again. Any ideas please ?
depronman
A2OC Donor
I offer a centre cap refub for the 16” 6 spoke
Involves removing the old lacquer polishing and applying 3 coats of 2 pack lacquer
£10 per centre cap if interested
They come out slightly more like steel than chrome on the ally ring
Timmus was well pleased with a set I did for him
Would not match original so suggest only doing either 2 or 4
Cheers Paul
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
66Beetle
A2OC Donor
Thank you for the offer. Top Wheels can do them, and I pass there every time I go to work. I finally took the Steel Winter Wheels off and put the newly refurbished 16” SE Alloys back on today. They look really great. Better than new even !
So chuffed I’m going to get the ‘66 Beetle Wheels Powder coated there now. I have to get them blasted back to bare metal first. Seems they can not Acid Bath Steel Wheels to strip them like they do with the Alloys. Not compatible with Steel.
This is a brief account of my experience of my professional wheel refurbishment. In two minds whether I should write it as there is no real conclusion but it might offer something, thought it more a “duty” to report here in what has become the current wheel refurbishment thread.
After a recommendation higher up the thread I used
https://www.citywheelrefurbishment.co.uk/
The price attracted me, £20 for a bare wheel (£30 with tyre)!!!, too good to be true?? Well yes and no, read on.
The place itself is tucked away in the back streets of central Birmingham, not a place I would like to visit after dark on my own. I enquired if they offer a courier service and the answer was no which means wheels have to be dropped off and collected. In my case my son lives in central Birmingham, so combined with his visit to see his mum and my visit to him to see the grandchildren the transport of the wheels was effectively “free”. This is a big element to consider with using them, even living an hour’s drive away means 4 hours driving over two half days and the cost of petrol.
The place itself is a typical grubby cavernous (high roof) industrial unit a bit bigger than the size of a tennis court, it must be an icebox in winter. Do not expect customer comfort but there is a small electric fire on the service counter in reception! (I guess more to keep the member of staff from freezing) and the place where you dump you wheels, in fact my son who dropped mine off said reception was packed with an estimated 50 wheels which you negotiate your way round, but it was a Saturday morning, peak time I imagine. On the late Thursday morning I collected mine probably half a dozen wheel sets piled up. There is a small amount of customer parking out front.
I have no reason to not believe they do what they say, acid bath, sand blast and paint finish, but how do they do it for £20 a wheel? Several combined factors I think.
First if you want powder coating there is a limited choice on colour, for example they do three generic silvers from which you choose or as in my case as I was not there I agreed they would select what they thought was nearest. I have ended up with a bright sparkly silver I quite like. You can have OEM colours but this is spray paint and costs more.
Second a high turnover has to be a big factor. I asked and they do in the order of 500 wheels a week.
Third and this is the critical one, going off my wheels, do not expect a high quality finish (see below) but I suppose I could just have been unlucky.
Fourth, other factors that keep overheads down, if you can read between the lines above and under this factor I must mention they do not accept plastic for payment, expect to pay in cash - just that sort of place.
Anyway, my previously very tatty wheels.
As I said a sparkly finish.
However every wheel has cosmetic flaws - grit or no filling of defects.
They are not as bad as the camera makes out.
The Conclusion:
Am I happy at £80?, the answer has to be yes, excellent value for money.
Would I recommend them?
Yes, if you are not too fussy and want a massive upgrade on your tatty wheels.
No, if you want a top notch finish.
Would I use them again? Yes, but the old adage 'you pay for what you get' comes to mind.
Andy
After a recommendation higher up the thread I used
https://www.citywheelrefurbishment.co.uk/
The price attracted me, £20 for a bare wheel (£30 with tyre)!!!, too good to be true?? Well yes and no, read on.
The place itself is tucked away in the back streets of central Birmingham, not a place I would like to visit after dark on my own. I enquired if they offer a courier service and the answer was no which means wheels have to be dropped off and collected. In my case my son lives in central Birmingham, so combined with his visit to see his mum and my visit to him to see the grandchildren the transport of the wheels was effectively “free”. This is a big element to consider with using them, even living an hour’s drive away means 4 hours driving over two half days and the cost of petrol.
The place itself is a typical grubby cavernous (high roof) industrial unit a bit bigger than the size of a tennis court, it must be an icebox in winter. Do not expect customer comfort but there is a small electric fire on the service counter in reception! (I guess more to keep the member of staff from freezing) and the place where you dump you wheels, in fact my son who dropped mine off said reception was packed with an estimated 50 wheels which you negotiate your way round, but it was a Saturday morning, peak time I imagine. On the late Thursday morning I collected mine probably half a dozen wheel sets piled up. There is a small amount of customer parking out front.
I have no reason to not believe they do what they say, acid bath, sand blast and paint finish, but how do they do it for £20 a wheel? Several combined factors I think.
First if you want powder coating there is a limited choice on colour, for example they do three generic silvers from which you choose or as in my case as I was not there I agreed they would select what they thought was nearest. I have ended up with a bright sparkly silver I quite like. You can have OEM colours but this is spray paint and costs more.
Second a high turnover has to be a big factor. I asked and they do in the order of 500 wheels a week.
Third and this is the critical one, going off my wheels, do not expect a high quality finish (see below) but I suppose I could just have been unlucky.
Fourth, other factors that keep overheads down, if you can read between the lines above and under this factor I must mention they do not accept plastic for payment, expect to pay in cash - just that sort of place.
Anyway, my previously very tatty wheels.
As I said a sparkly finish.
However every wheel has cosmetic flaws - grit or no filling of defects.
They are not as bad as the camera makes out.
The Conclusion:
Am I happy at £80?, the answer has to be yes, excellent value for money.
Would I recommend them?
Yes, if you are not too fussy and want a massive upgrade on your tatty wheels.
No, if you want a top notch finish.
Would I use them again? Yes, but the old adage 'you pay for what you get' comes to mind.
Andy
Last edited:
I used a place in Widnes, National Alloys, just down the road from me in Warrington a few years back (cough, cough, nearly a decade ago now...) Mike, when I had my RS Clio 172's wheels refurbed. Couldn't fault them, were a decent price too. Still there, seem to get mixed reviews on Google, however.