Alloy Cleaning

TheBoyArmitage

A2OC Donor
Hi Guys,
Not long had my A2, in the process of restoring it to its former glory. Any advice/tips on what to use to get the alloys back to a decent state!
As you can see, the alloys need a good clean up, ChipsAway quoted me £55 PER alloy, just wondering if there is anything on the market people have tried, tested and impressed with?

317483_4744528487403_138232579_n.jpg

Thanks in advance

Carl
 
I will try a kit from Amazon on my winter alloys as soon as they can come off and the kit arrives.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Alloy-Wheel-Repair-Kit-wheels/dp/B004FEHN1Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1366800974&sr=8-1&keywords=audi+alloy+repair+kit

Hopefully it works well. I think it is just a fiddly and time consuming job. I am doing it for the experience but would probably pay £55 as the damage is only to two of my wheels and I fear it will take a long time. The reviews I have read of the kit have been positive but often say that there is not enough of the alcohol swabs to clean the surface with. I guess this is not too bad when you consider that you can easily buy preparatory wipes in Halfords.
 
I've always used Autoglym on the products, and found the Alloy Wheel cleaner great, use the spray, let it settle for a bit then rub with a good touch sponge. Pressure wash to get the last bits off and your all good.

Best results have been as a result of taking the wheel off!
 
Most of the alloy cleaner sprays work well. If it is just cleaning bringing the wheels inside and cleaning them with a chemical spray, then warm water and a brush works well.
The amount dust and grime on the inside of the wheels is amazing.
 
I use Autosmart G101. And Autosmart Tardis to get tar spots off. Also heard very good reviews on Bilberry wheel cleaner and Car-Pro Iron-x. The later is quite expensive though!

And I always wax my wheels afterwashing with Collinite 915
 
looks like at least the front alloy is scratched. If it is £55 per alloy, you might as well get it properly refub'ed for not much more money, it'll be a strip and full respray rather than any attempt at local damage repair.
 

I have bought and used this kit and outside of basic first aid repair for kerb grazing its pretty useless and will unfortunately result in a no more than amateur finish regardless of how painstakingly you work on the job. In addition; its really a one time only repair kit as the chemicals in the 3 solution containers ( filler/primer/basecoat and lacquer) quickly become too thick to work with ( yes, I suppose you could add the relavent solvent to dilute)

Having used the stuff for a while I decided that I was better living with the inevitable damage that occurs on our 17" wheels and then get them properly refurbed every couple of winters now I have a second set of wheels to put on the car.

The repair kit linked here effectively makes any defects 'stick out like a sore thumb' !!
 
I will have a go on a couple of horrible scratches on my winter wheels. If the result looks awful I still have time to consider what to do before they need to go back on.
Up here the cost of having any work done is so much higher than in the UK it is more worthwhile to give these things a go!
I guess the best move would be to use the filler and base coat and then some rubbing compound to work the whole surface and then new spray lacquer over the whole wheel?

John
 
I should also have stated, 'been there, done that' with the DIY. The filler be it UV harden type or normal harden type isn't a big deal. Just that UV type you need SUN light. The worse part is the sanding, because to get a good finish you need the filled surface to be level and you have to over fill it to make sure there isn't tiny gaps. The sort of gaps you will notice when you're looking at it real close but not noticeable at a distance nor videos on youtube. Then you need to slightly over do the sanding down to get that seamless filled repair. And it is difficult if the scuff is at the rim edge. Once you're done, then you already have an area quite a bit bigger than the original damage. I didn't get a DIY kit, I bought the proper Audi Avus Silver spray can with lacquer from dealer. I could not get an exact colour match. The shading and the metallic pattern just don't match. Then you're left with a choice to spray the whole wheel and re lacquer or have a patch of silver of a different shade.

The time it took me was far more expensive (you'd have to work out how much you value your own spare time) than what the pros charge, some of them are mobile and even come to your place!
 
Good points from humps. Would just add that the amazon kit we've been linking to is as much use as a chocolate teapot (I've had one!).

Have heard that Autoglym's alloy wheel silver paint is very good quality, so going to try that next. Also in that video they don't apply any lacquer, which is a bit strange. I'm going to see what kind of finish I can achieve with decent kit on one wheel; will report back either way - at any rate it's 10x cheaper than what I've been quoted for professionally!
 
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Have heard that Autoglym's alloy wheel silver paint is very good quality,...

I can't tell the quality of the paint, but the most important part, cosmetically, is matching colour. To save time and effort, I advise take a small piece of card board, spray with the primer and then coat with the paint from the kit. Then take it to the wheel and see if the colour match before doing all the filler and sanding.
 
Just bought these A2 hub center caps from a scrapyard. Cheap, but they look terrible.....
Any tips to restore them? :D
Thanks!

1.JPG
 
Paul (Depronman) turned them on a lathe and skimmed the rings I believe to resurface them. I think he’s on holybags but I’m sure it’ll be on here somewhere. Looked good afterwards.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
I do indeed offer a refurb service for these 16" centre caps
Its quite time consuming, I made a jig to hold them on the lathe, so I can get them spinning and refinish the alloy outer ring. This is then finished with progressively finer wet and dry and finally scottchbrite
Then before the aluminium as a chance to oxidise I apply 4 coats of 2K lacquer
The finish on the outer ring is more brushed steel than the original mirror aluminium finish, but when all four are done it look great again a silver or gun metal grey alloy wheel
The cost is £10 per centre cap, doing 4 takes me over 5 hours, plus postage at cost, normally £3.00 royal mail 2nd class

Cheers,
Paul
 
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