refinishing pepperpots

[steveinjapan]

Has anyone successfully refinished the original "phone dial" alloys? Mine could be a lot sharper and I'm ready to splash out a bit because the car has cost me nothing this past year. I get no real results from anything I use to clean them, so I suspect it has some kind of original clear coating or anodizing. The car is silver so painting another color really isn't an option.

[old'uns]

had mine Powdercoated last year, Graphite centres, chrome finish lip.
Pretty sure the OEM finish is as came out mould,with the lip polished then Lacquered.
Paint stripper available for the public may not be strong enough? worth a try though?
Shotblast, polish then lacquered.

[steveinjapan]

That sounds nice.... got any photos?

[old'uns]

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/old-uns/Honda%20Beat/WP_000020.jpg

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/old-uns/Honda%20Beat/wheelrefurb2-1.jpg

[steveinjapan]

Those would be wicked with a silver body. Around how much did that set you back in the UK?

[old'uns]

don't honestly know, went in to price wheel refurb & came away with quote to do wheels and paint car!
total was £640 or £660 I think?
I'd guess at £45-50 per corner, remove/replace tyres and balance, Chrome powder whole wheel then mask and do Graphite powder to the 'dials'.
No damage to repair,just slight scuffing to edge which i think were just lightly flatted.

[Steve_M]

I re-finished my wheels myself.

Paint stripper to strip the laquear off the outer rim, then using a combination of a file (for the kerbed bits), wet and dry, wire wool and finally Autosol metal polish.

Then found an aerosol colour that was as closest match to the original colour (e.g. matches the centre cap) I think it was a Ford Storm titanium, I sprayed the centre with that and then laquered the whole wheel and baked in the kitchen oven to dry nice and hard.

The result . . . 2179

[steveinjapan]

Thanks Steve. I used to re-do my Alfa wheels (the famous BMW Polaris Silver) but I'm not about to do it myself now (haven't got a large enough oven for one thing). It's good to know that paint stripper would do the trick. I'm looking around for local shops that can do it.

[Mylee]

Those would be wicked with a silver body.

Sure does ;)

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t174/mylee69/Ebay003.jpg