# DIY Allloy Refurbs



## teeach (Apr 21, 2009)

Just picked up a corsa sxi for my GF, its in a bit of a sorry state at mo.

She just passed her test so not going for anything expensive.

Decided to refurb the alloys myself, although she prob scrape them the first day she drives it lol.

After reading a few diy refurb on various forums i decided to crack on.

All 5 wheels are badly scratched curbed etc.. so decided to refurb them in........... yes you guessed it, white.

Materials cost me about £30 so far.

Going to be doing one wheel at a time so out come the spare.

One wheel in a state














































Time for a dip.(misssus wasnt happy lol)










Let it soak a while then scrub time










OOPS definatly wasnt happy seeing that.

Took it out and dried it, i then used some 500 grade wet and dry to take the top coat off. i then got the ol wire brush attachment on the drill and the dremmel for the tricky spots inside of the wheel.

Once the wheel was free form all grime and dirt etc(sorry no pics i was covered in crap) i went on to applying filler to the gouges and scratches etc...(no pics of this again sorry)

After 2hrs sanding.









went on sanding for another 1hr and it was ready for primer.

i sanded between each layer with 1500 grade wet and dry to eliminate any orange peel effects

primed









second coat of primer










1st coat of paint










Applied 2nd and 3rd coat of paint, then 3 coats of laquer

One refurbed wheel.



















Lets see how long she keeps them this way/last.

Total cost for everything for is around £40 with new valves and balancing on each wheel.


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## s28nhb (Aug 25, 2008)

What a difference :thumb:


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## chris l (Mar 5, 2007)

that looks spot on nice job.


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## Browny_37 (Apr 21, 2009)

Great outcome, but dont think i'd have worked on them in the house lol!


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## patmac (Apr 17, 2009)

Right. the wheels are coming off the wifes A class on saturday.
What filler did you use???????:thumb:


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## Phil23 (Nov 29, 2008)

Great job :thumb:. I'm just about to start on my Pajero wheels. Did you put anything in the water when you had it in the bath?.


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## SBerlyn (Nov 9, 2008)

What a helpful post from a newbie 

Welcome to DW, keep it up!

S


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## little john (Jun 10, 2007)

I wouldnt have got the 3 i have done so far if i had used the bath to clean them never mind sanding and wirebrush work inside. I was sort of expecting an outline of the wheel on the wwood floor by the time we saw the finished product.

I did everything in the back yard used some old tyres as a work bench, 2 of the bins now have silver parts and the wall is a little silver. ok maybe a lot silver. Only another 11 wheels to do I was hopeing brand new wheels wouldnt need touching but dad caught one the other day.


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## Paulrs (Mar 19, 2008)

teeach said:


> Just picked up a corsa sxi for my GF, its in a bit of a sorry state at mo.
> 
> She just passed her test so not going for anything expensive.
> 
> ...


I take it that is £40 in total not per wheel?

Very nice job BTW.

Couldn't quite see my other half allowing me to wash my wheels in the bath  :doublesho 
Cheers

Paulrs


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## Dave Richardson (Feb 3, 2008)

Nice job, such an improvement at little cost.

How did the wifey take to you placing the wheels in the bath though ?

dave :thumb:


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## kbaskim (Apr 18, 2009)

Great turnaround!
I must say it's brave to wash the wheels in the tub.


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## graeme (Jan 7, 2006)

Is that nitromoors or something in the bath is the dip picture? My GF would have promptly drowned me in it if i'd tried this. 

I salute you mate your a brave man

Top job btw:thumb:


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## corsaauto (Jun 2, 2009)

.....how did you get the 'vauxhall emblem' off the centre caps, tried it on mine and they broke into pieces, have to find some new ones now!!
I used matelik from halfords, very easy on the sanding!!
Terry


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## DuncanMon (May 25, 2009)

corsaauto said:


> .....how did you get the 'vauxhall emblem' off the centre caps, tried it on mine and they broke into pieces, have to find some new ones now!!
> I used matelik from halfords, very easy on the sanding!!
> Terry


I'd like to know also. I have the same wheels on my corsa and I'm interested in getting them refurbed and painted or powdercoated. But if I could do them myself it would be a nice project and save some cash.

Although I can't see how it only cost you £40 in total. Also did you have to go down to local wheel place four seperate times to have tyres removed for each one u did?

I'm slighlty worried as I've never sanded before or painted etc (my dads a spray painter so I'd atleast have access to his booth and tools). Sanding worries me though. Do you only sand between primer layers? I'm sure I've seen before that you lightly sand between every layer?

Thanks


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## corsaauto (Jun 2, 2009)

I did own corsa alloys, quite a bit of kerbing but once to start getting into it, it was a nice project!!
As said earlier everything was bought from Halfords. Metalik alloy filler approx 6 quid, set of 800 and 1200 wet and dry, approx 4 quid, two 500ml cans of primer, approx 6 quid a can. Three cans of 500ml lacquer approx 6 quid a can, (still have a spare can). three cans of silver paint, approx 6 quid a can.
Have a go!!


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## corsaauto (Jun 2, 2009)

......add....sorry

If you let all the air out of the tyres you can get the masking tape right up to and under the lip of the alloy.


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## clcollins (Jul 30, 2007)

Great job, they really look the part :thumb: Cleaning in the bath is a bit of a shocker, but I can understand the temptation


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## Scotty B (Jul 1, 2009)

The bath, how are you still breathing. :buffer:

Excellent job, given me some go to get my Focus Ghia alloys done this week. :driver:


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## jack_davey (Aug 13, 2008)

Nice job!

I'm doing a set of clio alloys for my girlfriend at the moment, I may post some pics up, I used a cheap plastic storage box instead of the bath to soak the wheels, that way I could leave them over night. I used megs wheel brightener in a fairly weak concentration, the hardest bit is getting the brake dust of the back of the spokes!

I used upol easy sand body filler, which works fine! Spent a little more than £40 as I opted for an acid etch primer as some parts of the wheel went back to bare metal, I also spent a little extra on laquer and went for 2k laquer as it is a little more hard wearing than the halfords stuff.


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## LJB (Dec 28, 2008)

Great job I really wasnt expecting that:thumb:


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