# Accord Epsilons v Lepsons Refurb



## -Simon-

Hi Guys,

Thought I'd share some shots of my newly refurbed 17" alloys...

Well I've been wanting to sort the wheels on the 2004 tourer for some time and had spoken to Andy Leppenwell of Lepsons Gillingham a year ago, but funds have been too tight until now. The original finish on the Accord is diamond cut and lacquered, this was an option for the refurb, and in fact I saw one awaiting collection and it looked great. However, as the Accord is our daily driver I wanted something much more durable and on advice went for full powder coating in a bright silver. As you will see the results look great.

Before shots show curb damage, and a common problem on these wheels, alloy corrosion. In addition the lacquer has been damaged by acid based cleaners (learnt my lesson now!):





































The refurb process starts with 24hrs in an acid bath to strip off all the old lacquer, and its then on to the bench for a full check over for any serious damage, and then to repair any kerb damage.

The wheels are then primed, painted, lacquered and baked giving a much more durable finish than the OEM version.

After a quick acid bath:




























Lepson technican laying on some primer:



















Into the oven:










Silver base coat on:










Lacquer on:





































Tyres back on for sneak peaks:



















Its then onto QC to ensure the perfect finish, and in my case over to Shane in Lepsons Tyres for new boots. After all you wouldn't want to hand your newly refurbed wheels to just anyone...Shane takes extra care to ensure that the wheels don't suffer any damage during the fitting of new tyres, and replacing on the car. He also gave me plenty of time to add a few costs of Poorboys wheel sealant before the wheels went back on.

For those who prefer to leave the car at Lepsons, there is secure storage and the option of a courtesy car, although I was lucky enough to have a full spare set of wheels so this was not necessary.

In short I am delighted with the results, and would highly recommend the guys a Lepsons for a top notch job, but would of course be interested in your comments

Some shots on the car to follow....Just waiting on the centre caps which are also being refurbed...


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## -Kev-

looking great simon :thumb:
going to speak to them about the wheels on my new car..


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## S63

Just had my Mondeo alloys refurbed at Lepsons, impressive set up and quite surprised at the scale of the operation. They refurb up to 700 rims a week! with 25 staff I guess they need that kind of business, All the guys (and ladies in reception) that I met were extremely friendly and the guy in the tyre unit unusually honest in telling me not to change my rubber just yet, with a bit of mileage left in them.

At £81 per corner it isn't cheap but such is the quality I feel its a good investment.


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## Fish

I had a set of 18's done a couple of years back, and they are still looking like new... When I wash them anyway. 

Fish


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## jay_bmw

It looks like theyre plain silver post refurb then once the tyres are on they look Diamond cut again? or have i skim read & missed something :lol:

Cracking Job though


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## uruk hai

Having visited Lepsons on a few occasions I have nothing but the highest praise for the work they do and I don't just mean wheel refurbishing. A friend of mine took his set of 18 inch BBS's to Lepsons to try and sort out the buckles in them and the job they did was amazing, after previously spinning them up on a wheel balancer he thought they were beyond it !

I had a wheel refurbished by them some how the tyre went missing; I believe someone who is a regular took my tyre purely by mistake so I came home without the wheel ! They fitted a new tyre and had the wheel delivered to me, ten minutes after receiving the wheel I had a phone call from Lepsons apologising for the mix up and asking me if I was happy with everything !

I can’t recommend them enough and I’ll be back up there this year to get a few more wheels done !


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## Fish

Jay, I think thats just shadows. The pictures are of different wheels at the primer stages though.

Fish


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## -Simon-

jay_bmw said:


> It looks like they're plain silver post refurb then once the tyres are on they look Diamond cut again? or have i skim read & missed something :lol:
> 
> Cracking Job though


Hi,

Sorry for delayed reply, been away for a couple of days....

Yep def powder coating by a bright sparkle, agree the photo's slightly misleading....

I sent back the centre caps yesterday, as they are also slightly corroded and the guys agreed to spray Bright Sparkle Silver for me. Hope the get them back for the weekend, so will add some shots on the car.

Thanks

Simon


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## Matt197

They look fantastic, they have done a very good job.

And sorry to hijack your thread, but does anyone know if they wet paint as well? I would like mine to have the OEM paint colour back on them and I take it that would not be possible with powder coating.


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## WHIZZER

They look great - I am going to get our Toerags done


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## gally

Dose not suprise me one bit. They're easily the best wheel refurbisher i've ever seen and even better than factory finish. 

I've no idea how they do it, I work as an assessor in a very good bodyshop but the job they do is simply immense.


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## Fish

Matt197, might be an idea to give them a call to find out about the wet painting.

Fish


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## -Simon-

Matt197 said:


> They look fantastic, they have done a very good job.
> 
> And sorry to hijack your thread, but does anyone know if they wet paint as well? I would like mine to have the OEM paint colour back on them and I take it that would not be possible with powder coating.


Call & ask for Chris I'm sure he'll be able to help you :thumb:


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## -Simon-

Hi Guys,

Well the centre caps came back from Chris with a coat of the bright silver sparkle so I thought I'd post some shots back on the car:




























Really pleased with the result, totally transformed the car


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## CraigQQ

my uncle had his 20's refurbed at lepsons recently.. I just c5'd them and they will be on the car after I detail it this week.. 

top notch work from lepsons indeed.. not a single blemish on the wheels.


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## alfajim

i'm a great believer of you only getting what you pay for. and what you've paid for and got, is a top job. :thumb:


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## nfenner88081

I use Lepsons all the the time and i would say they are by far the best alloy wheel refurbishment shop i have ever used. Spit and polish in tonbridge used to be the nuts however i have found their work to nowhere as good as Lepsons. They do everything from vauxhall nova alloys to Lambo's and Bentleys. Well worth the £££ and they will collect and deliver in a 3day window.


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## adlem

Beautiful finish on them and the centre caps look the piece as well!

Excuse my ignorance - is the gillingham one the one KDS use? As I'm wanting to speak to them on the detailing fools day about mine and that's handy I could leave the car there too as I don't have any other wheels.

Are your wheels 17's? Just wondered as my dad has 18's in a similar finish to your originals and you said they were able to refurb to the original finish? Was this much more than a 'standard refurb'

Thanks :thumb:


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## -Simon-

adlem said:


> Beautiful finish on them and the centre caps look the piece as well!
> 
> Excuse my ignorance - is the gillingham one the one KDS use? As I'm wanting to speak to them on the detailing fools day about mine and that's handy I could leave the car there too as I don't have any other wheels.
> 
> Are your wheels 17's? Just wondered as my dad has 18's in a similar finish to your originals and you said they were able to refurb to the original finish? Was this much more than a 'standard refurb'
> 
> Thanks :thumb:


Yep, Gillingham, same site as KDS.

Wheels are 17's.

Diamond cut is a little more expensive and not as durable hence we went for the powder coating.


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## Fish

I think the last time I looked, you could hire some wheels.

Fish


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## -Simon-

Fish said:


> I think the last time I looked, you could hire some wheels.
> 
> Fish


Not through Lepsons to my knowledge, I bought a spare set for £100-00, will prob get this set refurbed and fitted with some all season tyres....


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## CraigQQ

out of interest, does anyone know the price of diamond cut refurbs from lepsons?
I know my uncles were £150 a wheel but they are split rims, which are normally more expensive than diamond cut.


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## adlem

-Simon- said:


> Yep, Gillingham, same site as KDS.
> 
> Wheels are 17's.
> 
> Diamond cut is a little more expensive and not as durable hence we went for the powder coating.


Thanks for that, just wondered as my Dad needs one sorting on his VW Transporter albeit 18". I'll speak to the guys down at the KDS meet when I'm there :thumb:


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## -Simon-

CraigQQ said:


> out of interest, does anyone know the price of diamond cut refurbs from lepsons?
> I know my uncles were £150 a wheel but they are split rims, which are normally more expensive than diamond cut.


Split rims can be powder coated or diamond cut, the extra your uncle paid was because they were split, the diamond cut doesn't add that much onto the cost tbh. Call Chris on Monday....


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## -Simon-

*arghhh!!!!!*

Local garage took motor for MOT yesterday, thought would be fine as warned them twice that just had wheels refurbed and to be careful.

Guess what, went to check car after dropped back and front wheel damaged :devil: To be fair its only light but bad enough that the wheel will need to be refurbed again. It is possible they didn't notice when it happened, but why can't people be more careful?

Cost of MOT £54-00 about same as refurb excluding hassle of dropping wheel back, garage closed early on Saturday, and as I have yet to pay their invoice I'm hoping I won't have any issues on Monday when I give them the bad news.


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## -Simon-

re refurbed :thumb:


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## Guest

looking great fella:thumb:

Glad you got a result from the garage.

Jamie S


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## Trip tdi

They look very nice, nice shine to them, and design as well.


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## alfa_holic

Used Lepsons for a few years, ranging from simple refurb to complex buckle repair, welding and split rims. I don't say this very often but they are IMHO the best refurbers in the business


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## mjn

Had a couple of sets done by Lepsons, fantastic job they done.

My MV2's in brilliant white, and some Golf 4motion alloys in............."Katie Price Pink"

They belong on my GF's black Golf GTI!


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## Fish

Well it will be a long time before I use the outfit again! I had some wheels done by them, but found a fault with one, so arranged for it to go back. Came back after a 'patch repair' which meant over-spray/powder, so dropped it back again. 3rd time lucky I was thinking.... WRONG! Paint/Powder runs all over the wheel although it does now have full coverage. Now you would think that if a customer has returned a product twice before you'd pay extra attention to get it fully resolved. FAIL!

So 5 trips at 70 miles and they dropped the wheel back on their van once, and that was when it was in the area. I do however receive a voucher for a single wheel refurb should I have any issues! That wont be used until hell freezes over.

I did deal with the owner of the company on the second attempt, as an initial email was ignored and phone calls not past on/returned. The only good point with this company is Chris who deals with customers when taking wheels in and giving them back. I'd buy that man a beer any day.

Fish


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## -Simon-

Fish said:


> Well it will be a long time before I use the outfit again! I had some wheels done by them, but found a fault with one, so arranged for it to go back. Came back after a 'patch repair' which meant over-spray/powder, so dropped it back again. 3rd time lucky I was thinking.... WRONG! Paint/Powder runs all over the wheel although it does now have full coverage. Now you would think that if a customer has returned a product twice before you'd pay extra attention to get it fully resolved. FAIL!
> 
> So 5 trips at 70 miles and they dropped the wheel back on their van once, and that was when it was in the area. I do however receive a voucher for a single wheel refurb should I have any issues! That wont be used until hell freezes over.
> 
> I did deal with the owner of the company on the second attempt, as an initial email was ignored and phone calls not past on/returned. The only good point with this company is Chris who deals with customers when taking wheels in and giving them back. I'd buy that man a beer any day.
> 
> Fish


Sorry to hear this buddy, I am aware of others who have had issues....Guess you pays your money and take your chances  Have to say my experiences have always been good, and I have to agree Chris is a real asset to them.. I think the best advice I can give is to make your expectations clear at the outset, and if these are not met let the trader know the reason why straight away.

Sorry again to here this news.....


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## Fish

The sad thing is they managed (somehow!) to get the other 3 wheels spot on and 5 of the 7 spokes on this wheel also spot on! 

Fish


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## -Simon-

Fish said:


> The sad thing is they managed (somehow!) to get the other 3 wheels spot on and 5 of the 7 spokes on this wheel also spot on!
> 
> Fish


Really frustrating...if they offered a detailers gold service with a higher QC standard then they could really clean up...as stated previously whoever you use the key is to set out your requirements at the start and only proceed if you are confident they can meet your standards....tbh I think this is applicable to every occasion when services are engaged...


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## SirFozzalot

Generally only hear good things about Lepsons, although I've heard one guy that wasn't 100% happy with the overall finish, particularly around the stud holes.

I guess it's like most businesses, there will always be off days I suppose, can't please all the people all the time  Somehow it generally seems to be my stuff that they have an off day on!


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## evobaz

Anyone know if Lepsons do refurbs through the post? I've just bought another set of wheels for the Evo and fancy having them done white. I'm in Scotland though so dont fancy travelling down/back.


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## mjn

evobaz said:


> Anyone know if Lepsons do refurbs through the post? I've just bought another set of wheels for the Evo and fancy having them done white. I'm in Scotland though so dont fancy travelling down/back.


They sure do


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## Gizmo68

Fish, glad it's not just me then 

They refurbed a 6 month old OE wheel for me (it fell over face down whilst being waxed  )
The finish was pretty poor TBH, one area was patchy (darker) and there were several silicone spots ('fish eye's') and a bit of crap in the finish. apparently my "expectations were too high" WTF! all I wanted was it returning to an OE finish! 

After thinking I may of had a painter on an off day I gave them a second chance on SWMBO's TT wheels - BIG mistake, one of them also came back patchy (the other 3 were OK) seems the painter has quite a few 'off days'

This is certainly not the finish I expect from those who are meant to be the best in the business. 
The problem I face now is who to use next time? 
Annoying when you have to do an 85 mile round trip to get 2nd class work done


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## Fish

You pay a premium with them and still get a 75% job IMHO. Lots will not agree, but how can you manage you get 3 wheels spot on and most of the last wheel good. I have now got 4 paint run's/over powder on the front and a couple on the insides (don’t mind as I cant see them). As I have said though they have one asset and that it Chris the guy at the front line who has to deal with the customers.

It will be a cold day in hell before I go back and pay the extra for their part shoddy services!

Fish


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## MadOnVaux!

I had all 4 of my Kahn wheels done through Lepsons a couple of years ago, as they needed refurbing and also 3 needed straightening....I was very happy with the finish when i got them back, they looked better than new....but since then all the paint is flaking off the inside lip in big chunks, which will eventually lead to the bead leaking air 

Also i sent two parcels with two wheels and tyres in each, but only got one back and when i phoned Lepsons to enquire what had happened, they told me it had been delivered back to them!!! so what did they do, send it out with their address on???


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