# Diy alloy respray longevity?



## Franzpan (Mar 2, 2009)

Thinking of refurbing my alloys mysellf using rattle cans. Happy enough doing all the prep and spraying, I'm just worried about the longevity of the paintjob. Who has done thier own allloys and how long are they holding up?


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## marc147 (Nov 21, 2011)

I sprayed my own alloys, the durability is rather good, sprayed mine last year, they lasted through the winter and up till about a couple weeks ago, i gave them a little touch up, and thats without lacquer


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## putzie (Mar 19, 2012)

i did some brabus alloys a few months back that had corrosion like nothing you have ever seen before about 80% of the wheels , i ended up spraying them with hammerite silver smooth for less hassel and they are fine ,clean easily but the finish is a bit unusual , they came out a sort of silver/grey matt finish like the stealth look . not to everyones taste but certainly better than they was before i started


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## Franzpan (Mar 2, 2009)

putzie said:


> i did some brabus alloys a few months back that had corrosion like nothing you have ever seen before about 80% of the wheels , i ended up spraying them with hammerite silver smooth for less hassel and they are fine ,clean easily but the finish is a bit unusual , they came out a sort of silver/grey matt finish like the stealth look . not to everyones taste but certainly better than they was before i started


That sounds interesting. Could you post a pic please? Was thinking of doing mine grey :thumb:


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## Yarde (May 3, 2011)

Franzpan said:


> Thinking of refurbing my alloys mysellf using rattle cans. Happy enough doing all the prep and spraying, I'm just worried about the longevity of the paintjob. Who has done thier own allloys and how long are they holding up?


Longevity of the paint job depends on the quality of the paint job.

Clag on one thick layer of paint and its gonna be crap and deserves to fall off at even the slightest touch.

But, if you prepare the wheels properly, sanding down, priming, sanding inbetween coats of primer and paint, then lacquer properly, there's no reason why they shouldn't last a good long while.

When you're spraying, remind to use THIN layers, and slowly build up the colour. Whenever I spray anything, my first coat of colour over the top of primer barely leaves a dusting of colour, and then I build up from there.

I don't know whether that's right or not, but its always worked for everything I've sprayed before.


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## kasman (Sep 10, 2009)

Good prep work is a big part of any repair work lasting TBH:thumb:


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## xJay1337 (Jul 20, 2012)

I diy'ed my Winters last year and they lasted well enough. I did it properly though, used a machine sander with 200 then 800 grit and then hand gritted to 1200 (due to the heavy pitting as they were proper abused when I got them).

Given 3-4 base coats of colour and then 3 coats of laquer, with halfords rattle cans.










Tyres were being replaced with winters anyway.

A few scuffs around the lip where the tyre shop couldn't fit the tyres properly but..










(Above was in december).

These are the pics of them for sale after using them from November to March.


















And as they were winters I only ever cleaned them with wonder wheels.. absolutely fine.


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## streaky (Dec 2, 2006)

^^ Thats quite encouraging how well yours are looking after a winter of use.


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## DJ X-Ray (Sep 2, 2012)

If it's bare ally you want to get some Etch Primer for them,and go on from there


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## putzie (Mar 19, 2012)

Dj.X-Ray said:


> If it's bare ally you want to get some Etch Primer for them,and go on from there


yes , thats why i went for the hammerite approach , only needing one can of paint for 4 wheels , the easy route


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## Franzpan (Mar 2, 2009)

Thanks for the replies guys, everything seems encouraging so I think I'll go for it. Its more a colour change than a refurb as only one alloy has a minor kerb mark. I think I'll try and strip them right down as they have been refurbed once already when I bought the car from the dealer. The refurb wasn't great (runs everywhere) so I refused the car until they redid them, so there is a lot of paint on them. Infact the paint is so thick that when I kerbed it it didn't go through to bare metal lol!

Think I'll gather my supplies now, ready to start when the weather warms up a bit. Everywhere is so damp here atm, even the inside walls of my garage.


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## Hoovie (Sep 3, 2008)

xJay1337 said:


> I diy'ed my Winters last year and they lasted well enough. I did it properly though, used a machine sander with 200 then 800 grit and then hand gritted to 1200 (due to the heavy pitting as they were proper abused when I got them).
> 
> Given 3-4 base coats of colour and then 3 coats of laquer, with halfords rattle cans.
> 
> ...


Have to say, I LOVE that colour. Looks fantastic. Want to do something with Black and Orange combination on my Van wheels, but not sure yet what yet


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## Hoovie (Sep 3, 2008)

Yarde said:


> .....
> When you're spraying, remind to use THIN layers, and slowly build up the colour. Whenever I spray anything, my first coat of colour over the top of primer barely leaves a dusting of colour, and then I build up from there.
> 
> I don't know whether that's right or not, but its always worked for everything I've sprayed before.


Think that is spot on advice :thumb:
With wheels, I do an initial 'dust coat' and then lay on the colour coat in a methodical way, not to thick and use a hot air gun to dry off each coat before applying the next until the coverage is nice and consistent 

FWIW, Homebase sell a good digital hot air gun for £30 which you can dial in the temp you want in graduations of 10c between 50c and 650c, so help avoid boiling the paint whilst still getting the repair time down


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