# Corroded alloys - can they be permanently 'refurbished'?



## Joe the Plumber (Sep 4, 2012)

My eight year old car has alloy wheels that are in reasonable-ish condition, but they have all suffered from corrosion on the inner faces and behind the spokes which has lifted some of the paint.

My engineering training included two years of HNC level metallurgy at college, and that has made me very wary of having the wheels "refurbished" in case the corrosion is simply covered up and soon returns.

With this in mind, can the corrosion in alloy wheels really be successfully and permanently removed, or would I be better off saving the money needed to have them refurbished, and trying to find a brand new set of wheels to keep in perfect condition using the usual products instead.

The car will be hibernating at the first sign of salty roads incidentally.

Thanks for any advice.

Joe.


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## Liverpool-Lad (Jun 27, 2006)

The corrosion is basically in between the alloy and the paint. For a proper repair, they need to be acid dipped back to bare alloy and worked on from there.


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## james_death (Aug 9, 2010)

Your free to have a bash sanding back yourself but as stated a full bare metal strip and re-coat would be the best.


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## Joe the Plumber (Sep 4, 2012)

Thanks chaps. That will permanently sort them out then?

Any recommendations please for somewhere in the Leicester area that does such work?

Thanks again.


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## mjn (May 16, 2011)

Yes, as long as all corrision has been removed with the acid dip, they should be fine.


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## gavlar1200 (Nov 25, 2011)

I've just bought some bbs alloys, they could do with a refurb. I'm going to buy a blasting kit and give it a whirl myself.


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## Gizmo68 (Mar 27, 2008)

As previously said they need to be either acid dipped or sand / shot blasted, both will strip the alloy back to new alloy, the only thing neither of these will do though is remove any pitting if the corrosion was _really_ bad, this would require metal filler - most wheels are not that bad mind.

You could try City Powdercoating in Birmingham

They will chemically strip, shot blast the wheels, powder coat them and then lacquer them for just £20 per wheel!

I had a set done by them a couple of years ago and whilst there were slight issues with the lacquer on the inside of the wheels, they were still fine 2 years later when I sold them.


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## xJay1337 (Jul 20, 2012)

Basically powdercoating will "permanently" fix your wheels.


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## Joe the Plumber (Sep 4, 2012)

Thanks very much folks. I don't mind travelling, but does anyone know of anywhere in Leicester or nearby that could do them before I go further afield please?

I don't fancy the DIY option I'm afraid.

Thanks again.

Joe.


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## mechrepairs (Aug 11, 2008)

Joe the Plumber said:


> Thanks chaps. That will permanently sort them out then?
> 
> Any recommendations please for somewhere in the Leicester area that does such work?
> 
> Thanks again.


If you get them over to me also in Leicester I can get them done for you, have wheels in stock for you to look at.

Carl


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## Joe the Plumber (Sep 4, 2012)

Thank you. Do you do them yourself?


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## Joe the Plumber (Sep 4, 2012)

Any further recommendations for this please?

Thanks,

Joe.


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## Joe the Plumber (Sep 4, 2012)

In the absence of any further suggestions, I've now got the wheels booked in for the full works at the Perfection Group in Whetstone, Leics, so I'll let you know how I get on.


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## Victor_Broom (Nov 8, 2012)

Joe the Plumber said:


> In the absence of any further suggestions, I've now got the wheels booked in for the full works at the Perfection Group in Whetstone, Leics, so I'll let you know how I get on.


Hi Joe the Plumber - Did you get your wheels done? I am looking for somewhere in the East Midlands, so will be interested on the results.

Thanks


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## Joe the Plumber (Sep 4, 2012)

I've just been to see them and they look absolutely superb, effectively as new, so I can highly recommend the firm. They've been very professional all round, and having dropped them off last Saturday, the wheels were actually ready on Tuesday, although I couldn't get there until today.

I'm having all new tyres fitted on them and didn't manage to arrange to get them there from Camskills in time to collect the wheels today (my fault - too much work this week), but Perfection are going to fit them for me free of charge when they arrive next week, which I think is great service once again.

I've paid £90 per wheel for stripping, acid dipping, blasting, powder coating and lacquering (and removing the tyres & fitting the new ones of course). The finish is guaranteed for a year. I appreciate this seems quite pricy, but having seen a set of wheels last week that had been 'refurbished' by another firm for £50 each and still had terrible corrosion on them, I'm happy to pay for the quality of the job.

Details of the firm are here:

http://www.perfectiongroup.net/


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## mjn (May 16, 2011)

Wow, £90 a wheel is pretty steep!

I know some places start at £20 per wheel, and most places are ~£50 per wheel, but never heard of anywhere but main dealers charging £90!

You'll have to post some pics when you collect


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## Joe the Plumber (Sep 4, 2012)

I'll try to post some photos at the end of next week. I wish I'd taken a few 'before' ones now, but didn't think at the time I'm afraid.

It was seeing the grotty job someone else got for £50 that made me think it was worth paying the extra, and so far, I'm very pleased with the outcome.


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## Victor_Broom (Nov 8, 2012)

Thanks for the report Joe the Plumber. I'll perhaps wait for some pics first, if you get a chance.


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## Joe the Plumber (Sep 4, 2012)

Will do. As I say, I'll try for the end of next week, work permitting.

Feel free to remind me if nothing appears please!

Best wishes,

Joe.


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## Joe the Plumber (Sep 4, 2012)

Sorry for the delay. Here, at last, are some (rather poor I'm afraid) photos of the wheels.

I'm generally still very pleased with them. There were only two slight problems.

Firstly, they had left some odd bits of the blasting media in a few of the recesses at the back of the wheel centres next to the stud holes, and powder coated over it. These bits are hidden against the hub face so it wouldn't have had any effect, but I didn't want it to remain there. I've removed it and painted some black Smoothright onto the exposed areas.

Secondly, before fitting the tyres, they had stored them on a smooth bare concrete floor, inner edge down, which meant they were a bit scratched when I went to collect them. The boss apologised and asked me leave them with them to sort out.

He called me to come back again a few hours later and this was all sorted, no excuses from them, and I'm very certain no-one else will have the same issue in future (the boss was obviously quite cross with the chap who'd left them there!)

So overall, the finish they've achieved is superb and I'd be happy to use them in future. I just wish my photography was better, but I hope you can get an idea of the results.


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## mjn (May 16, 2011)

My winter alloys are black, and the trouble you'll have is the fact they make your tyres look grey!

Not matter how much tyres shine you use, it doesn't last long!


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## kk1966 (Aug 8, 2007)

mjn said:


> My winter alloys are black, and the trouble you'll have is the fact they make your tyres look grey!
> 
> Not matter how much tyres shine you use, it doesn't last long!


Ive just taken my Vitara off SORN ready for the weather to turn and decided i'd do the wheels in a nice gloss black 2k paint..dressed the tyres and looked great...a week later and theyre the greyest tyres ever...with shiny wheels...not quite what i had in mind...


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## Joe the Plumber (Sep 4, 2012)

My wheels were gloss black when I bought the car (gold originally of course) but they were corroding and scratched to blazes, so that's why I had them restored.

I'd not thought about the tyres appearing grey to be honest, but I still like the way it looks.


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## mjn (May 16, 2011)

How grey are your tyres looking compared to your excellent gloss black alloys?


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## Dannbodge (Sep 26, 2010)

I refurbed my corroded alloys last year and they are okay still. As long as the corrosion was removed and they were properly painted or sealed in some way they should be fine


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