# advice on wheel refurb



## sean20 (Jan 17, 2011)

Hi all iv been giving my x5 wheels for the van a referb and change of colour.

Im quite confident at painting (self taught) after colour coding my van, numerous sets of wheels and the odd few panels and bumpers.

All was going well intill it came to the Lacquer stage, first of all doing the rear of the first wheel it was quite spitty and rough so i put it down to me using my smaller gun, grabbed my normal size gun with the 1.4mm tip and started fine but every now and again it would go spitty but very fine, could that be down to the gun not being thoroughly clean?

To rectify the issue can i flat back the lacquer and then give it another couple of coats or am i best giving another few coats of colour and then lacquer?

before lacquer







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Lacquered 







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Many thanks


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## Sicskate (Oct 3, 2012)

Just scotch them up, do a few drop coats of base and lacquer them again. 

But make sure the current paint is solid. 

Otherwise, I've heard you can re lacquer them straight over what you have within 24 hours of painting, but this would depend if you added any rocket??


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## Sutty 90 (Aug 24, 2014)

Personally I would wet flat the lacquer with P800s, that should remove the spits/inclusions etc and key it up nicely. If you go through the lacquer don't worry. I would then repeat the basecoat as before and then lacquer. 

The spitting could be due to a number of things such as the gun being dirty, too lower pressure for lacquer or even the wrong tip size on the gun. Before you lacquer the wheels practice on somthing else first like a spray out card. It could be trial and error to work out what your problem is! 

Sutty.


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## asasprey (Feb 26, 2008)

Most likely down to a blocked up fluid tip. Do a quick strip of the gun and air line all of the holes out thoroughly. I had a similar problem when I used a upol 2k lacquer. I think I had used too much hardener and it had gone slightly off by the time I came to use it. Just make sure that your lacquer is thinned down, with wheels it's always a good idea to thin slightly more than recommended so maybe 15% is about what I use, prevents runs too, but should also flow a bit better. As above, use 600 or 800 grit and respray the basecoat. If you can get hold of a soft back sanding sponge, use that instead. All the best


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## Scoobycarl (Aug 13, 2011)

if you go through to basecoat be carefull re basecoating as it can crinkle/react if put on wet


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## sean20 (Jan 17, 2011)

thanks for the help guys it could possibly of been ta dirty gun so i then fully stripped the guns and thoroughly cleaned them.

In the end i flattened down the clear but then i wasn't 100% happy with the rears and few small bits on the front, 
i then decided to go to my local paint supplier and see bout getting the colour matched up however he couldn't match the identical colour but got it quite close so i then went about giving them another 2 coats of colour and then lacquer.
I started with the rears, gave them 2 coats of colour then moved on to the fronts, i painted the first on and moved on to the second one and half way through i could see that the paint on the first one was reacting and giving a crinkle effect and i decided to stop.
However all of the rears are fine with no reaction but the fronts of the two wheels that i had started painting has reacted.

On the plus note i painted the rear panel on my van today in 2k and all is fine


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## Sicskate (Oct 3, 2012)

Maybe you would be better off stripping the wheels all the way back with thinners and starting again.


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## sean20 (Jan 17, 2011)

that was my exact thought so hopefully get them stripped tomorrow and prim them monday evening.

If i decided to do the rear of the wheels a different colour like gunmetal and the faces purple would i paint the rears first and lacquer, leave them 24 hours, mask up the rears and paint the fronts purple, unmask the rears and then lacquer the fronts?


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## Andy-P (Jun 1, 2014)

Is there not something called a barcoat or something like that, which can be sprayed over prior to base coat which stops crinkling?


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## Sutty 90 (Aug 24, 2014)

As said above bar coat is a good product to apply over paint that's reacting. I've used it on a set of wheels that were badly done in 1k and cracked everywhere. After it was applied the new coats went on like it was a new wheel. Other than that taking it back to bare metal is your only real choice to avoid any further reactions with your paint. I hate it when that happens!

As for the two separate colours just treat them like 2 different jobs as you said. Usually you will find a lip/ridge behind the spokes that you can mask a straight line to. This should make the transition of colour easier to work with.

Sutty.


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## sean20 (Jan 17, 2011)

Thanks for the grate advice Sutty, im going to go down the stripping right back route and made a start on one today, il spend the evenings this week stripping and prepping them ready to paint on the weekend when iv got more time.

There is two lines/ridges about a inch apart just behind the spokes so il use the furthest line.
Would this be the correct way for when it comes to the painting stages,
paint backs with the gun metal and then lacquer,
24 hours later mask to the line and mask off all the rears,
paint the fronts purple
demask the rears to allow the lacquer to blow past the previous masked line
lacquer the fronts

From a professional point am i best using a small gun or a normal size gun baring in mind their 19inch wheels


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## Sutty 90 (Aug 24, 2014)

Personally I'd just paint them as two separate jobs. It dosent matter which way round you do it. Don't let it blow in the back as you will just end up with rough overspray on your nice newly painted inner wheel. When both parts are painted just give the lacquer edge a rub with a compound to take the edge off and help it blend together. I'd always use a small gun as it's better to apply less than more. You can always give it another coat if it needs it but can't take a coat off! Out of interest why are you painting then different colours?

Sutty.


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## sean20 (Jan 17, 2011)

Thanks again Sutty,

from the start i wanted to do 2 tone but with rears and side of spokes gray and then fronts of the spokes purple but i didn't feel im up to that standard of technique yet so now thought of doing it this way and with the wheels beeing 19 inch 9j fronts, 10j rears and with the rears of the wheels being so visible i thought that the grey would brake them up abit and show the depth of the wheels.

Another reason is that i have no means of hanging the wheels to paint and easiest way im finding to do them is laying them down to do the rears and then spinning them over t do the fronts, or im having a friend to support them as i stand them on edge.


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## Sutty 90 (Aug 24, 2014)

Sounds good, not a fan of all the masking involved in painting two tone especially on wheels that big! Not got the patients it sets my nerves on edge lol I'm looking forward to seeing the finished wheels back on the car!

If you lie them face down just make sure they are on somthing soft, you don't want to mark them.

Sutty.


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## Scoobycarl (Aug 13, 2011)

Why dont you base first colour allow to fully dry then mask that off - do the other colour then clear the wheel in one ? (Sorry if you have explained this already )


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## sean20 (Jan 17, 2011)

i did think bout doing it that way but with me having to lay down the wheels flat i think it would be easier doing it the way we have discussed,
yes the wheels will be on something soft when i lay fem face down to do the rears


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## sean20 (Jan 17, 2011)

well im pleased to say the wheels are all done and im very happy with the outcome.
i went with sea gray for the insides then 2 coats of glitter silver base on the fronts followed by 3 coats of candy purple and then lacquered

Big thank you for all he help and advice it was very much appreciated







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## Sicskate (Oct 3, 2012)

They look funky 

What car are they going on?

They'd look good on a t4 van, or something similar.


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## Scoobycarl (Aug 13, 2011)

Looking good mate !


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## dubber (Oct 2, 2011)

Good job there mate.


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## Sutty 90 (Aug 24, 2014)

Nice job mate they look top! Glad to be of help to you 

Sutty.


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## sean20 (Jan 17, 2011)

thanks guys their going on my Renault traffic.

Had many headaches and many times thought bout giving up but payed off in the end


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## Sutty 90 (Aug 24, 2014)

Remember this pain and you will be driving everywhere like your taking your first new born home for the first time! Now make sure you steer clear of pot holes and don't kerb them!

Sutty.


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