Alloy Rims on Ebay

[smashcat]

Saw these rims on eBay:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/252253238409

They look very corroded but are they too far gone to be refurbished? I love the retro style of them and the price is ok but I worry that they may have become porous and brittle. Opinions?

Rob

[PETROLHEAD]

Hi Rob

Ive refurbished worse than that in the past, and currently have some in process that are far worse than those.


Its more work but rewarding, eventually!

[Kegsti66]

Hi Rob,
I saw those as well.
As Shrew says, it is possible to bring them back.
This is what mine looked like.

[Veesix75]

I had some very similar on a sud in 1986. The make was 100+ same as those on eBay.

I'd give them a go for the price.

[Kegsti66]

I had some like that on my first Alfa 33.
They were white and I colour coded them. I bought them as a cheap clearance sale from an FSO dealer who was selling unsold stock.

[PETROLHEAD]

Those Cosmic's look easy in comparison to the 100+ Keith, the heavy corrosion leaves rather large pits that will need addressing for a decent finish, but it is still more than possible, and i agree that for say £100 for them, i'd give them a go for sure.

Trust me, I'm a Doctor!

[Kegsti66]

Agreed mate.
Would you polish or coat them. Or is it both ?

[PETROLHEAD]

They would have to be powder coated in my opinion, time after time, layer after layer with sanding and smoothing in between, so that the corrosion pitting fills in to the point of flush.

Then they can be either further coated with powder or wet paint to achieve the desired finish and colour. Its hard work and expensive because iot uses so much product, but its thorough and good quality, and avoids using fillers which is a no no for durability.


The original finish was a mixture of black painted and polished/laquered front facing surfaces, but i suspect the corrosion has already superceded that possibility

100plus_2.jpg (40.75 KiB) Viewed 14841 times

Personally, i'd go for a nice bright solid silver for most coloured cars.

[Kegsti66]

[KevJTD]

there's a set of integrale wheels waiting for shrew to do too , not so bad as that but pretty grotty.

[PETROLHEAD]

I'll let you have a little peek at just what grotty and corroded can mean.

There's going to be a thread on these so that i can disprove some of the horror stories surrounding Magnesium Alloy wheels, but this is just about as tough as this job gets.

Remember the Momo Vega's discussed a few months back?

Underneath the surface paint, they were corroded so badly that they've actually rotted through!

But after much hard work we're currently at this stage

Theres more work to do, this is still all undercoat and prep, and the final finish will be silver, and i hope that now my hand is returning to some semblence of usefulness i can get cracking again!

[Alfasixnut]

Good news on your hand there Shrew!

[Ted27sud]

You know what I've got to do Shrew? Get those Cromadora wheels up to you!!

I will get around to it......!
Ted

[PETROLHEAD]

The mention of Magnesium Alloys wasn't a reminder Ted,

Honest!

[Kegsti66]

Shrew, I take it that undercoat acts like a primer.
They will look nice wheels when they are finished.
Pleased to hear the hand is fixing now.

[PETROLHEAD]

Thats it Keith, a bloody tough primer!

Start with a high zinc content plain black, and apply coats with sanding in between until the lows gradually fill up.

Can't keep going forever, and there's always a lot to sand off again, because if powder coat builds up too thick in general, and cooked over and over it will eventually go the other way and become a poor substrate with less adhesion to the base meterial, so when wheels are really bad and the corrosion really deep, there has to be an acceptable level of compromise with the final finish.

That said, there's nothing stopping us getting it as good as possible with powder coat, and final imperfections can be traditionally filled, sanded, and wet painted over the top.

Wet painting over a good powder base can look stunningly good actually

[Ted27sud]

The mention of Magnesium Alloys wasn't a reminder Ted,

Honest!

I'm up (hopefully) in a couple of weeks to get the Crossle so will drop them off - bet you can't wait to get stuck into them!
Glad the hand is on the mend.
Ted

[PETROLHEAD]

Nope, Cant wait!

Its all work to me Ted, rough or smooth (no pun intended!) a jobs a job and its time to get going.

I'm hoping a few sets of wheels can become part of my rehabilitation and physioterrorism on the hand so no more moaning and get cracking!


Thanks all for the well wishing, much appreciated,
Its enough to make me blush!


Keep me posted Ted, that'd be a great opportunity to catch up.

Will you be free to lunch, or maybe drop in on Tom with a coffee?

[Ted27sud]

Hi Shrew,
2nd/3rd week of February should be about the time. Be good to catch up. I'll PM you or text when I know for definite.
Cheers, Ted

[PETROLHEAD]

Marvellous!