DIY wheel respray

Not to many DIYs around. I received my wheels from Steve (Dubai944) on friday and i've been planning on giving them a referb (even before i got them) But change it from boring silver to a more boring satin black. When i got them, only realised they are cosmetic defects as in, just the paint.. And not so much the face. maybe a nick here or there, but haven't found any other then paint damage. so i'm very pleased! 1 wheel has been hit but only the outer ring is slightly bent. i either might hit it into place or get it re-rolled. Today i got to work. What i mean by today, is around 12:30 pm Went to bunnings and picked up some supplies. 4L paint stripper 400 & 600 grit wet and dry rolls 120 & 180 grit sand paper sheets cork block and some rough sanding blocks. Paint: 2k 1L undercoat or primer 2k hardener (appropriate for the undercoat) 2k 1L thinners (appropriate for the undercoat) 2k 1L base colour paint 2k  hardener (appropriate for paint) 2k 1L thinners (appropriate for paint) I only did 1 wheel to see how it would turn out with paint stripper. See for your self! Took about 2 hours to remove all the paint. Never comes all off in the first go. I'm very happy with the outcome! So i'll be doing the rest maybe tomorrow or during the week after work or next weekend. After paint stripping i will be spraying etch primer on one and see how it comes out. if it's nice i'll spray them my self. If its not that great, i'll possibly looking at powder coating. But so far so good! I will update this post with all materials, paints, ect I used.

I refurbed a set of wheels, just using wurth rattle cans. I didn't strip but just sanded them back with an orbital. I spent the money to get them balanced and true before reprinting them. You just don't want to out the work in and hen find one wobbles on you at 110kmh. Mine turned out great, can't recommend the wurth silver wheel lacquer enough. It's a lot of work though, and those ones look very fiddly.

Can't wait to see how they turn out!

Coastr, My dad suggested the same thing, with just give them a sand then paint. But i won't be using a rattle can, but a spray gun. I think i'll be using a PPG brand paint. I'll need to talk to the paint guy. Steve, Me to! Today i did the other 3 wheels. Theres a speck of paint here and there which will get sanded off. Next will be sanding! Note: If using paint stripper. It's not as easy as it sounds! You'll probably do it over and over 5-6 times until it's all off. Wear gloves! jeans or overalls and cover your arms. That stuff burns. Have a box of gloves with you at all times. Rags and water. You will be changing gloves a lot.

The good thing about sanding is that you can get a lot of curb marks out if they arent too deep. The thing about wheel paint is that it needs to be tough. Probably if you can get it baked after painting it will last a long time.

Hey Pauly. You want tough and durable then consider powdercoating the rims.

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My plan is to freshen up them and make them look new as possible. I will be trying to get all the rashes off, but there isn't any to the actual wheel service as i thought there might have been. Theo, I was thinking the same thing. I'm hoping they can do satin or matte black. I know i could have just taken the wheel to them to get painted with out me stripping it, but then they wouldn't have repaired the wheel scuffs.

After some research, I'm going towards 2k paint. I know people powder coat wheels all the time, But i've heard they can weaken the aluminium ect. Today I got around to finish getting the wheels to bare aluminium. Tools used: Rotary tool "dremel" - Mostly used a small flap wheel. and a few things from the box. 80 grit Straight grinder (looks like larger version of a rotary tool) - Larger flap wheel. 60 grit Sand paper - 180 grit. You'll notice flap wheel grit is very rough, but because you're using the edge, it's not as course. So i first used the flap wheels to remove the left over paint. Not much in my case. Where i couldn't get to, I just used sand paper. you'll notice where i've sanded. Because it's a casting, it appears deep. but really, it isn't and it shouldn't show up during paint. Next step is primer. I will use the primer as a high fill. So a lot of light coats. If it's a rougher finish, I'll hit it with Wet & Dry 600 grit.

Looking good mate, so what colour have you decided on? Understand if you would rather keep it a surprise!

Cheers! I'm undecided! Because It's "DJM" I could go bright green but i wont. I'm thinking Matte/Satin black as it'll look good against the red Brembos. Here's a couple of photos of NT03-M on a 944. Both same colour as mine. one black, one silver.

Black will look nice, understated but tough IMO - satin sounds like a good choice! Cant wait to see them on the car.

what about orange ? Black does look good. Can you leave lip polished and go for a pseudo fuchs look ?

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Exactly right, My mate has F10 m5 wheels on his e60 545i in black. Silver car. Looks nice. Not very bling but respectable. Sometimes i think to my self. What my car would look like with black 'steelies' like what you've got on your car. If these where track orientated wheels, I would have done them red. (+25hp) I could do a polished lip, but i wont. Just look out of place with these wheels.

+1 what Hugh said.

Today: Started painting my wheels. Bought some paint: 2k 1L undercoat or primer 2k hardener (appropriate for the undercoat) 2k 1L thinners (appropriate for the undercoat) 2k 1L base colour paint 2k  hardener (appropriate for paint) 2k 1L thinners (appropriate for paint) You also need some gloves and a mask 4:1:1 mixture for the base coat/primer

Today: I have it a quick sand with 600 grit where the imperfections were. the imperfections were: 2 small runs (not bad for 2nd time using a spray gun, first time doing a proper spray job!) a few dots here and there which was left over original paint. silver and silver was hard to see but came off quite easy. Time for coat number 2. This will just be on the face so a thicker coat. Then i'll give them a light sand and hit it with the black. Update: Used about 100ml of paint (mixed with thinners and hardener) per wheel for the top coat. leaving some room for a light sand. but may not need to! I roughly have around 300-400ml of paint left At the moment they're sitting in the sun, I'm letting them bake. I noticed i used more harder then i was suppose to. Should dry quicker i suppose.

So i've let them sit in the sun all day until 4:00 pm a good 6 hours of sun. Warm day too and the wheels got quite warm. Tomorrow is 34 degrees, so i'll spray them in the morning and hopefully get them out in the sun by lunch time as there's more to spray. Plan of attack: Light sand wheels to get them smooth. Quickly with the wet and try. Give them a hose down and let them try in the sun. While they're drying, prepare the gun. 2:1:1 mixture ratio of paint, hardener and thinners. so 200ml paint 100ml hardener and 100ml thinners. Spray inner barrels first on all 4 wheels. Let them dry so i can flip them over and do the top. and to the top a few coats. That's the plan anyway.

Today: Painted I think i might do 1 more coat. I want to wet try sand it once more as i didn't do the top because it was quite smooth.

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I don't know how soon i'll get tyres on them. As I need to replace my suspension first. The front struts are finished. I could get them refurbished but i want stiffer suspension with more 'low' I also need to make custom spacers for these wheels. I'll include it in this DIY.

Hey Pauly, Nice job on wheels! They look great. Only one problem that I can see. I didn't buy them myself. LOL...... Good job & can't wait to see & read more on your car & progress. All the best.

going to look great when you fit em Pauly. As always nice work mate

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Thanks mate! Make an offer haha. All i can say is you're a little late on 'the progress of my car' If you like pictures and in for a little reading here: http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforums/944-turbo-and-turbo-s-forum/622543-paulys-go-quicker-project-data-logs.html Cheers Bruce!

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Nice work Pauly. Tyre fitters don't like freshly painted wheels. Wait at least a week before fitting tyres. Give the paint a chance to fully cure.

Pauly, Thanks for the link. Just had a quick browse and should make for some nice reading before bed. Ha.ha..... May even turn out to be motivational reading!! Talk soon.

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I might let them sit in my "man cave" for a bit, even though it's not car themed. or let them sit in the garage. Coilovers first Mine is a good example of thinking out of the box for engine mods as i don't use the standard bolt on stuff. If you want "bed time reading material", hide your wallet and read these threads 3.15L stroker build http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforums/944-turbo-and-turbo-s-forum/725447-refresh951s-hybrid-ultra-stroker-build.html Unlimited budget 944 turbo with LS engine build http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforums/944-turbo-and-turbo-s-forum/707855-tonyg-new-race-car-build-thread.html tricked out track 944 turbo (aussy) which turns into a 3L WTAC car http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforums/944-turbo-and-turbo-s-forum/656544-patricks-build-thread-it-runs.html

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Pauly, Looking good! I guess you know that the fronts on the 944 picture you posted below ARE your wheels..? Actually those are the 10 inch rears, which I had to use on the front that day because only two of my new CCWs turned up in the shipping (the front's, which are on the rear in that photo..lol)

Steve, I knew they where the back wheels! haha. I was speaking to patrick about the wheels too, he ran 10's all around on the standard body! I like those CCW wheels. C10? what size are those? I have a feeling, those would fit my car with out spacers I just need to put some tyres on them and machine up some spacers. Before i do that though, I need to replace my suspension. i've been noticing lately to much bounce in the struts. It was sooner or later they would be out. So need to be replaced. I've been thinking going all out with a more hardcore approach. KW clubsports maybe so i can get stiffer spring rates. Moton is overkill for me. If Patrick still has his old setup when im in the market for some, i'll see i can work out some deal with him.

Yes CCW 11 inch fronts and 12 inch rears. And yes, you don't really need spacers, they fill the guards out quite well...lol