So this is my first alloy wheel refurbishment by Following Walshc's guide here http://www.clubpolo.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=92887 and alot of help from the man himself.

A week ago i bought these off eBay for a £40. They are off a Subaru WRX STi Impreza and are 16x7j, and to be fair, in pretty rubbish condition.

When i unwrapped them

I cleaned one off with a pressure washer and soapy water, then towel dried it.

I bought a tin of Nitromors paint stripper and set to work dabbing a thick coat of it on just 2 of the spokes to test it out. I then waited 5 mins, added another coat, waited 20 mins and then rubbed the wheel down with a steel bristled brush.

The result (bottom right corner spokes):

I then hosed the wheel down again and Nitromored, then brushed the whole thing:

Compared it to one of the untouched wheels:

Then i got some P320 sand paper and rubbed the wheel down until the scuffs faded (excuse the deep scratch)

before:

after:

Before:

After:

After sanding the whole thing (excuse dust):

I then got to work Nitromoring, then brushing the second wheel, without sanding afterwards:

Then i compared the Nitromored and sanded (right), to just Nitromored (left), and Untouched (top):

Comments, advice and tips welcome!

Edited 31 December, 200916 yr by mk7-sarah-c

Glad you put this up... i was just about to pay someone to do mine, might just give it try before spending a load of cash on em..cheers!

them wheels actually look quite sick, you got a right bargain there lol

looking good so far

fair play dude

good work

thanks guys, i finished sanding the second wheel this afternoon. Well chuffed so far.

Fair play for having a go yourself!

Good work

£40 cant go wrong really

Gunna polish them up or refurbing before paint??

What tyres you gunna run on them??

Good work, and progress so far frazzle sazzle :-D

Dont for get to score the inside of the spokes, and the rear, if youre painting those areas too :-)

I'm not sure what tyres veedub9n

I'm planning to spray centres black and the lips red

Thanks Craig, what do you mean score?

Score them some drugs nah, scoring just means like - marking/scratching/roughing up etc. In this case, so the paint grips to the surface better :-)

i sanded, does that count?

i say go for some 165/40/16 tyres

yeah thats what he means sarah :)

looking good so far!

Good stuff :)

I'm thinking of getting them pro sprayed, because i dont trust myelf

good job, will be waiting for the finished result

No, do it yourself :-D youll feel so damn proud afterwards

Just practice on a scrap peice of metal or something

Only press down on the nozzle as you move across from left to right and visa versa, dont keep it pressed down constantly

Spray about 15-20cm away

Just do light coats, doesnt matter if there is still metal showing through on the first couple of coats

And let it dry inbetween coats

You can do it :-D

^^ yeah go for it mate!! Its pretty easy once you get the hang of it! Dont spray backwards and forwards.....spray from left to right, then go back to the left, then spray again from left to right and so on; this way you get an even coat! You just have to make sure everythings really clean before hand! Lots of thin coats gives a better finshe than a few heavy ones!

ok! I just got to get some confidence! Looks like if i do it myself thought I'm just gunna spray them one colour, so black centres it is. How many cans will i need?

they are sixteens so one can of laquer then 2-3 cans of primer and colour! you've got to decide if your gunna paint the backs though. If you do, paint the backs first. when the paint is dry, mask a line where the back meets the face of the wheel (if you know what I mean) and then paint the fronts! This way the paint from the faces dosnt go onto the backs. Just take your time, clean the wheels properly before you paint them and preferably paint them in hot weather!

To be honest I'm prob not gunna bother painting the backs, as its my first refurb. Just want to keep it simple and paint the spokes. Does that matter?

Do i need to go over the rims with a higher grit sandpaper before spraying? as I'm hoping to get cracking tomorrow with Metallic Black

i haven't read the comments so dont know if this has been said but these wheels would look really nice left polished on the front face of the wheel and on the side parts of the spokes paint gloss black. then i think they will look pimp on the red polo if thats what there for.:)

Kuszpit :)

Thanks for the idea dude. I'm open to all types of suggestions

The refurbing on these has gone so well though that i probably will be buying another set to do up after these so i may well put your idea into play on the next set! I would probably go red front face and black spoke inners on the next set.

Oh and Walshy says no to more sanding so thats my question answered.

lovely shoes in the first pic

^^ Thats what i said :-D she got them from river island iirc :-)