My Activa wheels!

[XantiaMan]

Finally got hold of some from DickieG this weekend, but i didnt want to fit them until they were all refurbished, so i will show you some pics of the progress.

First of all i acid clean the wheels, the front wasnt a problem but the rear of the wheels were really bad! A mixture of caked on brake dust and corrosion the worst of which i've ever seen was attacked with the acid which is about 20-30% hydrochloric, the picture below shows the acid at work after the 5th clean!



The next picture shows the wheel after all the marks on the face were removed with a mini D/A sander, kerb damage of which there was very little was smoothed out, and the corrosion on the face in the spoke area was also done in the same way, i had to do some bits by hand.

The rim edge was done on a special machine, it removed all the paint from the edge to bare ally and also the corrosion. I could have gone further and left it with a polished edge but didnt want anything too fancy and the finish can detoriate after a while.



This picture shows the wheel after it was full prepped and cleaned again, and it had three coats of a bright wheel silver.




And the end result after 2 coats of 2k Laquer.




Two wheels done, two to go!

[DickieG]

Fancy doing four more?

[XantiaMan]

Fancy doing four more?

Everything has its price

[jgra1]

nice Gareth

I want to get some alloys for the TD.. they seem to work ok on the V6..

[andmcit]

Very Nice XantiaMan583

- will the wheels last the usual horrid winter without a kiln bake to seal
and protect the outer lacquer or will you have to revisit them in a years'
time?

I'd be very interested as I've a load that could respond well to this
treatment. I realise the ultimate method if removal of the tyres etc but
will your approach be as good anyway?

Andrew

[jamieclayton9]

that is got to be one of the best refurb jobs i have seen. They look mint. Well done mate. Cheers. Jamie

[XantiaMan]

Very Nice XantiaMan583

- will the wheels last the usual horrid winter without a kiln bake to seal
and protect the outer lacquer or will you have to revisit them in a years'
time?

I'd be very interested as I've a load that could respond well to this
treatment. I realise the ultimate method if removal of the tyres etc but
will your approach be as good anyway?

Andrew

Normally with 2k laquer an oven is used only to speed up the drying process, without it, the paint will dry to the same hardness within about 24 hours but that depends on ambient temp and type of laquer.

I see no reason why the finish shouldnt last at least a few years, regular cleaning is the key and of course the prep work, whenever i do wheels it has very through prep and cleaning.

There is no need to remove the tyres for a job like this, just breaking the bead to allow full access to the rim edge is fine.

Of course, being a 2k refurb it wont be as tough as powdercoat, which is still the ultimate way to properly refurbish them, this of course means removal of the tyre and extra time, it is possible to do 4 wheels in 2 hours using this method.

[XantiaMan]

Some more pictures, bloew shows a wheel just before it was cleaned, i managed to get it back to clean metal where it had corroded because of the brake dust and road dirt.



The wheel machine in action



The end result -

[DickieG]

Nice job well done, have there been any issues with clearance on the front wheel arch's?

[XantiaMan]

Nice job well done, have there been any issues with clearance on the front wheel arch's?

Only driven round the block so far but in normal running there is plenty of clearance, even when suspension is dropped it clears the arches ok, but does look beefy on the front!