How To: Wheel Restoration
 

Sold my old wheels. Bought some rough 19" G35 wheels and commenced a major project in restoring them to perfect condition.

1) I used regular Bondo body filler to repair the curb damage and on the rock chips that were here and there on the wheel surfaces.
2) I used a variation of sand papers, starting with 60 to knock down the Bondo'd areas. I used 180, 220 & 400 to prep the wheel surface before primer. Used 1000 to quickly sand down the primer (sandable primer). Using 1000 & 1500 to wet sand the paint. I used 1500 & 2000 grit to wet sand the clear. All sanding was by hand other than the lug nut holes where I used a dremel sanding wheel to get in the holes.

As I got them:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...s/DSC00497.jpg

New tires - 245/35/19 General Exclaim UHP
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...s/DSC00496.jpg

One before & after scuffing:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...s/DSC00559.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...s/DSC00552.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...s/DSC00556.jpg

All scuffed up:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...s/DSC00553.jpg

Normal body Bondo used to fill in the imperfections:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...s/DSC00564.jpg

Bondo applied to the damaged areas:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...s/DSC00561.jpg

There was damage in the lug holes as well:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...s/DSC00602.jpg

Dremel attachment used to clean up the Bondo applied areas:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...s/DSC00604.jpg

First coat of sandable primer added:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...s/DSC00583.jpg

3-4 coats later:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...s/DSC00585.jpg

The other wheels getting primer:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...s/DSC00649.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...s/DSC00648.jpg

The first of the 3 guns I ended up using. This one worked really well, but was flimsy and broke after a short time:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...s/DSC00598.jpg

The gun that has worked the best for me during the whole process:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...s/DSC00690.jpg

First coat of Dupli-Color Wheel Coating model# WP101
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...s/DSC00609.jpg

A few coats later:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...s/DSC00615.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...s/DSC00601.jpg

Inside is getting a fresh coat as well:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...s/DSC00616.jpg

After many coats of paint:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...s/DSC00671.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...s/DSC00669.jpg

After wet sanding:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...s/DSC00685.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...s/DSC00687.jpg

A few more minor touch-up spots and it will be time for clear coat:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...s/DSC00689.jpg

Looks good so far. Can't wait to see them installed.

Nice post. I am in the market to buy the 19" G35 rays but there are too many out there with road rash and etc. Now after seeing this post i think im gonna follow your instructions. Props man

any more finished product pics? i'm using this as a write-up depending on how they look afterwards. you have done a really great job so far! i'm honestly surprised that the duplicolor paint you used turned out so well!

very nice job so far, fav'ed

All this is very much correct but he missed a few things
1.when your sanding down the rim or the body of car make sure that u take off ALL the clear coat off it first before priming

2.When sanding make sure the plastic filler is leveled and DONT OVER USE THE HARDENER. For people that dont know hardener is an ezyme that makes the plastic filler become hard with out this the plastic wil not dry.

3.Going back to makeing the plastic leveled if you do not make the plastic filler leveled once you prime it you wont see a difference if the plasitc is either to high or to low. Now if you dont get out these high or low spots you will get waves in your paint. These are VERY noticable in darker color paint such as black. That is the easiest color to see waves on.

Other then that everything else was perfect in description. I just wanted to point out cetain details so that your paint job doesnt mess up.

Have Fun =D PM me for any details
Last if you put run marks in (these are marks from overpainting) you must sand them down before anything. Or these marks will pop up later. And people dont be afraid to keep adding plastic to make your paintjob look nice. Another thing if u have indents on the inside of your rim from hitting curbs THESE ARE NOT REPARABLE FOR SOMEONE WITH NO EXPERIENCE take it to a place where they Specialize in rims

great write-up man

wanna do mine haha jk looks good man i just did mine

This is a nice write up. But where is the finished product?

Sick thread, would like to see them after the clear coat myself. I'm gonna do this to my 350Z rims when I get a chance

Installed pics:
http://forums.maxima.org/7207912-post194.html
http://forums.maxima.org/7207913-post195.html
http://forums.maxima.org/7207914-post196.html

Are you happy with the results. They are a little hard to see from the distance that you took the installed pictures, but they look great from there. How many hours do you think you invested getting all of them painted?

What kind of clear coat did you use? The duplicolor can says not to use clear with the wheel paint.

I painted my wheels already, but I haven't put a clear on them. I am really considering putting a "matte" clear coat on them, too.

thanks

Hello guys!

Thanks for the above information and moreover,Be sure to align the wheels each time the rear wheel is removed or the chain or belt is adjusted. Each revolution of an incorrectly aligned wheel can scuff off tread rubber, reduce tire mileage, and impair steering and cornering.
It is essential tire/wheel assemblies be balanced before use and rebalanced each time the tire is removed or replaced. Unbalanced tire/wheel assemblies can vibrate at certain speeds, and tire wear will be greatly accelerated.

http://www.dunlopmotorcycle.com/tire...lowbalance.jpgAll Dunlop street tires should be installed with the yellow balance dot at the valve. Wheels may be balanced with spoke nipple weights, lead wire or self-adhesive rim weights. Consult the motorcycle manufacturer for approved wheel weights.

Dunlop does not recommend the use of dry or liquid balancers/sealers and will not warrant tires into which these materials have been injected. Tire and wheel assembly balance must be checked with a balance stand or computer wheel balancer.

nice write up. How long did the whole process take?

Your wheels appear yellow in the latest pictures. Did the clear coat go bad or just a reflection?

wish this guy would clear his inbox

I just got a set of 350z touring v.2 rims for $100. the rims have some pretty bad scuffs on them which is why the guy sold them for that price. I am doing the process in this thread to fix them, I will post before and after pix starting tomorrow, I have one wheel done and working on the other three.

looks good!!!

Using Bondo around rim seems a little risky, depending on how your tire guy mounts or dismounts the tire...seems like it could flake.

are you going to chrome those or what. great job on the sanding

To color the wheels, you just use a different color at the end right? Other than that, do you do everything shown?

Great wheeels
 

This is inspiring! I have some wheels for my Corvette that have terrible brake dust contamination. I've tried everything to clean them. I'm wondering if I can paint over the brake dust. It's bonded to the aluminum!
If they could end up looking as good as your wheels, I'd be heading to Autozone this weekend.

Great job!

The wheels look sick, where did you end up getting them? I've been looking for those wheels for a while now and cant find anything for a reasonable price. Keep up the good work and lets see some pics of them installed.

Nice thread. I have a blue 2003 maxima and I want to paint the wheels bright blue. How would I go about doing this?

follow steps above but use bright blue paint...

Nice work but honestly i think they looked good as you got them... :P

Ugh, yeah they were beat to shit when I got them, that's kinda why I restored them :rolleyes:

did you not read this thread to see what he used to paint or are you blind? hold up, you cant be blind, because you are on the internet browsing...RETARD

props to the OP i used your thread as a rule of thumb when i restored my G35 18s

ohh man i was gunna make a thread askin if anyone new how to do these wheels LOL this really helped, thanks alot man...

BUMPP

was there a reason you "BUMPP" to bump this when you just posted in here less than a minute prior?

i just wanted to bump this thread to say thanks to the original poster, i recently refinished my hella curbed 18" g35 rims.

before..

Attachment 51413

after..

Attachment 51414
Attachment 51415

thanks again!

Not bad

Thanks.

Pardon the noobness but had anyone done some refinishing/painting of their regular 17s into the glossy looking Titanium Edition finish? I'd love to go that route if I decided to fix up my current ones.. If so what paint brand and code was used?