CBRRRT

How to refinish a wheel at a fraction of the pro costs

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I did a car wheel conversion to my SSSA and used an Inovit Concept wheel in silver.
And very pleased I was with it if I say so myself. Problem was I still had that scratched black front wheel.
I was thinking of getting it refinished in two pack or powdercoat when I came across a thread on another site about doing it your self and save between 60 to 80 quid per wheel.

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First thing the guy advised was to make a simple jig so the wheel can be rotated while you paint it.

so I cobbled together some 75mm x 19mm softwood and a length of M12 threaded rod.

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I gave the wheel a light sand so the paint stripper could dig in straight away.

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I used a plastic tray to contain the mess as this is horrible stuff and you aint gonna wonna get it all over your work shop.

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Then its just a matter of working it in and letting it do its stuff.
Its important to think about disposing of the used stripper as its nasty stuff.

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your going to need a can of acid etch primer to key into the alumimium.
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once the stripper has done its job, lots of soapy water to wash off the stripper.

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I saw that the edges of the wheel were machiened, and thought they would look good polished, so I did just that
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Came up nice

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didn't it

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Now it needs to be masked up. I went over the bulk of the wheel with masking tape, but found it crinkled when I tried to put it on the paint line, so I used electrical tape and warmed it with a heat gun to get it to go round and sit tight to the line.

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You can see it better there

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now stick the wheel in the jig

Now give it some acid etch primer

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Wait 15 minutes and then apply the top coat. Its propper wheel paint and is resistant to stone chips, or thats what it says on the can. Its about £6.50 a can.

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next remove the masking tape, make sure there are no dirt marks on the polished edge, then clear coat the whole thing

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wait 15 minutes, then give it another blast of clear.

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and its done.

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It came out really well and was a flawless finish. It took a whole day to do, but dont rush it and I'm sure you'll get the same result.
Its gonna be a day or two before I can reassemble it and get it back on the bike but the hard parts done now so happy days.
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Comments

  1. Gix11's Avatar
    That little bit extra in making the wheel jig really pays off hey? I remember having mine on it's side the whole time and got through many rags / towels and swearing episodes.
  2. CBRRRT's Avatar
    Cant take the credit for this one Si, I got the idea from another site, and I'm glad I did because I also used the jig to re-finish both front and rear wheels on my latest project the CX Café 500.