Hi lads
as promised a brief "how to" in order to make the cast alloy wheels look more or less like new.
Start with removing dirt, grease and brake dust from the wheel, remove as much as possible.
I use synthetic or cellulose thinner. Do this outside because you can get a bit dizzy from the vapours...
- the start of the cleaning
If you're lucky you can remove a lot of old paint with the thinner. If not then these are the tools to remove the old paint.
- the tools
These are nylon brushes, red and blue (not in the picture), and small metal brushes with thin and thick wires.
You also need a drilling machine to apply the brushes. Make sure you can change the carbon brushes of the machine and that you have a few spare carbon brushes to change those in your drilling machine because they are very fast used up.
I start with the red brush, then I apply the hard metal brush to reach the narrow places so I can remove the old paint there.
It takes about half an hour to clean a third of a wheel for the first time. Yes it takes at least 3 hours for an initial clean up session!
- half an hour of work...
When one side of a wheel is done I start with the second round and I use a soft blue nylon brush and the soft metal brush to remove the remaining old paint.
- after two hours of grinding
If done carefully, you can remove 99% of the old paint in this way.
Try to do it outside and use a protective mask because it makes a lot of dust!
When the old paint is removed and wheels are clean you can start preparing them for painting.
Start with degreasing the wheels with aceton. Again: mind the vapours!
Once the wheels are degreased you can start taping the rims off. I use an orange plastering tape from Tesa.
- the tape
When taping off the rims use small lenghts of the tape and apply them by making sure the whole area that receives no paint is covered.
- applying tape
After that I use a hobby knife to cut the tape down to the desired area.
- cutting off the edges
In this case it was hard to cut the tape at the edge. The cast wheels of an older Zed are easier to tape off !!!
When the wheels are taped off make sure that the temperature is high enough for the paint to dry.
- the paint
I use a two component epoxy paint to dilute with thinner and I apply it with a spraygun.
When the wheels are painted and the paint is still wet, remove the tape as soon a possible. If you wait too long chips of paint can come off the wheel...
When all this is done you can wait untill the paint is dry, mostly 12 hours, depending on the temperture.
Then it's time to give a clear coat to the rims where the bare alloy is proune to oxidtion if it's not protected!
I use a special clear coat for alloys. If you use a normal clear coat you risk that the alloy starts to oxidate once again.
I apply that with a soft marten hair brush n° 7.
When all of the paint work is done you can have this result
- the result
If you have questions about this, don't hesitate, just ask.
GrtZ
Philippe
the differences between a little boy and an adult man is the price and size of their toys!
