MGF Refurb Part 2 - Cup Alloys Refurb!

[STEVEN_NORFIELD]

Right then! The biggest job of all that I have on the cards for sorting the F out was the wheels, as you can see from the following pics, they were well and truly corroded.



I must get an award for the amount of wheel weights on this one.....



First, I gave all the wheels a good wash and scrub with Autoglyms machine cleaner, which got rid of the bulk of the dirt. Upon inspection, I could see that the paint on the inner face of the rim was pretty none existent. What little paint there was there flaked off when prodded with a fingernail.

I used a drill fitted with a wire rotary bit and numerous grades of sandpaper. What I'll say at this point is that if your wheels are corroded as badly as mine, take it to a pro and pay £40 a wheel as when they're in this kind of state you'll spend hours bent double grinding and sanding away. I ached for days after this! If you have a multi-tool like a dremel, it makes the detail parts a whole lot easier, particularly if you've got the proper mini sanding drums.





If you are a total mug and you carry on doing it, an easy way to mask up is to drop the wheels in a bin bag, then cut a circle out and mask up around the alloy, it saves no end of time. Don't forget to mask the rear face of the wheel where it mates to the hub. You don't want this surface to have paint on it.



I used a small tube of P38 filler to take out the worst of the defects and blemishes, and then sanded it back down. Three coats of high build primer and they begin to look like championship white alloys you'd find on a type-r......



Then came two coats of Plastikote's super bright Argent Silver paint. I'm pretty sure you'll agree that the finish is amazing considering it came from a can.



But trouble was around the corner, you cannot laquer this paint. I left it for three days to dry but when I went to laquer, it it just mottled and reacted like I'd poured sulphuric acid on it!!! So, totally gutted and irritated I just used up a can of Ford Moondust Silver I had lying about in the garage. This laquered up with no problems and the wheels looked just like a new set, but nowhere near the shine that I'd managed with the original plastikote spray.



Then applied some Ø50mm badges I'd got from ebay as the ones in the centres were knackered and bubbled...



And added some shiny valve caps (ebay - £1.99). As an aside, drop some copperslip on these type of caps, as ali and steel will meld and if you don't take the caps off for six months then you'll find yourself having to cut them off. Bitter personal experience there. There's some patches on the rear inner face of the rim that really aren't up to stratch. This is why I think that if your alloys are really bad, get a pro to do it as you just can't see the damage until it's sprayed and finished.

And here's the finished article. For the princely sum of £28 I'm rather pleased! To be honest theres some damage that I missed and my sanding of the filler leaves a bit to be desired by a pro, but on the face of it, they're ten times better than before. I'm just gutted that I couldn't make the bright finish stick.

[Baracus]

good job mate

I used plasticote on my calipers and they laquered without any problems.

for the wheels though i used the original Sparkle silver and Laquer.

hard work job mate but definatly worth doing

[STEVEN_NORFIELD]

Just to add some more pics, heres what the bright finish looks like compared to the other regular alloys, how gutted am I

[STEVEN_NORFIELD]

Originally Posted by Baracus

I used plasticote on my calipers and they laquered without any problems.

I found out it's something to do with the finish, regular silver colours are fine, I've done them several times before, but this stuff has some sort of special finish to it, and if you read all the way down the small print it says "not for automotive use"!!!! That'll teach me!

[Baracus]

Originally Posted by STEVEN_NORFIELD

I found out it's something to do with the finish, regular silver colours are fine, I've done them several times before, but this stuff has some sort of special finish to it, and if you read all the way down the small print it says "not for automotive use"!!!! That'll teach me!

hmmm, i didn't read the small print on my red plasticote can, i just liked the colour and it was a harder based paint than normal spray paint which is why i got it as it was for the ap calipers, laquer wasn't a problem. maybe it's different on the tougher spray paints they do then and maybe just on the silver as you say

[Fast Jan]

I don't actually like the super bright silver paint, it looks cheap, and well, plastic

The moondust silver looks better imo.

Job well done and good pics and write up

[Petevick]

excellent write up Steven, one for my site methinks

[Tim.]

Great job Steven. I've got a set round the back waiting for similar treatment but waiting for warmer weather. I think the colour looks OK but if you don't like it you can go over them with something else. You've done all the hard work. Do a test area round the back first though in case its not compatible.

[Herbie]

That's great Steven

I'm no painter but what about topping it up with 1 or 2 coats of clear lacquer ?

[STEVEN_NORFIELD]

Originally Posted by Petevick

excellent write up Steven, one for my site methinks

Cheers! Look out for the next instalment...........

Originally Posted by Tim.

Great job Steven. I've got ...... the back first though in case its not compatible.

I'm waiting for a response from Plastikote as to what I should have done with them, as it was plastikote's own laquer that snarled them up which seems pretty unusual.

[STEVEN_NORFIELD]

Originally Posted by Herbie

That's great Steven

I'm no painter but what about topping it up with 1 or 2 coats of clear lacquer ?

I did 3 Coats of Plastikote's own after the moondust silver. Would've been a total waste with no laquer as the brake dust would chew through paint in no time at all.

[Herbie]

Ahh sorry, didn't know what Plastikote's is

[STEVEN_NORFIELD]

Originally Posted by Herbie

Ahh sorry, didn't know what Plastikote's is

Plastikote's just a name brand. Normally associated with more DIY approach stuff, whereas the car paint you normally get from motor stores (i think) it either CarPlan or Tetrosyl.

[Lee121]

Great job Steven ...have some rep too

[empsburna]

when you had finished sanding the wheels did you clean them afterwards with any panel wipe/tack rag?

I had exactly the same problem with one wheel that I had not degreased correctly before painting and then adding the clear.

This is the wheel I had to repaint (in Vaxuhall Metallic Silver - as close as anything to rovers own but half the price per can)



and what it looked like close up after repainting

[STEVEN_NORFIELD]

Originally Posted by Puds121

Great job Steven ...have some rep too

Why thank you my good man!!! Cheers!

Originally Posted by empsburna

when you had finished sanding the wheels did you clean them afterwards with any panel wipe/tack rag?

I had exactly the same problem with one wheel that I had not degreased correctly before painting and then adding the clear.

I kinda did, I went over the wheels with an isopropyl cleaner that I had lying about. I thought that would be sufficient. It was quite cold in the garage so even after 3 days it may not have sealed up properly I guess. The damage was massively worse than what you experienced judging by the photo's. Even the slightest dust over of laquer made the paint bubble and react like I was spraying on Nitromors! I've never seen paint react like that, I can only guess it's something to do with the mechanics of the finish. I've done numerous little things like mirros and door handles, so I'm no pro but I know roughly what process I should be doing and what to expect.

If anyone gets the bright finish to work it'd be good to see how.

[FreddieS]

Oww my Steven!

Those wheels look STUNNING, both times round!

I think i shall be going for a lighter + shinier silver when i spray my 200's wheels, because damn they look gooood!

[empsburna]

Originally Posted by STEVEN_NORFIELD

I kinda did, I went over the wheels with an isopropyl cleaner that I had lying about. I thought that would be sufficient. It was quite cold in the garage so even after 3 days it may not have sealed up properly I guess. The damage was massively worse than what you experienced judging by the photo's. Even the slightest dust over of laquer made the paint bubble and react like I was spraying on Nitromors! I've never seen paint react like that, I can only guess it's something to do with the mechanics of the finish. I've done numerous little things like mirros and door handles, so I'm no pro but I know roughly what process I should be doing and what to expect.

If anyone gets the bright finish to work it'd be good to see how.

Hmm. Thats very strange then - mine went bitty, like someone had thrown grit over it before it was painted (if that makes sense!)

[zedler]

i think im going to get mine done by a pro, 30 quid per wheel shot blasted and baked proffesionally,i think if i did it myself i'd be doing them again in the next 12 months tbh,seems like too much hard work for an ok finish thats not gauranteed to flake and peel,mg alloys were done half cocked by the manufacturer anyway so doing a d.i.y job just seems like a waste of time.

[FreddieS]

I had my TD cosmo's acid dipped, shotblasted and powdercoated, finish was nice, but you must take into account that youve got to have your tires taken off (usually not inc the £30 per wheel price) and then have them refitted. This and the fact that you wont get as shinier a finish with powdercoat (unless they laquer it afterwards, which imho is cheating)

All mg/rover alloys were done half cocked, the paint doesnt stand up to heat at all and is pretty much crap, but then you look at aftermarket wheels and its the same, a freinds KN vectors powdercoat was literally non existant! it had all just flaked off the inside of the wheel, and then spread to the outside.

A DIY job, dont to a high standard will last just as long as powdercoat. and the fact that it costs £30-40 to do 4 wheels, and you can do it in a weekend, its kind of an awesome win/win to me!