DIY: Wheel Restoration

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Old May 21, 2009 | 03:29 PM
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SEmy2K2go's Avatar
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DIY: Wheel Restoration

I don't have a G35, but I thought some would find the following information useful if anyone wanted to take on a project such as this.

Sold my old wheels. Bought some rough 19" G35 wheels and commenced a major project in restoring the 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:
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New tires - 245/35/19 General Exclaim UHP
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One before & after scuffing:
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All scuffed up:
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Normal body Bondo used to fill in the imperfections:
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Bondo applied to the damaged areas:
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There was damage in the lug holes as well:
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Dremel attachment used to clean up the Bondo applied areas:
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After sanding:
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First coat of sandable primer added:
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3-4 coats later:
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The other wheels getting primer:
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The first of the 3 guns I ended up using. This one worked really well, but was flimsy and broke after a short time:
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The gun that has worked the best for me during the whole process:
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First coat of Dupli-Color Wheel Coating model# WP101


A few coats later:
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Inside is getting a fresh coat as well:
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After many coats of paint:
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After wet sanding:
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A few more minor touch-up spots and it will be time for clear coat:
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Last edited by SEmy2K2go; May 21, 2009 at 03:57 PM.
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Old May 22, 2009 | 01:22 AM
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awesome job man!

you really brought those back to life.
 
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Old May 25, 2009 | 10:47 AM
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Nice job..
Seeing that you did this all in your garage, I have one question.....
How the hell did you get the tires off the rims?
 
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Old May 25, 2009 | 11:19 AM
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wow sick job my cousin just picked up a set of some rims in really bad condition gonna try your method first before we go to a rim repair shop.
major props once again on the sick job
 
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Old May 25, 2009 | 04:32 PM
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Wow those look great. I have to ask though, do you have prior experience with this? Would you suggest this to somebody who's never done this before? I really want to do this to a set of wheels I picked up as well, but am kinda intimidated. Suggestions?
 
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Old May 26, 2009 | 07:30 PM
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I'd like to try this as well
 
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Old May 27, 2009 | 01:19 PM
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Originally Posted by johnnyzee
awesome job man!

you really brought those back to life.
Thanks man.

Originally Posted by delion21
Nice job..
Seeing that you did this all in your garage, I have one question.....
How the hell did you get the tires off the rims?
I had a shop dismount the tires for $8/per

Originally Posted by jist26
wow sick job my cousin just picked up a set of some rims in really bad condition gonna try your method first before we go to a rim repair shop.
major props once again on the sick job
Saved me over $500 vs having a local wheel repair place doing them.

Originally Posted by headhunt3r
Wow those look great. I have to ask though, do you have prior experience with this? Would you suggest this to somebody who's never done this before? I really want to do this to a set of wheels I picked up as well, but am kinda intimidated. Suggestions?
I had not attempted refinishing any wheels until this set. I read A LOT of write-ups on the web and just dove in.
 
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Old May 27, 2009 | 04:22 PM
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wow if only mines werent as curbed as they are(previous owner).....my 2 front ones are curbed all around while my rears are semi curbed around. It will take too much time to sand them down and bondo and what now so im thinking of just taking them to get powder coated black or gunmetal metallic.
 
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Old Jun 12, 2009 | 02:37 AM
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nice!!! I wonder where you got the spray gun. The rust oleum one
 
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Old Jun 13, 2009 | 03:48 AM
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nice job, how many cans of wheel paint did u use....i plan on refinishing a set of G35 coupe 18s
 
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Old Jun 18, 2009 | 08:34 AM
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Awsome job!! How long did it actually take? Did you wait a full day between primer and paint and clear coat? Thanks in advance!
 
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Old Jun 18, 2009 | 07:17 PM
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hmmm

Just a question. When u did this project is ur car jacked up with 4 jacks or with 4 shoes?
 
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Old Jun 28, 2009 | 04:09 AM
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Originally Posted by SEmy2K2go
The gun that has worked the best for me during the whole process:
Woohoo! Found it! I was looking for "spray adapter" or "aerosol adapter" and kept finding the crappy one he didn't like. But this one is called a Comfort Grip. There's another one they make called a Spray Grip, but the Comfort looks better (uhh, from a performance point of view, not appearance).

http://www.rustoleum.com/CBGProduct.asp?pid=38

$5 to $10 online, although you could probably find it locally.
 

Last edited by BuckeyeInMI; Jun 28, 2009 at 04:13 AM.
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Old Jun 28, 2009 | 04:19 AM
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nice job. they look great
 
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Old Jul 14, 2009 | 02:21 PM
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So this job will take out curb rash?
If so where would i be able to pick up these products?
 
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