Refurbishing alloy wheels

[dgbalfour]

I bought a set of Virgo alloy wheels from a scrapyard in December last year. All had excellent tyres on but two were not holding pressure. I took them in and was told that the rim had corroded. The tyre shop then brushed off the corrosion and refitted the tyre.

Although this helped, it hasn't stopped air escaping. There's a 10 PSI drop over a week.

So I think I need them re-lacquered, and I may has well have them fully refurbished whilst I'm at it. Can anybody recommend a place that could do such a thing? I'm based in Nottingham but travel down to the South coast (Portsmouth) often. How much should I expect to pay?

David

[LankyTim]

For a full refurb, i.e blasting, repairing any kerbing and repaint and laquer its about £25- £30 per wheel. They come back like brand new! I dont know of any local companies to you though..

[TheJoyOfSix]

Crikey! I don't know of anywhere that'll do all that for £30 a wheel. When I got my andromedas for the 960 I was quoted upwards of £50 a wheel for just a blast and respray, any repairs would be extra. I ended up taking them to a powdercoating company in Ripley who charged £31 a wheel for beadblast, powdercoat and lacquer. They did say that due to the large centre area of the wheel this price was quite high and that for a wheel with less metal the cost would be in the region of £20-£25.

Here's a recent (today) pic of the 960 to show thw wheels (ish)....

[LankyTim]

The place I used was in Bilston, Wolverhampton and was about 5 years ago now. Im sure it was £25 ish per wheel for a blast, quick spin on a lathe thing to remove kerbing and spray and laquer. There was one wheel which had about a quarter of its rim totally missing after an accident. I thought it was scrap only, but they completely replaced the rim with a new rim welded on and got it as good as new for £125 if I remember right. Its cheaper if you have a complete set done as they dont have to worry about matching the colour of one wheel to match the rest. Apparently it wan take a while to get the colour exactly right. Im having a set of 740 turbo wheels done soon when money permits.

[jetronic63]

..... I live about 15 miles from Portsmouth and about 3 months ago I used www.wickedwheels.com to refurb the split rim alloys on my Boxster S. They were recommended to me by my local bodyshop and they were excellent. They arrived in a van which was like a mini spray shop - did the whole thing on my driveway in one day. Charge was £70/wheel and I am now thinking of having my 240s wheels done as the effect was so good but I haven't had a quote for these yet. It should be cheaper than £70 as the wheels don't have to be split and re-assembled - I do think 25 - 30 wheel is probably unrealistic unless you know someone who knows someone etc etc.

www.wickedwheels.com

Steve

[LankyTim]

Ive used a firm about 2 years ago in Birmingham. www.sweeneysherlock.co.uk They refurbished 2 full sets of alloys for me, 5 triumph 2000 alloys and a set of volvo 740 rims. Blast, slight kerbing damage removal and powder coating cost about £25 per wheel, I think the prices have gone up now though. they did a slight discount as it was for 10 wheels. Did a good job in my opinion, The triumph wheels were badly corroded and had been sat outside for about 15 years. I thought that they would say they were too far gone but they did a good job reviving them!

I think that mobile units must be more expensive than workshop based outfits.

[Mike_Brace]

The air loss problem itself can be rectified by removing the tyres and wire brushing the lip the tyre seals on. Then apply a couple of coats of paint before refitting tyres.

Mike