Smart Repair > Alloy wheel Refurbishment > Example
The rim of this alloy wheel is scuffed and curbed, it also has some deep gouges and plenty of chips, some of which have allowed corrosion to blister areas of the paint.
We remove the wheels and hot pressure wash them to remove grit and brake dust. The tyre is deflated and a pneumatic press used to 'break the bead' and push the tyre back from the face, allowing us access the rim without fully removing the tyre (because wheels can be damaged during tyre fitting). We would only advise stripping all the paint on a wheel in cases of severe corrosion, the paint that is on the wheel is a factory finish, cured hard in an drying oven and further seasoned by age making it a good solid base. We fill any gouges with liquid metal and sand back damaged areas, we also sand the entire face of the wheel to provide a suitable 'key' for the fresh paint to stick to. Preparation is everything -- and it's the extra time we spend doing this that allows us to offer a 3 year guarantee.
A thick coat of etch primer is then applied, followed by the base colour and then a premium quality lacquer -- all cured hard with infra-red light. We then re-inflate the tyres, and it's at this point you can opt to have a tyre sealant. The wheel is refitted to the car, and the bolts tightened to the correct tension using a torque wrench. We also clean and dress the tyres.
top