Just bought myself a quad of 15" Pug Aluminiums in medium condition. They seem to be solid except for the fact that the old coat has deteriorated and left dull spots. I was wondering if and how any of you had redone your wheels. I'm thinking about saving myself a triple digit figure to have them machined and basically sanding down, then spraying with silver paint and applying several layers of lacquer.

 

If this is a feasable idea, how many coats of each do you suggest, which brands of paint would you use, etc. I would like for such a paintjob to last until the next time I would need tires (bare rims now), does that sound realistic?

 

Today I dropped off my Subaru alloys ('95 Leg) at the local 'STAT' franchise. They will soda blast them next time they're running the machine for $50.00 for all four wheels. Then I'll give them a couple coats of semi-gloss clear poly and call it good.

my advise:

 

do it right, get them powdercoated.

Who does the sorts of things? And how much can one expect it to cost? A machine shop here in Orlando wanted a few hundred to redo the wheels.

i used the duplicolor wheel paint, looks hot and holds up.

you can get them powdercoated for arount $100... it will be worth it for its longevity and scratch resistance

I went thru quite an ordeal on my set...

First I had them beadblasted to bare aluminum, and then sevearl clearcoats of Eastwood Diamond Gloss. A total waste. They looked like sh*t.

So I stripped them down to aluminum again with aircraft stripper. I prepped the aluminum with acetone, then painted the inner (non-machined) splines with Eastwood silver wheel paint. Finally, I polished the outer (machined) splines with Mother's Aluminum Polish. Now they looked sharp!! Only problem is that they require frequent cleaning and polishing.

My advice: stip them down to bare aluminum with aircraft stripper. Paint the non-machined splines with the color of your choice. Powder coating would be a plus, but is certainly not necessary. Polish the machined splines with an aluminum cleaner until they look perfect. Then go with several clear coats of Diamond Gloss.

If you are a perfectionist, glue on some Subaru wagon wheel centercaps to cover the big ugly Pug holes.

That should do the trick...

good luck, John

What should I do if some paint or what I'm assuming is primer just wont budge? I have a wheel mostly cleaned now, except there's still the occasionally spot where there's a blot or it's still milky looking because I can't get the paint out of the grooves in the spokes. Besides that, the paint around the centercap area won't go away at all really, though now it looks very dull and matte. Do I need to clean everything before I get it blasted? I'm using aircraft stripper by the way.

sand, or bead blasting will leave them with a dull look, even if you clear coat them. youd have to get em blasted, then polish them by hand, starting with sand paper, then working down to less and less coarse abrasives, till you get to aluminum polish. then clear coat, or get them clear powdercoated,or anodized.

or just have them powdercoated silver again. thats how my pugs are.

 

i just painted my 4runner mags with black engine paint, then baked them, after bead blasting all of the clear coat off of them. they look nice, but will most likely scratch pretty easily(offroading). engine paint is tough, never tried wheel paint tho.

But is it important to get every last bit of paint away before I have em blasted, or was stripping them first unnecessary?

If you are going to have them blasted, then stripping them prior is unnecessary. Any blasting will remove any finish thats on there (duh)

Well, I don't quite agree on the 'duh' part. I have zero experience with sand/beadblasting, and so I have no clue as to how effective the process is. A local machine shop suggested I strip the crap off first.

 

So in order:

 

1. Strip (optional)

2. Blast

3. Sand (wet sanding?)

4. Buff/Polish?

5. Prime ---

6. Paint |---- (if desired

7. Coat ---

 

How does that sound? Sorry about the nitpickery, never done this before and I paid 200$ bucks for these wheels, on a student's budget

 

I'm looking for longevity and modest bling.

bump.

Damn, to bad you don't live closer, I do powdercoating.

 

I agree with styles, powdercoating is the way to, ALOT more durable than paint with alot better finish that will last the life of the car.

 

 

~CHIM~

anyone know of a reasonably priced powdercoat shop in the dallas TX area. The cheapest I have found by calling around is $45 per wheel for blasting and coating.

anyone know of a reasonably priced powdercoat shop in the dallas TX area. The cheapest I have found by calling around is $45 per wheel for blasting and coating.

 

Around here there's a couple of places that redo lawn furniture, and they do powdercoating pretty cheap. You might have to get them to order a color for you or something, but it might be another avenue to try.

 

You could also try calling some local street rod builders and see who they use. Most professional rod builders powdercoat a ton -- most of the suspension parts before assembly, along with the frame. They would know the best prices, and what shops to avoid. If you get friendly with one of the rod builders, maybe you can even piggyback on one of their orders and get their rates too.

 

- Freed

thanks for the advice...will be skimming through the yellow pages tomorrow...or technically a little later today.

anyone know of a reasonably priced powdercoat shop in the dallas TX area. The cheapest I have found by calling around is $45 per wheel for blasting and coating.

 

What's wrong with that price? I paid $50 to have mine blasted and painted and now it's chipping and it's only been like 3 months. I would have done powder coating for that pricing.

Well, I'm going to revive an old thread since I have an extra question on this subject...

 

 

I have the typical clearcoat problem, and I'm interested in refinishing the wheels myself. I'm NOT interested in powdercoating. So I'd like to know what kind of clearcoat should I use. Are we takling about some sort of automotive clearcoat like for painted surfaces that comes in a spray can from an automotive store? Will that hold well to the aluminum? What's the best way to wipe down the aluminum before clearcoating to be sure it will hold? ...alcohol? ...acetone?

I don't mind putting in the elbow grease to polish up the wheels. I just want the final effect to last a while once it's done. I live by "Do it right the first time!"

 

Thanks everyone.

I used acetone to clean the aluminum after they were stripped clean.

As far as clearcoats, I tried one sold thru Eastwood Supply called "Diamond Coat" or something like that. I did not like the results. It gave the wheels a yellowish tint. This may have been because the aluminum needed further polishing.

Anyway, I stripped off the clear coat and used old fashioned aluminum mag wheel polish. Looked great for a while. I did not wax (or clearcoat again) so they became dingy again.

Please post your results, especially if you go the "aluminum polish-then-clearcoat" route.

good luck, John

Green Scotch-Brite pad, laquer thinner, Duplicolor wheel paint.

 

Good results for an old Soobie.

 

If it were a collector's car or something then the laborious process of polishing would be justified. My Soobie has stock alloys off an '85. The Duplicolor paint is the ticket.

 

Tracy

 

 

 

Just bought myself a quad of 15" Pug Aluminiums in medium condition. They seem to be solid except for the fact that the old coat has deteriorated and left dull spots. I was wondering if and how any of you had redone your wheels. I'm thinking about saving myself a triple digit figure to have them machined and basically sanding down, then spraying with silver paint and applying several layers of lacquer.

 

If this is a feasable idea, how many coats of each do you suggest, which brands of paint would you use, etc. I would like for such a paintjob to last until the next time I would need tires (bare rims now), does that sound realistic?