Im just going to do a quick writeup on what I have been up to today. Friday night I picked up a set of 15" Enkei wheels, the offset is a bit high but they will do for runabouts. They were in ok condition when I picked them up, but they did need a bit of work to make them look new again. After having a fun time restoring the old Simmons, I thought I would get stuck into it..
Here is the link to my old Simmons job. http://mx5cartalk.com/phpBB-3.0.2/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=30210&hilit=simmons
This is what the wheels looked like when I picked them up, a fair amount of gutter rash on all rims, centre caps looked like ass (clear lens had yellowed and was chipping off), and the paint on one wheel (top right) had something on it that had eaten through the paint/clear on most of the wheel, and was damaging the alloy (cant really see it in the pic).
Today I got up and decided to get to work. First off I got a very fine file, and filed out all of the gutter rash. Most of the gutter rash wasn't deep so I was lucky. Next I got some paint stripper and covered the wheels with it, that stripped of all the silver paint, and the clear lacquer. This exposed the bare alloy so I gave the lips a decent sanding with wet and dry, working from 600grit to 2000.
Here are a couple after being filed, and stripped, lip sanding awaits..
After they had been cleaned up it was time to get the centres painted. I was thinking about going gold like with my old Simmons, but I liked the silver look so I decided to keep it that way. I picked up a couple cans of White Knight S.L.S etch primer, and a couple cans of Chevy Rally Silver VHT Wheel paint (SP-186). I got Rally Silver VHT as the other 2 silvers they offered looked too dark.
I cleaned the centres up with prepsol to make sure the paint would stick, and then masked up the polished lip and the holes in the spokes. First I sprayed the centres with the S.L.S Etch primer, which is made to prime bare metals like Aluminium, steel, gal etc. This helps the top colour coat stick alot better to the wheel, and seeing as the wheel is going to cop stones hits, brake dust, and high temps its was probably a good idea. Once the primer had dried I went over it with a few coats of the Aluminium VHT wheel paint, and let it sit in the sun.
While the paint was drying I gave the centre caps some attention. The clear plastic lens on emblems had yellowed, and was chipping off. I spent a few minutes trying to chip away at the plastic lens with no success, It would take hours to get right. I popped the emblem out of the cap and had a closer look, its was a very thin piece of aluminium with the enkei emblem stamped into it, and a clear lens on top. I decided to strip off the adhesive on the back of the emblem and see how it looked. This was alot better, instead of the enkei emblem being embossed out, it was imprinted on the other side. I then cleaned the rest of the gunk off of the plastic centre caps and emblems, and then gave the back of the emblems a light sanding with 1200grit. I polished them up with mothers metal polish, and mounted them backwards in the centre caps with adhesive...Perfect
Before and after..
By the time I was finished doing all 4 centre caps the wheels were pretty much touch dry. Ill let them sit overnight, and in the 34 degree sun tomorrow so the paint bakes real well.
Here is where im up to now, all 4 wheels are painted and drying. I still need to give the outer lips on all of them a good polishing, and mount the centre caps, after that they should be all finished..
Looking like new again, painted and drying in the sun. (excuse the fingerprints, they still need polishing)
hope you all like.
Ryan
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**Update**
Just a small update, the wheels are all dry and looking fantastic, I have finished working on the centre caps also. Painted the stamped parts in Royal blue, polished them up, and then clear coated.
Looking good..
All that is left now is to polish the lips, I didnt want to risk it while the paint was still soft.
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**Update**
Pic of the wheels with the caps mounted... If I get some time tomorrow ill give them a polish.
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**They are all done and fitted**
Got some RE001's fitted this morning, and put the wheels on the car.
First impressions are they look alot nicer on the car than I was expecting, the steering is lighter and more responsive now (im guessing higher offset). The tyres grip very well, but I wont push them until they have worn in a bit.
Pics of the finished wheels..
Job is complete..
)
