Decided to refurb my kerbed wheel.

malcolm E53 AMG

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£50+ is a lot of money to spend on 3 wheel brushes ..... I don't think I could justify the money.
That’s what I thought but I persuaded myself it was worth the investment and I’m impressed with the product it will last and does a good job. I like the wheels to look spot on probably a bit OCD about it but as alloy spoked wheels show disc hubs, calipers and wheel barrels covered in brake dust it’s a must for me
 

JBell

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That looks like the typical blistering of electrolytic action going on between the centre disc and the alloy wheel, is the centre disc, or does it have, metallic friction clips holding on to the alloy wheel and have they found bare metal at all? Mineral rich Rain or Saltwater at this time of Year would act as the electrolyte, if the insert is a plastic it may even be the metallic properties of the silvered finish, look for further corrosion inside and see what you find?

It is usually because the lacquer is really thin on the edge where the centre cap goes in so it chips easily putting centre caps in (even if only once), water gets under it and lifts it, jet washing makes it worse
 

rorywquin

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It is usually because the lacquer is really thin on the edge where the centre cap goes in so it chips easily putting centre caps in (even if only once), water gets under it and lifts it, jet washing makes it worse
I agree but mine have never been off so it happened at the factory. I took it as far as the ombudsman who said the car is out of warranty --- & basically “too bad”......
 

JBell

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I agree but mine have never been off so it happened at the factory. I took it as far as the ombudsman who said the car is out of warranty --- & basically “too bad”......

Yup, this is why powdercoat is best in this climate
 

malcolm E53 AMG

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It is usually because the lacquer is really thin on the edge where the centre cap goes in so it chips easily putting centre caps in (even if only once), water gets under it and lifts it, jet washing makes it worse
Yes every time you have the tyres changed and balanced the centre caps have to be pushed out - poor design really cheap and cheerful
 

JBell

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Just had one 19” AMG wheel refurbished at FAW … £85 plus vat. Complete strip sand bast, check for fractures and dents.
Sadly it was slightly buckled so another £20 To straighten it . They say 95% of wheels they do are buckled even those that are circa 2 years old.

Unfortunately they now use a different paint supplier , so not a perfect match !


View attachment 74148
But close enough ??
it does look a tad brighter but the inside of the rear is very dirty ( grey to black ) so the front with shiny silver will reflect more.
Tomorrow I will take off the rear and clean the inside painted part hoping to “brighten“ up the overall image.
View attachment 74149
If you were really looking for a paint mismatch you might think hmmm thats is a tad off. But just walkinG up to the car ai think most folks would not see it.

Just have the other one on that side done
 
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s5tuart

s5tuart

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I chickened out. I took the car to MintAlloys in Wrest Park today and have booked in for all four wheels to be powder coated Mercedes' Light Anthracite. Aka Himalayan Grey.
£90 each but that's the complete works including rebalancing.
Includes wheel straightening if needed, sand blasting etc so it's in for 14th February.
The diamond cutting was an extra £30 a wheel but I decided against that.
I saw some of the work going through the workshop and it certainly looks worth the money.
 

Submariner1

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A bit of good news on the CL500.
Took the previously refurbished rear off and cleaned the inside.
Instead of being almost black, its back to powder-coat silver, and this extra reflectiveness seemed to brighten up the wheel and its very hard to tell a colour difference.

Any slight difference might be down to the fact, that the original refurb, used a sort of powder coat like silver on the inside Of the wheel . Whereas the single new refurb takes the same “Outside“ silver and clear coat throughout the whole wheel (I personally prefer this, looks better and being shinier guess will clean more easily ).

948A5C8B-04F1-499D-B3E3-038B01204A8C.jpeg
 

Submariner1

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Pleased with the A Class cheapo job
2F302FF8-6182-4E0D-953D-6CAC68E53C0E.jpeg
Had to do 2 because they had internal rim corrosion so leaked down in 4 days. £55.80 incl VAT and fitting tyre and balancing.
Pretty reasonable for a full strip down and powdercoating, plus a silver top coat and clearcoat ?
Just waiting for the 2nd one to be finished.
I was pretty surprised that my hand sprayed bolts took the 110 Nm without skinning off the paint at all.
Probably due to baking them in the oven! First at 65C for an hour and let cool down and then at 70C for 1.5 hours.
This was done 2 days after the clear coat had been drying. ( the latter is to avoid the wife crucifying me - no smell this way ).

And will probably do the other 2 as they are pretty scruffy, and the bolt heads are seriously rusty.
C9CCA65A-5E23-4C91-AD91-B7624F5D86E0.jpeg
 

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