Can I borrow some smart 15" OZ wheels please?

[madbilly]

Hi all,

Bit of a weird request but I'm going to use my Elan for my wedding a week on Saturday and my wheels are pretty ugly (bad paint job) and I'm struggling to justify the outlay for refurbing them just for looking smart at the wedding. Does anyone within an hour of Cheltenham have a smart set of 15" OZ alloys, preferably with tyrses on (but not essential) that I can borrow please? I can come and collect them this weekend, but being honest upfront I will struggle to get them back to you until July because we're setting off on honeymoon the day after our wedding.

Thanks,
Will

[HJ2]

Why not plastidip them?

[theelanman]

tin of silver spray paint.....????
wont take you more than an hour just to blow them over as its only a temporary measure.....

[Jeemy]

If you do decide to blow them over a good cheap way to prevent overspray is to partially deflate the tyres and stick playing cards all round the outside tucked into the rim.

[madbilly]

Good suggestions thanks.

Henk, for plastidip, what prep did you do? I'd like to have them silver so I think I'd use gray or white and spray over with some silver "metaliser" right? How long do you think it would take from your experience?

If I went down the spray paint option, if I wanted it to last a while I presume I'd need to rub down the existing paint, use an etch primer, spray silver paint, then spray lacquer over it, in total it would take a few days allowing drying time etc wouldn't it? I think even if I just did a quick spray over with silver I'd want to lacquer them afterwards wouldn't I?

[tb10]

Will,

I have just had my 15" OZ's refurbed in gloss black if that's any use? I also have a set of S2's currently being refurbed in silver as we speak if they are any good? Is the wedding in Cheltenham? I'm in Bromsgrove. I would need either set back asap though so maybe a swap over on the night?

Regards


John

[theelanman]

If I went down the spray paint option, if I wanted it to last a while I presume I'd need to rub down the existing paint, use an etch primer, spray silver paint, then spray lacquer over it, in total it would take a few days allowing drying time etc wouldn't it? I think even if I just did a quick spray over with silver I'd want to lacquer them afterwards wouldn't I?

I depends on what you wanted to do...if you've no time them just blow them over with a 'silver paint'
if you have more time rub and paint
if even more time rub, etch and paint....
and if you've got ages rub, etch, paint and lacquer

I thought that if time and money were against you then a quick blow over in silver may be good enough to pass muster for just one day...

[madbilly]

@thelanman - I think you're right, a quick flash of silver paint would probably do for a day, but it would rely on me doing it well enough that it didn't look even worse!

@tb10 - thanks for the offer, but I don't think me delaying my first night of married life to get my hands dirty in the car park would go down well! Seriously, it's very generous of you, but I don't think I would be able to get the wheels back to you until July.

As it is I've been quoted £75+VAT per wheel for a full refurb (chemical strip, powder coat base, wet coat colour and powder coat lacquer - I need to check it includes repairing any grazes, scratches etc) at Reinventing the Wheel in Tewkesbury, -£10 per wheel if I find somewhere else to remove and replace, rebalance and revalve my tyres, and +£25 per wheel if I decide to have them straightened as well, but as it is they're not very wobbly. They may be able to source me new tyres to save the £10 per wheel but that would be rather counter-productive given I'm trying to save money!

I asked my usual garage about doing the tyres and they quoted me £10 per wheel, so that's no use.

Does anyone have any experience of wheel straightening? How good is it, how close to perfect do they get? Or is it not really worth it unless the wheels are really bent?

[Jeemy]

I've straightened a buckle on the outside of an alloy using a heatgun and a hammer and a block of wood. There was a major risk of cracking the alloy. I believe even if it wasn't a hackjob there is a medium risk of this, it just depends if the deformation has caused any structural weakness which is impossible to measure without mad-scientist type tools.

Unless there was some kind of warning when you got the tyres done last, I would under normal circumstances be hesitant but £25 per wheel sounds pretty cheap, and if they were confident there was no chance of damage then I'd say go for it.

[GeoffSmith]

Henk, for plastidip, what prep did you do?

I think the answer is next to bugger all. Have you read his thread?

[madbilly]

Geoff, I had read it, just obviously not very well.

As it is, the place that's fitting my hood also gets wheels refurbed, media blast, repair scratches etc, powder coat for £35 a wheel inc VAT (but not including tyre removal and refitting) - basically half the price of the other place I was going to go to, but granted possibly not quite as good a job. However I can live with that for half price for almost as good and me having to spend none of my own time on it. I'll try and remember to put pics up and their contact details for others' interest.

[HJ2]

Henk, for plastidip, what prep did you do?

I think the answer is next to bugger all. Have you read his thread?

And once again.... Beat me to it!

[madbilly]

So the cheap refurb job I had done is just that. They didn't remove any of the deeper dints or scratches and the finish although glossy isn't super flat, there's a few light bumps etc in the paint but all this is only visible on closer inspection. This may be always the case with powder coating, I don't know. However, it's a much better paint job than I had before, and it could just be that the better paint is making the imperfections more noticeable.