Refurbing my new old alloys

corazon

corazon

Well-Known Member
I've been stripping and hand finishing the vitesse rims i bought recently, very slow progress by hand but satisfying!
Looking pretty mirror-like already, so should look great when finished.
09062010365.jpg

There was a lot of pitting under the paint to sand out, but i weirdly enjoy this method :LOL:
The centres are going to be done properly in black, i just did a quick spray job to check i liked the look.

I was inspired/swayed to do black centres by this badboy!:
http://forums.beyond.ca/showthread/t-6928.html
 
Looking good! My SD1 Alloys are curently very similar - except that the black is a very dark slate grey. The hint of blue in them, I think, improves markedly on straight black. Mine are now very slowly leaking air - a common problem with old alloys, so will need to be refurbed soon. Key result is to restore the inner rim with a decent quality paint/lacquer, particularely the rim where the bead of the tyre sits. My plan at that stage is to change the centres to a very dark maroon, then do the front grilles (Lucky is an S1) similar to a NADA grille - ie with only the front vertical faces polished - in the same maroon. I'd like to pick out something at the back in that maroon too, but I haven't managed to think of anything yet.

Before you get the finish to final perfection, do remember to try one on both sides of the rear of your car fitted with an example of your choice of tyre. The clearances to the D post vary markedly car to car and also side to side on the same car (!!!). You may be lucky and get clearance straight out of the box, or just with a light nudge to the D post with a hydraulic jack, or you might want to take a very light skim off the hub mating face at the back of the wheel - between 2mm and 3.5 mm max.

I can't remember whether yours is a 4 cyl or V8? If a four then you will need to fit V8 top links at the back to give back clearance for the tyres.

I just adore that V12 Volga in your link. It looks fabulous and it took me a while to work out what the donor vehicle was! And yet when you look at the two cars side by side the body mods are astonishingly minor. I do hope they did something about the suspension....

Chris
 
I just adore that V12 Volga in your link. It looks fabulous and it took me a while to work out what the donor vehicle was! And yet when you look at the two cars side by side the body mods are astonishingly minor. I do hope they did something about the suspension....
Click to expand...

Minor??? They've only turned it into a two door, sectioned several inches out of the body, remodelled the wheelarches, flattened off the front cowl and replaced everything above the waistline! I'd love to see your idea of major mods Chris! :shock: :D
Very cool car though, and the wheels are looking great!
 
That Volga is an amazing piece of work. Looks great too!

Is it wet & dry you use or a fine dry paper & will you spray-laquer the rims? My Revolutions need doing.
 
It's definitely one of my favourite custom cars, shame they didn't keep the original interior!
I have wet and dry paper upto 3000 grade. Sanded to 2000 in the photo.
I do have polishing mops and rouge, but seem to get better results sanding to be honest.
I think i'm going to just be really conscientious about polishing them when done, wiping any water off after a run etc.
I've heard lacquering can cause all sorts of problems, plus won't look as shiny 8)
 
The laquer is peeling off mine & the alloy is corroding. As it's an every day car at the moment though I wouldn't be wiping them clean everytime it rains so would probably laquer again. I have another set of alloys I can fit but am considering fitting the standard wheels from my donor car too to see how she runs with those on, probably painted black with no trims. Maybe satin, maybe gloss.
 
Gorgeous! Those will look really good on the car, been thinking of doing the same thing with mine. Did you have them media blasted?

Read an article about that Volga several years ago, it mentioned an astronomical sum of money invested to get it done, about half a million pounds if I'm not mistaken? Someone ought to twig on it and design a Russian retro cruiser for the noughties!
 
Mine are painted silver at the moment but I do love the idea of the black inner section.

How long did it take to rub it down to that standard?

Richard
 
Thanks for the compliments everyone, and words of caution Chris.
Mine's a v8, and with any luck might just bolt straight on!
But will definitely thoroughly check all clearances before finishing.
I'll be taping the fronts when it comes to getting tyres fitted too, as i really don't trust people to be careful enough!

I cant really say how long its taken so far Richard, as i just do an hour or so every other day. Not too long :LOL:
 
That Volga is incredible, just gorgeous styling, love it, hope my coupe can look something like that in the end, although I'll be stearing clear of gloss black !

In terms of refurbing the wheels, I had an idea the if you could get an old hub and drive it from an old tumble drier motor or something, it would make the whole job a lot quicker, spin the wheel up then use flap wheels on drills, or sand paper etc without your fingers dropping off !! My moto "if a job's worth doing - it's worth getting a power tool to make it easier"

I've been refurbing some 800 wheels for about 3 years now, just stripping the old paint off is painfull enough :LOL:
 
Why not use the car itself? Jack up one side at the rear so wheel is just off ground,
and then leave it ticking over in gear.
 
colnerov said:
Why not use the car itself? Jack up one side at the rear so wheel is just off ground,
and then leave it ticking over in gear.
Click to expand...

Because if you start to apply some force for sanding etc. the differential will try to apply some torque to the other wheel, still on the ground, and you wouldn't really want this!
 
colnerov said:
Why not use the car itself? Jack up one side at the rear so wheel is just off ground,
and then leave it ticking over in gear.
Click to expand...

Hmm.. don't do that :shock:

I had a spare suspension leg with the disc and hub intact so I mounted it in a vice and painted my old SD1 wheels by spinning the wheel and holding the aerosol tin steady.

Long time ago so I don't have the spare leg now, but I could do it before putting the suspension back on the car. 8)

I have an old, but working, washing machine motor as well ............. I can see me losing fingers soon :?

Richard
 
Demetris said:
colnerov said:
Why not use the car itself? Jack up one side at the rear so wheel is just off ground,
and then leave it ticking over in gear.
Click to expand...

Because if you start to apply some force for sanding etc. the differential will try to apply some torque to the other wheel, still on the ground, and you wouldn't really want this!
Click to expand...

Better to have both wheels off the ground, then at least the diff can do what it wants without much chance of moving the vehicle. I have done something similar on modern FWD cars to perform quick "skims" of brake discs, jack it up, get them spinning, apply sander/angle grinder, great for clearing surface rust after longtime storage.
 
Ahem..... well..... I do have a set of overalls with "Bodge It" written on the back , my friend had a set with "Scarper" on ! (going back quite a few years), used to cause all sorts of laughs in Halfords etc.... :LOL:
 
webmaster said:
Ahem..... well..... I do have a set of overalls with "Bodge It" written on the back , my friend had a set with "Scarper" on ! (going back quite a few years), used to cause all sorts of laughs in Halfords etc.... :LOL:
Click to expand...

Back in the easrly 80's, me and a mate were short of work so we put an advert in the local free paper which just said

Bodgitt & Legitt
Odd Jobs
Everything considered, nothing guaranteed

We got everything from fitting cat flaps, making up flat pack furniture to replacing garage doors.

Some poor old soul actually phoned and asked for Mr Bodgitt :shock:
 
quattro said:
webmaster said:
Ahem..... well..... I do have a set of overalls with "Bodge It" written on the back , my friend had a set with "Scarper" on ! (going back quite a few years), used to cause all sorts of laughs in Halfords etc.... :LOL:
Click to expand...

Back in the easrly 80's, me and a mate were short of work so we put an advert in the local free paper which just said

Bodgitt & Legitt
Odd Jobs
Everything considered, nothing guaranteed

We got everything from fitting cat flaps, making up flat pack furniture to replacing garage doors.

Some poor old soul actually phoned and asked for Mr Bodgitt :shock:
Click to expand...


Although the Bodgitt part (which is pretty much obvious...) was enough to find it hillarious, i don't get the Legitt part of the story.
Could you explain it to me?

Nice sence of humor by the way! :D
 
Hi Demetris

A very English idiom / bit of slang! Leggit means that after the job is done the perpetrator "legs it", ie runs away, so as to avoid the anger of the customer who has had their job bodged!

Chris
 
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