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Refurbing my 108's myself

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srhutch
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Re: Refurbing my 108's myself

Post by srhutch » Tue Apr 07, 2009 2:04 pm

cj10jeeper wrote: On the OEM finish I'd say it was lacquered all over in one go, but difficult to tell as that's also the area where all the dirt and crud builds up. I just cleaned it down and flased some silver paint over it.
You mean with the star in, if thats the case no wonder the corrode
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Re: Refurbing my 108's myself

Post by Dreamer » Wed Apr 08, 2009 1:06 am

Look great.
Exactly what i did, but I painted the outer edge in Wurth Silver as I prefer it having the same finish as the center star.
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Re: Refurbing my 108's myself

Post by cj10jeeper » Wed Apr 08, 2009 8:59 am

srhutch wrote:
cj10jeeper wrote: On the OEM finish I'd say it was lacquered all over in one go, but difficult to tell as that's also the area where all the dirt and crud builds up. I just cleaned it down and flased some silver paint over it.
You mean with the star in, if thats the case no wonder the corrode
No of course not - with the star out.
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Re: Refurbing my 108's myself

Post by a11y » Wed Apr 08, 2009 9:09 am

Great job Nerra :thumbsup:


CJ/Nerra,

I'd now really tempted to try a refurb myself, but have a couple of Q's about products:

- what exact lacquer did you use afterwards?

- CJ, you mention a polish kit - is it possible you could post more details of this or a link to the actual product?

- I don't have any power tools for attaching a rotary wire brush, etc: is it feasible to attempt this all by hand?

Cheers
Ally
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Re: Refurbing my 108's myself

Post by cj10jeeper » Wed Apr 08, 2009 9:28 am

a11y wrote:Great job Nerra :thumbsup:


CJ/Nerra,

I'd now really tempted to try a refurb myself, but have a couple of Q's about products:

- what exact lacquer did you use afterwards?

- CJ, you mention a polish kit - is it possible you could post more details of this or a link to the actual product?

- I don't have any power tools for attaching a rotary wire brush, etc: is it feasible to attempt this all by hand?

Cheers
Ally

Go to this post and you can see the 'how-to'
http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic ... urbishment

Page one has a picture of the polishing kit, also a link to the supplier of star bits. Call Merlin, tell them what you want and they make a specific kit up for you - very helpful.

IMHO anything can be done without power tools, but it's the time and effort is disproportional. I used a couple of grades of grit to remove corrosion but them switched to power tools. You can get a battery rechargable hand drill from B&Q for £10 so why not? I'm fortunate that I have a bench stand drill and operate a long flexy drive from it giving me a useful and versatile polisher.
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Re: Refurbing my 108's myself

Post by a11y » Wed Apr 08, 2009 10:00 am

Thanks again, a kit made up from Merlin to do the whole job is ideal. I've already got the 12-point star bits ready to do this. And just remembered I've got a Black & Decker Quattro power tool thing that'll help, never gets used :oops:

IIRC you didn't lacquer yours at first, but then had issues with salt going straight through the wax on the lips? What lacquer did you then use afterwards once you'd tidied them up again? Once I tidy my wheels up, the last thing I want is a lacquer breaking down issue through using crap stuff or the wrong type of lacquer!

My only other issue is removing the kerbing marks (previous owner!) which I plan to use a very rough grade of sanding paper beforehand. Hopefully won't have to resort to anything more brutal than that.
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Re: Refurbing my 108's myself

Post by cj10jeeper » Wed Apr 08, 2009 10:08 am

Yep - Merlin thought quality wax would work, but this Winter was savage on road salt, so I had to quickly pull them to bits reshine the lips and sprayed with Halfords clear coat (Lesson learnt). I don't think it matters what you use as they will all deteriorate in a couple of years with water creep in minor marks, around the edges, etc. I can however now redo all 4 in no more than 2 hours with the kit, tools and expertise to hand.

Do call Merlin. I found them on Ebay but they are specialist metal polishing suppliers. Really helpful but they talk a strange language about Vienna Lime, mops, bar polishes, etc.

Small kerb marks can easily be sanded to reprofile them out. Major dings would need a pro to weld them or rather crude filler (which of course can't be polished).
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Re: Refurbing my 108's myself

Post by a11y » Wed Apr 08, 2009 10:34 am

Cool, cheers. When I call Merlin I'll just tell them what I'm intending doing and mention your kit. I think I've found the kit on their website, appears to be the same contents as in your guide topic, for £16.50.

I've gone off powder-coating my alloys - the polished lip just looks much better. My centres are OK too so it's only the rims/lips that need the TLC.
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Re: Refurbing my 108's myself

Post by Mr Whippy » Wed Apr 08, 2009 11:09 am

Get a good laquer for use ontop of polished metals, rather than laquer for ontop of normal paints.

There are special laquers in both 2k and 1k for going ontop of polished metals and I'm sure the performance is better since they actually offer these specialist laquers!

1k
http://www.frost.co.uk/item_Detail.asp? ... ubCatID=32

2k
http://www.wheelpaints.co.uk/category_Clearcoats_1.htm (CA LAK)

And as noted before, if you are doing your centres
http://www.wheelpaints.co.uk/product_details_7.htm (Deutsche Silver (OEM for these wheels iirc))



Then go over the top with a 1k or 2k laquer for use ontop of paints

http://www.wheelpaints.co.uk/category_A ... mers_1.htm

or

http://www.frost.co.uk/item_Detail.asp? ... ubCatID=32


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Re: Refurbing my 108's myself

Post by Mr Whippy » Wed Apr 08, 2009 11:14 am

a11y wrote:I've gone off powder-coating my alloys - the polished lip just looks much better. My centres are OK too so it's only the rims/lips that need the TLC.
Powdercoating never looks as nice as proper wet paints because the build is high and gets lumpy, and since that is lumpy the wet special coats are lumpy, and then the top-coat clear is lumpy, so you never get super sharp reflections/highlights in the laquer. Many may never notice, but you can't really cut it back smooth either because the lumps are really big in paint terms. The laquer is technically smooth in micro scale, the actual topography of the underlying paint is what is lumpy in a more macro scale!

I really want to avoid powdercoating for those reasons. It's not really designed for normal road car wheels, it's more for heavy duty/toughness on 4x4's and so on.

What gives you an idea of the time/attention to detail is that the powdercoaters will do mine in a day at £80 each, while the wet painter will want them for 9 days and charge £90 each.
That tells me the wet painters are going to spend more time doing a better process! ( www.steve-edwards.com seen his work before and it is, imho, superior to oem, and he is highly recommended, just not cheap when you consider £200 for old 107's and £380 recon = nearly £600, and brand new 107's from BMW are £850! )

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Re: Refurbing my 108's myself

Post by a11y » Wed Apr 08, 2009 11:27 am

Dave

Go on then, what's the difference between 1k and 2k lacquers then? I've got zero knowledge of these and you've just confused me further over what lacquer I should use for my wheels...

Also, what quantity I'd need for doing 4 wheels?

Cheers
Ally
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Re: Refurbing my 108's myself

Post by Mr Whippy » Wed Apr 08, 2009 11:56 am

a11y wrote:Dave

Go on then, what's the difference between 1k and 2k lacquers then? I've got zero knowledge of these and you've just confused me further over what lacquer I should use for my wheels...

Also, what quantity I'd need for doing 4 wheels?

Cheers
Ally
1k and 2k is just like say UHU glue and Araldyte, one is a one part and one is a two part.

2k is what most spray shops will use as it's fast to dry to a very hard level, is very hard wearing and good chemical resistance etc, just it's harder to use needing mixing and cleaning form your gun etc... you can't get an aerosol tin of it for example.
The main reason it's used really is speed. You can clear a load of wheels in a booth, leave them an hour, take them out and they are rock hard and can be cut back etc right away. That means fast turnaround and a good long lasting finish. It really is the best of all worlds apart from the kit to use it...

1k can come in tins as you have seen, but it takes longer to go off, so needs to be kept away from dust for maybe 12hrs, kept warm, and doesn't fully harden for a few days, so no fitting tyres on it for a while otherwise it might just rub it off.
It's not as hard when it does go off, nor is it as chemically resistant, so every year you might just want to polish it back up to get it super sharp again... keeping the wheels waxed and cleaned well will offset those problems a fair old bit. I've seen 1k laquers on wheels looking great 5 years later!
So, for DIY use it's perfect. You can leave your wheels in a dry warm room for days on end to harden, which a spary shop can't afford to do, or maybe customers can't wait for! (ie, a whole resprayed car sat in a dry, clean, warm booth for days waiting for the clearcoat to harden, not economical :) )


Both can be bad for your health, 2k is bad because you breath in a fast drying vapour, so kinda like plastic in your lungs over time, so an air-fed mask is ideal really, and then you need another compressor for your gun, thinners, etc etc... gets a bit silly for just four wheels when you are in no rush, but it is ultimately the best product to use.
1k is also bad, because it can also contain the isocyanates in the product, or others which are equally as nasty to harden the product when curing etc.


I'm far from an expert really. I think 1k stuff should be fine, just longer term the finish won't be as tough as two pack products, but as said, unless you literally wash wheels once every 6 months and don't give a crap it will be fine. Using the appropriate products and good quality ones where you can will improve them no end. Ie, a very good 1k prep/application will probably match a poorly done 2k with cheap 2k gear :)

Dave
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Re: Refurbing my 108's myself

Post by Nerra » Wed Apr 08, 2009 12:45 pm

I've just ordered this 26 piece polishing kit:

http://www.thepolishingshop.co.uk/acata ... _Kits.html

It should be arriving tomorrow so I'll let you know how I get on with it. It would be nice to get them to a near mirror finish.

I used regular Halfords clear laquer but I would be interested to see how a laquer made specifically for polished surfaces comes out. Its just finding some where that sells the stuff where I can get it before the weekend :)
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Re: Refurbing my 108's myself

Post by Mr Whippy » Wed Apr 08, 2009 12:56 pm

Polish the wheel, put it back together, then when the laquer comes just remove wheel again, give a nice quick clean and then spray...

No point putting laquer for ontop of painted surfaces on if there is a more appropriate one out there, imho.
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Re: Refurbing my 108's myself

Post by srhutch » Wed Apr 08, 2009 1:04 pm

cj10jeeper wrote:
srhutch wrote:
cj10jeeper wrote: On the OEM finish I'd say it was lacquered all over in one go, but difficult to tell as that's also the area where all the dirt and crud builds up. I just cleaned it down and flased some silver paint over it.
You mean with the star in, if thats the case no wonder the corrode
No of course not - with the star out.
didnt think so but had to ask
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