I bought two curbed S-lites for real cheap and went about re-finishing them. The first one only had minor scratches and was able to be repaired with sanding / filler primer / more sanding / main coat.

I used Dupli-color silver and Dupli-color clear coat. I am pretty pleased with the results of the first wheel and I learned a little about the spray technique so the next wheel will be just about perfect.

For you paint guru's out there. In the following pictures up near the valve stem you will see two areas that look a little darker. That is where I accidentally put on the clear coat a little two thick and it looks dark. I am hoping that will dry clearer but I doubt it. How should I address those? Can I get say #600 sandpaper to sand off the excess clear coat and then just spray another shot of clearcoat over those areas?

Lastly the can says to either do all coats w/ in the first hour or wait 7 days for additional coats. If I am going to sand the two thick clear coat areas should I wait 7 days till I do that? Will I get the same high quality results in those to mistake areas as the rest of the wheel if I just do some light sanding or will I mess up the rest of the finish?

Long post... sorry...

Now for the pictures. I will try and get some day time pictures outside tomorrow up against the next OEM finish that has not been repaired yet.

Thanks,
k_h_d

 

...they look fantastic....really!

 

Wow, they are sparkley. Very nice looking.

Did you sand all of the old paint off, or use any checmicals to take it off?

 

Allow your coat to dry until the can says the "dry to touch" period has past.
Then use 600 paper (wet) to wet sand. You'll be amazed.

For the future, my body guy recommends to wet sand the color coat, do another color coat that you DON'T sand. Then do the clear. But he might be talking out of his ....can. Anyway he did this with my 72 Innocenti (Red) and it looks amazing.

After you wet sand a top coat and let it dry you will need to polish with a good polish/wax after completely dry to get a great shine.

Well done!

 

Thanks for the input guys.

Here are two pics of the unfinished curbed wheel next to the re-finished wheel using Duplicolor silver and clearcoat. The one with the Mini emblem is the unfinished wheel. When getting it out in the light the color and finish is close to OEM but its not the exact same. Because of this you would have to do the entire wheel and could not use Duplicolor for just a touch up.

Next week after they completely have cured I will take DVLMINI's advice and wet sand with 600.

Would another coat of clear AFTER wet sanding be inorder or should I wet sand and then polish? Also, as far as polishing... Can I use my PC with M80 speed glaze or do I need something more abrasive first?

What I did was get a medium steel wool and scrubed down the entire wheel with that and Simple Green degreaser. I then took #320 sand paper and wet sand the entire front of the wheel and between the spokes that was to be panted. I cleaned that with wet paper towels and dryed it.

I then took Duplicolor Filler primer on the entire wheel and again wet sanded. I then went back over a few areas several times with the filler primer (sanding, panting sanding painting...) to build up a few of the deeper scratches in the paint.

Then... I put a light coat of the Silver Duplicolor, a 2nd light coat w/ in 10 minutes, and then a heavy coat (thouroughly wet). After it sat for an hour I did one more light coat to catch any areas I missed.

Lastly, I did the same systematic coats with Duplicolor clear coat.

 

One with a little sun. The duplicolor looks like a deeper color paint. When I was spraying it you could see the really thick particles that are in it. They say its filled with glass particles.

I definitely think a sanding with very fine sandpaper and polishing is now in order.

 

Remember, when wet sanding that wet means wet. Change your paper often and don't get carried away. When it's feels silky smooth , it's done.

2 clear coats are definitley a good idea. This is the only thing between the elements (and brake dust) and that expensive (time is money) paint job.

PLEASE don't consider me an expert. Ask the experts and do your research.
I've used up to 1000 grit paper on my projects. Sanding and painting is a gradual process and requires lots of patience and control.

Good luck

 

i did my legacy's wheels last/this morning. wife did some big time curbage
on both the front and rear wheels and gauges missing...

so filed, bondo'ed, sanded, and sprayed using the same duplicolor silver.
the silver is slightly red/yellow vs the factory silver color. i think the
Griot's paint might be a closer match to the silver on our cars and the
legacy. anyway, since i did both wheels (front/rear) no one can tell.

it turned out very nice for a $10 project.

no picts. too boring anyway...just stock 17" 5spokes. already on the
car.

 

I have 4 extra rims with lots of curbage if anyone wants to try

 

Why not sell your trashed wheels to me....cheap?

Anyway, while visiting Griot's to look for the paint mentioned, I find it out of stock....more search leads me to this http://www.properautocare.com/wusilasppa.html

where I find that Wurth recalled all of their wheel paint due to nozzle clogging.

Since I like the Einzett products in general, I'm gonna try the wheel paint.

Just FYI for your DIYers.

 

Sure I will sell them just taking up room.

PM me to discuss.

 

dv- thanks for the info! im going to be fixing my used set of x-lites
pretty soon.

fixing these curbed wheels are real easy to do as long as you're willing
to spend some time and effort on it. i'd say the hardest part is trying
not to breath bondo while applying.