I’m after some advice on getting my alloys refurbished and having the colour changed at the same time.
I’ve only just got my True Red NC2, and although the wheels are in pretty good condition they do have the usual nibbles and scrapes along the edges, and one thing I do like are nice rims… I’ve seen a few True Reds with gun metal \ anthracite alloys and really think the darker colour against the red looks a lot better…
I’ve seen lots of companies that say they will come to your house and do this, but they all seem to just deflate the tyre, push it back from the rim, mask of the tyre and surrounding area, then go to work on the face of the alloy… my issue with this is if you are going from the standard wheel colour to a dark grey, and they just change the colour of the face, then surely you will be able to the see the original colour of the alloy through the spokes of the wheel… (in some cases it says they don’t even remove the wheel at all, so then how can they paint the inside are behind the spokes…???) or am I overthinking this too much…???
There is another local firm that will powder coat the entire rim in the new colour after cleaning up the scrapes etc… these need the car for 3 days and are quoting around £80 a wheel… which is only £5/10 more than the other firms…
Any thoughts on this or personal experience with having the colour changed would be appreciated…
There’s thread on this very subject of do you powder coat or not on alloys. Search the forum for further info.
My take on it, I’m no expert…
The 2 incidents reported (when you find the thread is about the NC1, the Sport alloys. That’s not to say they are all going to go bad after powder coating, who knows?
I’ve inspected my alloys (NC2) they are 8 years old and were powder coated last year. AFAIK they are fine this was a wheels off inspection, they look great, I’m doing that inspection regularly, I do anyway as the alloys come off for cleaning, brake service etc.
A proper clued up wheel refurbisher knows that alloy wheels are heated up to a lower temperature in the oven to avoid changing the structure within the alloy. Wheels have been getting powder coated for years now….how many times has wheel failure hit the headlines ? I’m not saying it can’t happen, but it’s a rare occurrence and usually only in extreme circumstances.
Doing mine in wrx gold wich is like the bronze just a little lighter shade sand paper and using aerosols Red car bronze original mk1 minilite wheels gold dust caps left the Eunos centers on painted to match
I already have a wheel restorer, after due diligence. Most recommendations seem to be based on people getting shiney wheels back for not much money.
There is no industry accreditation of wheel restorers. Most, if they have anything, have motor industry certificates, which are as much use as Fensa is to double glazing. Literally, anyone can set themselves up in business.
There is no easy way to differentiate between someone experienced and a cowboy with a script.
Some will have “VBRA Approval”, but this is a trade Association. I know its a subsidiary of NBRA, but I can’t see what standards it is enforcing in wheel repair.
The actual standard covering all vehicle repairs is BS10125:2014
How many of these outfits will have the kitemark? Businesses that do display this for repairs will often exclude wheels from this standard.
Without a meaningful standard, it is difficult to assess the competance of a repairer, especially if they are proposing a finish that differes from the OE specification.
The other thread suggested the issue is some of these powder coaters are heating up wheels to strip off the old finish, and this might damage wheels. Removal of old finish is not something the OEs do, the next time someone suggests that car makers use powdercoating.
A reliable powder coater? I can recommend one - McNealy Brown in Sittingbourne, Kent (01795-508596). I’ve had two sets of wheels powdercoated by them. A set of steel wheels from a Renault 4, and a set of alloy wheels from a Honda motorcycle. Perfect. They even offer service whereby you take your car in before 9ish and leave it with them. They remove the wheels, then the tyres, bead blast the wheels, powdercoat them, replace the tyres (or fit new ones) so the car is ready for collection by the evening.
So I think I’ve found a local firm to do the refurbishment and colour change of my alloys, however, my next question is around the centre caps…??
I’ve been informed that the chrome Mazda logo is glued to the centre caps and is difficult to remove, and the only new centre caps I can find are in the original colour or in black…(think I’m going for a dark grey wheel and would like the centre caps to match)
Does anyone know if what I’ve been told about the centre caps is correct…??
They look the business IMO.
