Refinishing OEM wheels

[tsonata]

I would like to know what steps and products are involved in bringing these Ford OEM wheels back to new? The vehicle is a 2015 Ford Expedition el limited with about 38k miles. It appears the prior owner did not do much to care for the wheels as there is some dark pitting, curb rash and an overall haze to the wheels.


I believe these are a polished aluminum with a clear coat on them.

[oneheadlite]

In my opinion, I would give them a thorough decontamination (Iron-x or similar, extra credit for hitting them with some clay and then polishing them), giving them a coat of your LSP (last step product) of choice, and living with the curb marks. There are a lot of threads on here for good LSP's for wheels.

I work on cars for a living and see way, way more Bad refinished wheels than good. The quality of paint and general care taken always seems to be poor (in my experience).

Otherwise keep an eye on the classifieds near you and watch for someone selling a set to get replacements + spares.

[Crispy]

In my opinion, I would give them a thorough decontamination (Iron-x or similar, extra credit for hitting them with some clay and then polishing them), giving them a coat of your LSP (last step product) of choice, and living with the curb marks. There are a lot of threads on here for good LSP's for wheels.

I work on cars for a living and see way, way more Bad refinished wheels than good. The quality of paint and general care taken always seems to be poor (in my experience).

Otherwise keep an eye on the classifieds near you and watch for someone selling a set to get replacements + spares.

Up here in Canada we get to put snow tires on each winter.

I use that 4 months to repaint my wheels.

I have done this the last 4 winters on my summer wheels and starting to get a process going.

Bought a set of OEM original GM "5 star" wheels for 2000 Grand Prix.

These wheels had neve been looked after for 17 years and were pretty rough (no curb rash but lots of wheel weight damage).

It is really not a detailing process but I thought it was worth mentioning it's not that hard.

Mind you it takes me a month to do, so no way an enterprise.

PS just finished them and they are SPECTACULAR.

[tsonata]

I am going to trying claying them but didn't think that would rectify the pitting. I have read articles on sanding away the curb rash and then working towards a polish.

I would really like some help on a step by step and suggested products for those steps.

[oneheadlite]

Up here in Canada we get to put snow tires on each winter.

I use that 4 months to repaint my wheels.

I have done this the last 4 winters on my summer wheels and starting to get a process going.

Bought a set of OEM original GM "5 star" wheels for 2000 Grand Prix.

These wheels had neve been looked after for 17 years and were pretty rough (no curb rash but lots of wheel weight damage).

It is really not a detailing process but I thought it was worth mentioning it's not that hard.

Mind you it takes me a month to do, so no way an enterprise.

PS just finished them and they are SPECTACULAR.

Sorry, I didn't mean to sound like they could never turn out ok. When I hear refinished wheels, my mind goes to the car dealer refinish guys that just spray them in a trailer in the parking lot (as a general rule, those turn out so poorly!) or even some of the "professional" refinishers in town. Maybe we've just got a bad pool to draw from, but so often the "professionally" refinished wheels I see have huge variations in finish, orange peel, dirt in the clear, or other flaws. It's also very common to see the clearcoat flaking off from simple things like removing wheel bolts or having tires changed. Really a bummer when you know people paid $125+ to have them repaired.

Any pics of your wheels? I'd love to see some well done ones! :)

OP: For my winter wheels, I: Washed, Iron x'd, quick clay job, polished with Griot's Complete compound on a 3" orange pad w/ Griot's 3" DA, then coated with Optimum Gloss Coat. Only had time to do a single coat of gloss coat, then topped with Opti-Seal to protect the coating while it cured.

They went from this:

57290

to this:

57291

Still have chips and curb spots, but overall have such a shine/pop that your eye isn't drawn to the flaws. In my case though, those are my snow tires so I'm not super critical about them.

One other refinishing idea comes to mind: I have seen really good results with powdercoating. Not sure what it runs, but wheels that I've seen done that way have really turned out nice (and durable). If you only have a couple wheels with damage, maybe put them on the same side of the car if you didn't want to do them all at the same time.

[tsonata]

Well I am going to try working on them this weekend. I have a clap bar and some P21s Finish Restorer and will make a go at it. Probably finish them with P21s wax.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

[Crispy]

Here are few before and after shots from my most recent restoration done.

I did the prep in my basement in front of the TV over the course of 3 weeks and took 1 week to paint (few hours a day type idea).

Before

57332

57333

57334

57335

After

57336

57337

57338

57339

These were painted using original GM Sparkle Silver Metallic from a spray bomb in my garage.

I did 2 base coats and 3 light clear coats.

The key to a project like this is in the prep stage.

Paint will hide no defects in the surface, they must be sanded smooth for the top coats to finish smoothly.

Most of my time was spent using filler primer of different colors to get as close to perfect as I could.

The final step was compounding and polishing after wet sanding 2000 grit.

Did not find many flaws worth fixing.

Like I said not really a Detailing Topic so that is why I just mentioned it in the first place.

[oneheadlite]

:wow: :bowdown:

Well done! Looks awesome!

What have you used on them since to maintain them?

[Crispy]

Waiting 30 days to seal then hopefully in 7 months storage before winter.