Help with rim refurb - OZ 2 piece split

[m1tch]

Hi everyone just nabbed some OZ split rims, the centres look good regarding the paintwork, its just the outer lip that seems to have been attacked by the salt but the chrome (I think its chromed) seems to be ok where it hasn\'t been attacked.

Here are some photos:




I basically need to know what kind of product I need to bring them back, im guessing I need to take the lacquer off the outer lip, then repaint the centre in the colour I want, then lacquer the whole lot?

I don\'t want to take the rim apart as its an OZ rim, so will need a special tool to get them off, luckily the centre is bolted underneeth the outer, meaning I don\'t have to mask up all the studs if I wanted to paint the centre!

I have just tried with some 1200 wet and dry and that scratched the chrome a bit - scratches were removed used metal polish, but I can\'t use wet and dry on it, so will need a cutting paste of some sort it seems?

Thanks for any help

[SiH]

It\'s not chrome.

It\'s laquered bare alloy

If you want to refurb them, you will need to split the rim, then starting at 80 grit, work your way down through the stages of emery paper to about 1600 grit - at each stage you need to make sure you\'ve removes all of the marks left by the previous stage of the process. Then you need something like the 3 stage polishing kit from //www.thepolishingshop.co.uk, and a drill, and work your way through the grades.

It\'s a lot of work, and afterwards, you\'ll need to polish them at least once a week, but they should look brilliant.

As a guide, I reckon it takes me circa 12 hours per lip...

[m1tch]

Is there no way I can keep the rim together? im worried I will need to shell out on all new bolts, as well as the fact that I would need a special tool to get the rim apart etc lol My car isn\'t a show car, its all go and no show, is it the lacquer that has been attached or the actual alloy?

[S3TH]

You\'d never start on 80grit, dude, it\'s not a cast plenum :Giggle. 320, working upwards, 240 at the MOST.

[m1tch]

Do I NEED to take the whole rim apart? surely if I took the laquour off and checked it then, then I could decide if it needs to go further? Is there any grinding paste I could use to get the laquor off? im scared of scratching the rim lol unless I got for a \'brushed steel\' lip look

[S3TH]

How do you mean?

You probably could get away without removing the bolts but it would take a lot of dedication getting inbetween them!

You should start on 320 grit & work your way upwards as Si suggested, but just dont use 80grit, it\'ll score it to ....ery & you\'ll spend most of your time trying to flat it down .

[m1tch]

Is everyone sure its not chromed?

[MaLicE]

to be honest i would split them and buy some metal polishing kit from the polishing shop... get the abrasive and polishing kit, you get 3 coloured mops, and 3 sticks of abrasive, load up the wheels and work through the grades, it wont take long! i did a 99 spec crossover pipe from the rough cast to mirror finish in about 1 and half hour then you use a sissal mop with a grey polish bar, then loos cotton stitched mop with a green polish and a loose cotton with a pink polish and it will be mirror polished!

the polishing shop also sell a complete wheel polishing kit! get a bench grinder and bolt it down and do it, its a messy job but SO worth it, it took me a couple of days to do my 99 spec y pipe, crossover pipe, uim and throttle body... i cant see it taking more than 2-3 days to do a set of lips... and when you have them done, to save you polishing them all the time, go to a powdercoaters and get them coated in a clear coat, you wont get lacquer to stick to them, powder coat will

[S3TH]

Is everyone sure its not chromed?

It\'s not chrome.

[m1tch]

It\'s not chrome.

Ok how can I take the lacquer off? will that come off with the wet and dry paper? The 1200 wet and dry paper just scratched the rim, so im just worried about scratching it up

It seems that its just the laquour that has been attacked as on some parts where the lacquer hasn\'t come off, the rim is still very shiny

would it not be more time effective to just remove the lacquer first and see if its gone further than that?

[SiH]

Depending on the lacquer, you may well have to start on 80 grit.

The lacquer was so hard on the Enkeis I did that nothing else would touch it. I started at 320 and worked down. Anything more either just clogged, orhad no effect, no matter how much water I used.

M1tch - what\'s basically happened, is that there has been a tiny chip in the lacquer, and moisture has got in, and started to craze the lacquer. You can chemically strip the lacquer but you\'d still have to polish up afterwards.

And yes, you will need to take the bolts out to do a proper job.

[m1tch]

Depending on the lacquer, you may well have to start on 80 grit.

The lacquer was so hard on the Enkeis I did that nothing else would touch it. I started at 320 and worked down. Anything more either just clogged, orhad no effect, no matter how much water I used.

M1tch - what\'s basically happened, is that there has been a tiny chip in the lacquer, and moisture has got in, and started to craze the lacquer. You can chemically strip the lacquer but you\'d still have to polish up afterwards.

And yes, you will need to take the bolts out to do a proper job.

Ok, hmm I think I will chemically strip it down (btw which sort should I use?), apparently 1 of the alloys had been refurbed before and didn\'t need new studs, so it seems to be ok to reuse them.

What torque would I need to do them back up again? im guessing I would need to tighten them in pairs like you would do with the wheel studs?

Sorry for asking soooo many questions lol im new to refurbing lol

OOO! Seems they are OZ rims off an Esprit - or indeed have the same kind of rims:

Scroll down a bit:
http://www.lotusespritworld.com/EGuides/EMaintenance/wheelrefurb.html

EEEK are they 3 piece then?

[m1tch]

I can\'t edit my post, looks like they are OZ Futuras, and are 3 piece, that link shows a guy refurbing them, he couldn\'t find a tool to remove the studs though

[Nik da Greek]

You don\'t need a special tool to remove the studs, just a twelve-point socket for one side and six-point for the other. I\'d agree with the Young Boy S3th, though, 80 grit will give you a shlte-load of work to do getting scratches out later, I certainly wouldn\'t go that coarse if I were you. 240 is my usual first attempt for such things, maybe as coarse as 120 if absolutely necessary. 80 grit will muller them

[m1tch]

You don\'t need a special tool to remove the studs, just a twelve-point socket for one side and six-point for the other. I\'d agree with the Young Boy S3th, though, 80 grit will give you a shlte-load of work to do getting scratches out later, I certainly wouldn\'t go that coarse if I were you. 240 is my usual first attempt for such things, maybe as coarse as 120 if absolutely necessary. 80 grit will muller them

Its not a normal socket, its an odd OZ socket you need lol think its a 10 point and an 8 point I need lol typical

I think I might try and chemically remove the lacquer first, I tried to use some 1200 paper on it and it scratched it up quite a bit, so im really worried about messing them, 240 sounds crazy course lol

If I took the lacquor off could I just do some finishing polishing? I really don\'t want to take the rims apart as I know I will mess it up lol plus I will probably snap a few studs - 35 in each rim lol

Just read on another forum that you can get automotive nitromors and that apparently gets the lacquer off