refinishing advice please

[jordondouglas1.8t]

I'm about to take my wheels off for the winter and I want to take this time to refinish them. The lips are polished and are in pretty good shape, but the black center is painted and starting to fade/peal in some areas. What is the best way to sand/soda/bead blast the center of the wheel without rashing the lips and having to repolish them? There are also polished hex bolts around the outside edge of the wheel that I would rather not blast the finish off of. Does anyone know of a good trick to take care of this?

I would also like a recommendation on sand, soda, or bead blasting


The close up picture is a 5th wheel I have that is not mounted on the car. It's in worse shape then the rest.

[jordondouglas1.8t]

bump

[JonLott]

I can never seem to get pics to upload to this site for some reason, but I am refinishing mine as we speak. I used an aluminum media blaster to get all the clear coat/corrosion off of mine. I am repainting using a two part epoxy primer. I let the primer sit until it was tacky, then laid white on the face of mine. Today we will be laying the same primer on the barrels, then laying gloss black on the lips. I wanted to polish my lips as well but had the same fears you have about yours. I am still trying to decide on what color to paint the bolts. If you want I can send you an email with pics later tonight or tomorrow. If I remember to take my camera to the paint booth with me! If not I will send you some pics once they are together. These wheels will also be up for sale shortly if you are interested in another set. I am looking for BBS center caps right now. Trying to figure out which ones to use......anyway, good luck with your rebuild!!

[v2.]

Those are fake "bolts", so unless you have the time/dedication to tape off or cover each one, it's going to be difficult to refinish the faces.

[jordondouglas1.8t]

I can never seem to get pics to upload to this site for some reason, but I am refinishing mine as we speak. I used an aluminum media blaster to get all the clear coat/corrosion off of mine. I am repainting using a two part epoxy primer. I let the primer sit until it was tacky, then laid white on the face of mine. Today we will be laying the same primer on the barrels, then laying gloss black on the lips. I wanted to polish my lips as well but had the same fears you have about yours. I am still trying to decide on what color to paint the bolts. If you want I can send you an email with pics later tonight or tomorrow. If I remember to take my camera to the paint booth with me! If not I will send you some pics once they are together. These wheels will also be up for sale shortly if you are interested in another set. I am looking for BBS center caps right now. Trying to figure out which ones to use......anyway, good luck with your rebuild!!

thanks for the input man. yea, I would love to see how yours turn out. I don't know if i want to go that rout though. When I bought the wheels the lips were painted. I recently took the paint off and polished them and they look WAY better. It just seems impossible to refinish the centers without having to start all over with the lips

[jordondouglas1.8t]

Those are fake "bolts", so unless you have the time/dedication to tape off or cover each one, it's going to be difficult to refinish the faces.

Yea, I know they're fake. That's why its such a pain... you cant just take the damn things out

I cant think of a single thing I could use to cover them though. Anything strong enough to blast off paint is going to be strong enough to blast off any sort of tape

[JonLott]

Are these not BBS RXII's as we say in America? On the back of the center they should be stamped RS771 or RS772.....Mine split, the bolts are not fake, maybe you should take a closer look, I could be completely wrong. Like I said, earlier, they are two piece, you just can't swap the lips. The only thing you can do is take the "face" of the whell out. Here is a pic of what mine look like for now, might get changed again soon if I decide to keep them.

[JonLott]

The reflections on the lip are obviously from crappy light and my even ****tier photography skills!

[Low Sugar]

"fake" bolts for the most part do come out. They had to go in somehow right?

Typically they pop out with a little help from a hammer tap the back of one a few times and see if it budges. But you can snap them in the process so be careful for sure.

[JonLott]

"fake" bolts for the most part do come out. They had to go in somehow right?

Typically they pop out with a little help from a hammer tap the back of one a few times and see if it budges. But you can snap them in the process so be careful for sure.

I just looked a little closer and the wheels he has and the wheels I had are not the same. So what are these up top?

[Low Sugar]

They look like flik wasps not sure if they even make those anymore.

[jordondouglas1.8t]

yea, they are flik wasps. When I said they dont come out, I pretty much just meant they dont screw out. So, in order to avoid all of that I think I'm just going to to have to break down and use paint stripper

I experimented a little bit with the fifth wheel I have and I seems like its not going to be as painful to strip them all as I thought. I would rather go through the trouble of stripping all of them rather than the trouble of sanding/polishing all of them.

[Type S]

yea, they are flik wasps. When I said they dont come out, I pretty much just meant they dont screw out. So, in order to avoid all of that I think I'm just going to to have to break down and use paint stripper

I experimented a little bit with the fifth wheel I have and I seems like its not going to be as painful to strip them all as I thought. I would rather go through the trouble of stripping all of them rather than the trouble of sanding/polishing all of them.

blue painters tape on the lips and for the bolts just put a piece of tape over the "bolt" and then use an xacto knife to trim the excess, shouldn't take you more than 10min per wheel. def worth it. and i would skip the stripper, sand them down and level all the chips. Use a couple coats of filler primer follow by your color and clear.

good luck.

[JonLott]

yea, they are flik wasps. When I said they dont come out, I pretty much just meant they dont screw out. So, in order to avoid all of that I think I'm just going to to have to break down and use paint stripper

I experimented a little bit with the fifth wheel I have and I seems like its not going to be as painful to strip them all as I thought. I would rather go through the trouble of stripping all of them rather than the trouble of sanding/polishing all of them.

Just pay someone to sand blast them, paint the center w/ the lip taped off, then polish the lips. IMO that would be the easiest way.

[slakr7555]

for smalls like that i use modeling clay..... give it a shot