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View Full Version : Refinishing my own wheels.

HYPNOTIK
08-03-2009, 08:33 PM
I got my new wheels

I got a set of Volk GT-P's to match what I already have, old school, manufacture date is 1993.

My original plan was to take my 9J's to East Wheel and have them refinished but after seeing the condition of the 10J's(not bad but not as good as
I would like), I decided to do them all myself. It's not hard but it is alot of work. It took me two days to get the first one done. I got started on the next one yesterday.

First I took the wheels apart (two piece). Then I stripped down the center pieces with Zip Strip, sanded the bad spots with 120 grit and worked my way up to 400 grit on the whole thing. Primed them, wet sanded, and shot them with some rattle can from the gas station. Then clear on top.

For the rims I started out with 120 then 240, 320, 400, 800, 1500, then 0000 steel wool with polish. I'm pretty damn happy with how they turned out.

Here is what they looked like when I got them.
http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn87/SkylineGT_01/volkgtps.jpg
http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn87/SkylineGT_01/volkgtps2.jpg
http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn87/SkylineGT_01/volkgtps3.jpg


And here they are now.
http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn87/SkylineGT_01/DSC_0731.jpg
http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn87/SkylineGT_01/DSC_0730.jpg


Now I just have three more to go.

These 10J's are going on the back and the 9J's are moving to the front. I'm keeping the same tires for now but when I can afford it I'm gonna step up to 225/45 and 255/40's.
Slammed180
08-03-2009, 09:58 PM
Holy crap 120?
I started with 1000 ->1500 ->2000. Dropping the lips off tomorrow for powdercoating.

Regardless though, your wheels came out well.
Good job.
93nismo
08-03-2009, 10:45 PM
haha sweet deal, im doing this to my rims too. except mine are some off brand shit that came with my car.. regardless. this helps. thanks:)
HYPNOTIK
08-03-2009, 11:13 PM
Holy crap 120?
I started with 1000 ->1500 ->2000. Dropping the lips off tomorrow for powdercoating.

Regardless though, your wheels came out well.
Good job.


They had tiny little grooves in them from machining, I wanted that out.

All wet sanded BTW.
JVD
08-03-2009, 11:23 PM
What kind of polish did you use?

I've been messing with a set of wheels I have here and am not sure how to go about getting rid of the "brushed" look left after 2000 grit.

I tried polishing with mothers but the lines are still there and it's not very shiny.

HELP???
ayuaddict
08-03-2009, 11:50 PM
the lips came out great!

however you may want to consider repainting the centers.

even with rattle can, lots of prep and painting technique can yield beautiful results.
HYPNOTIK
08-04-2009, 02:30 AM
the lips came out great!

however you may want to consider repainting the centers.

even with rattle can, lots of prep and painting technique can yield beautiful results.

I'm happy with them. They were sanded with 400 grit then primed. The primer was wet sanded with 1500 then shot with 2 coats of color. The color was sanded with 1500 again and then got several coats of clear.
arkive43
08-05-2009, 04:22 PM
i agree centers should stay polished. but good work nonetheless
HyperTek
08-05-2009, 05:37 PM
looks good, i think they look better without the center caps too, more racey look. id love to do that to my volks *refinish the lips from daily driving* if i had som4ethin to roll on.
420sx
08-10-2009, 10:17 PM
A for effort
HYPNOTIK
08-11-2009, 03:14 AM
Here are some finishished pics.
http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn87/SkylineGT_01/DSC_0784.jpg
http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn87/SkylineGT_01/DSC_0786.jpg
http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn87/SkylineGT_01/DSC_0796.jpg
http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn87/SkylineGT_01/DSC_0798.jpg
http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn87/SkylineGT_01/DSC_0805.jpg
HYPNOTIK
08-11-2009, 03:20 AM
And the process. Sorry the other pics were more for fitment rather than how they looked.
http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn87/SkylineGT_01/120halfdone.jpg
http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn87/SkylineGT_01/120grit.jpg
http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn87/SkylineGT_01/240grit.jpg
http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn87/SkylineGT_01/360grit.jpg
http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn87/SkylineGT_01/800grit.jpg
http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn87/SkylineGT_01/1500grit.jpg
http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn87/SkylineGT_01/polish.jpg
http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn87/SkylineGT_01/reflection.jpg
David B S12
08-11-2009, 02:22 PM
man i want a starburst
RossAto370z
08-11-2009, 02:49 PM
Nice car, nice pics, thanks for the thread.