146 replies to this topic

[maggies_minder]

this is my current little project which i was enjoying until i stood up this evening after being hunched over these badboys all day.

a bit of background

i bought a set of wellers from 1275sprite on here who no longer had a use for them.

i decided to have a go at these myself for a couple of reasons, the first is the cost. dispite the fact i can get them sandblasted and powercoated any colour for £15 a wheel i worked out that if i add up the price the initially cost + the price to be stripped and painted + the cost of new tyres (aiming for yokos) they would be right in the range of a brand new wheel package.

the second reason, is down to my sometimes poor parking if i do them myself and kerb them i wont shed a tear!

the wheels in questions area set of 5, 12x5 and were in decent nick, they still had the original weller wheels stickers and even the tyre fitting instructions stuck inside.
 100_0559.JPG   1.13MB   20 downloads


anyway heres how they looked when i got them,
 100_0556.JPG   1.09MB   26 downloads

the one on the bottom left the previous owner gave a quick going over, hence why it looks far more decent than the rest.

i gave them a scrub in some hot soapy water to remove the road grime and brake pad dust,
 100_0562.JPG   1.06MB   39 downloads

please note the E marked safety shoes


heres a closer look of them and the real condition,
 100_0563.JPG   1.06MB   25 downloads
as you can see theres some serious patches missing particularly in the receses further in towards the spokes.


the next step was a trip to homebase to buy a shed load of accessories,
namely, some nitromors.
i picked up the severely dented tin and got it half price, which was quality considering im doing this as cheaply as possible.

so to the garage and on with the nitromors very thickly.
 100_0564.JPG   971.79K   17 downloads
 100_0565.JPG   914.8K   13 downloads

some of the wheels were in a much better state than others and the nitromors dispite being very strong seemed to struggle to get through the top layer. what ever top coat the folks at weller used it work damn well.
anyway after many hours spent on 1 wheel because of the above i found that if a "scored" the top layer slightly just to allow the nitromors to get down into the various layers of paint it worked much better and quicker.

the above was found out after a few hours of seeming to not progress very far.
at first i tried a wire brush which was about a useful as i chocolate teapot, then i tried a wire brush attachment on a drill again didnt work great, both just seemed to skim across the surface without having too much impact
the perfect method i found was a wall paper stripper, if i used the corner along with some force make slits in the paint the nitromors worked perfectly.
(you can see it on the spokes of the next pic)
once the paint was weakened and the metal could be seen the wire brush on the drill made easy work of the paint removal for the best part.
 100_0566.JPG   1.15MB   27 downloads

this is how the first wheel looked pretty much finished (on sunday),
 100_0568.JPG   985.04K   47 downloads

i do really like this colour but dont think ill be going with it.
dont be fooled by the picture the front of all the wheels are in much much better condition than the backs.

i put up this post asking people to photoshop some colours onto these so i could get some ideas for colours when i reach the painting stage.
have a look and see what you think put your ideas in there if you like and please excuse my means of getting the rim at the correct height

http://www.theminifo...p;#entry2028849

so i got back on it this morning and spent the day doing the other 4. so after what seemed like a never ending process of scrub (ruff up) the wheel, coating very generously in nitromors then using a wire brush in the drill which works very well once the initial top coat is removed the rest looked like this when i finished for today,
 100_0573.JPG   901.82K   45 downloads

theres still along way to go, getting in some of the nucks and cranies is proving to be time consuming and doing inbetween te spoke without the drill trying to send me across the garage has taken some mastering.
for the most part the paint is off theres just the odd spec here and there, and inbetween some of the spokes. but all will be removed.

so the next step will be grinding down the rust and dependent on how pitted the wheel is after whether ill have to use some filler.
luckily the few patches i have had a go at havent really been too bad at all.

so thats it for now folks, im hoping to pop back in and do some more tomorrow so ill keep this updated.
hope you like what you see (whit whoo) and keep following the progress.

cheers,
john.

Oh and remember no likely no lighty!

[jinjrich]

Good work mate, heres a pic of mine to motivate you:

[Liam Mini 35]

i love weller wheels. i saw a guy on here that has a set in black 6x10 on an orange car. they looked awsomw so went on an impulse ebay buy and got a set of 4 10x6's for £12. bargin. your doing a good job there tho mate keep up the good work. what colour are you painting them?

[maggies_minder]

ive been thinking and the final paint scheme looks like its going to be as follows,
white fronts as they are wellers (anything else is arguably unacceptable), with a twist.
the edges of the spokes (the bit between the fron and back, the thickness of the spoke if you will) will be red along with the entire back of the wheel.

hopefully with they will appear standard white until you look closely or get the right angle.

[maggies_minder]

can some answer two quick quesions for me??

1) what should i put on the bare steel as a means of stopping rust from forming under the paint before i primer it? (or is that what primer does?)

2)what was the top coat used to protect the paint when they were new? the original stuff still stood up to some heavy punishment even after all the years on the road and i want to use the same stuff if possible.

[1984mini25]

Too late to tell you now, but originally Wellers were/are powdercoated not painted and as you’ve found out, paint stripper has little effect. The quickest way to remove powdercoat is shot blasting witch kills 2 birds with one stone, as not only does it remove the powder coat but also any rust.

The one big down side to powdercoating though, is although it’s very durable once it does chip and water gets behind, its normally not until the coating flakes off that its noticeable and it can’t be touched in like paint can.

As for bare metal, some etch or oxide primer will be best, then normal primer, paint and lacquer.

[maggies_minder]

i was told to use etch primer before normal primer, but as this is my first experience with this process i didnt no if thats what it does.

the nitromors worked really well once the top layer was penetrated.

[GTIAlex06]

Looking good, i started doing a pair of revo's the other week, its going to be a right pain getting the polished lip in good nick again.


I recon il start a thread like this tomorrow to keep me motivated

[1984mini25]

i was told to use etch primer before normal primer, but as this is my first experience with this process i didnt no if thats what it does.

the nitromors worked really well once the top layer was penetrated.

With any bare metal its better to use etc first, is does exactly what it says on the tin, it chemically etches its way into the metal. Normal primer doesn’t and can normally be scrubbed back off with nothing more than thinners and a rag.

Looking good, i started doing a pair of revo's the other week, its going to be a right pain getting the polished lip in good nick again.

For the rims, scotchbrite pads and cutting compound to remove the worst of the corrosion and achieve an even brushed finished. Then followed by autosol and some elbow grease to polish it back up and then a few coats of lacquer to seal it.

[GTIAlex06]

i was told to use etch primer before normal primer, but as this is my first experience with this process i didnt no if thats what it does.

the nitromors worked really well once the top layer was penetrated.

With any bare metal its better to use etc first, is does exactly what it says on the tin, it chemically etches its way into the metal. Normal primer doesn’t and can normally be scrubbed back off with nothing more than thinners and a rag.

Looking good, i started doing a pair of revo's the other week, its going to be a right pain getting the polished lip in good nick again.

For the rims, scotchbrite pads and cutting compound to remove the worst of the corrosion and achieve an even brushed finished. Then followed by autosol and some elbow grease to polish it back up and then a few coats of lacquer to seal it.

What cutting compound would you suggest?

[1984mini25]

i was told to use etch primer before normal primer, but as this is my first experience with this process i didnt no if thats what it does.

the nitromors worked really well once the top layer was penetrated.

With any bare metal its better to use etc first, is does exactly what it says on the tin, it chemically etches its way into the metal. Normal primer doesn’t and can normally be scrubbed back off with nothing more than thinners and a rag.

Looking good, i started doing a pair of revo's the other week, its going to be a right pain getting the polished lip in good nick again.

For the rims, scotchbrite pads and cutting compound to remove the worst of the corrosion and achieve an even brushed finished. Then followed by autosol and some elbow grease to polish it back up and then a few coats of lacquer to seal it.

What cutting compound would you suggest?

That bit i'm completey unsure on.

[maggies_minder]

they are getting there, was in the garage all day yesterday and for about 3hours today.
done both the front and back lips of the rim so theres no paint on those.

just the few odd specs of paint here and there plus the patches of rust to contend with, im going to get some of that rust treating stuff i think and see how that gets on providing its not too expensive. after all im doing this refirb on the cheap.

ive decided to leave the area which sits underneath the tyre well alone. just doing the front, back and the edges of the rim.

its already getting tedious trying to get all this paint off but im looking forward to painting them, which wont happen until all (or as close to all) the paint has been removed.

so no pictures today as they only look marginally different to yesterday dispite the extra hours of work.
i guess the next pictures will be of the rust treatment process (which ever way i eventually do it ill make sure i photograph it).
followed by the priming.

[h4wx1e]

ive been thinking and the final paint scheme looks like its going to be as follows,
white fronts as they are wellers (anything else is arguably unacceptable), with a twist.
the edges of the spokes (the bit between the fron and back, the thickness of the spoke if you will) will be red along with the entire back of the wheel.

hopefully with they will appear standard white until you look closely or get the right angle.

[maggies_minder]

i wonder where that idea came from...?

[h4wx1e]

some style guru some where lmao. good progress their. just hurry up you gotta get them on mate. a sap.
off topic.....you going bingley?