Plastidip, the cheap bastid's wheel refurb option :]

Chris_D

Elite
 Mostly Holland. Sometimes UK.
I already posted about this in the 'what have you done to your shed today' thread, so apologies for the duplication. But I'll close off the episode with a pic of all 4 wheels finally finished.
Plus, thought I'd make my 6000'th post somewhat significant.

The 108's were in a shocking state of disrepair and neglect and I've been on the 16" winters up until now due to a combination of factors; rubber on the 108 rears was way past legal limit and had to get some new tyres on before I could dip them, as well as my winter tyres being so much more comfortable and compliant (and higher, for the 'drempels' here in NL), as well as not driving it that much, as well as being busy (you mean a lazy-arse Chris, surely? No, I mean busy you old git, shurrup).

In any case, I was loathed to do a full refurb due to the cost, risk of them just going sh!t again, hassle.
The cheapo solution was to give the Plastidip metallic paint a crack.
They're not perfect as from a distance you can still see the ridges of the chipped laquer from the original paintjob and no matter if you put a lot, or a bit of effort into flattening them down you will probably still see them.
So I did the minimum and just sanded then cleaned, then dipped.
1 can for both the fronts, 1 each for each back wheel but the extra coats didn't help much with filling in the scratches and laquer ridges. They did a bit but not really. If you look from 4-5m you can't see but up close you can.
In any case for a few quid per wheel it was the cheapest, quickest choice. A cover-up job if you like.
Happy with it as they look a damn sight better than what they did before and not really bothered that they're not pristine and polished. The Plastidip is tough stuff so touch-ups aren't going to be required anytime soon. I dipped my winters black and haven't needed to touch them up for 6 years.

For anyone considering doing the same I'd highly recommend it. The Plastidip comes in blingy 'Metallizer' and 'Glossifier' variants too but I would suggest these would be much harder to match up if you had to touch-up.

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Congrats on the post Chris!!

I’ve got two tins of the stuff in the garage to get the blue car mv2’s back up to muster this Sunday. I’ll pop the results up but from your results I have high hopes!!!
 
Perfect for selling a car with as well compared to the original state of then.
 
bigwinn said:
Congrats on the post Chris!!

I’ve got two tins of the stuff in the garage to get the blue car mv2’s back up to muster this Sunday. I’ll pop the results up but from your results I have high hopes!!!
Cheers fella :thumbsup:

Good luck with yours and let's see the results, in this thread or your own.
Assuming you know the crack but just in case - a good fine-grit sanding then thorough clean to get a good key for the paint is critical. As well as starting out with a couple of very light initial coats so that the layers have a good 'anchor'.
:thumbsup:
 
Chris they look great, I’m a big fan of home improvement if it can be done. Presumably you didn’t split these before painting. Are the bolts now “paint-welded”, or do you think they still look like they haven’t been painted over?
 
Zedebee said:
Chris they look great, I’m a big fan of home improvement if it can be done. Presumably you didn’t split these before painting. Are the bolts now “paint-welded”, or do you think they still look like they haven’t been painted over?

Plastidip peels off. So I don't think it makes much difference either way. From a distance you won't be able to tell
 
SonnyA85 said:
Zedebee said:
Chris they look great, I’m a big fan of home improvement if it can be done. Presumably you didn’t split these before painting. Are the bolts now “paint-welded”, or do you think they still look like they haven’t been painted over?

Plastidip peels off. So I don't think it makes much difference either way. From a distance you won't be able to tell
No splitting involved and that was one of the main reasons for dipping instead of restoring.
Splitting is real faff and full of risk of stripping the torx bolts in the process. Also, the rot creeps back in much faster when compared to single piece wheels.
The bolts on mine had already been painted over from a previous, shoddy (non split) paint refurb, so now they have even more corrosion protection!
:lol:
 
bigwinn said:
Congrats on the post Chris!!

I’ve got two tins of the stuff in the garage to get the blue car mv2’s back up to muster this Sunday. I’ll pop the results up but from your results I have high hopes!!!
Ah, so the message telling me Amazon didn't have any was to give you time to buy them up was it? :poke:
The cheapo 3.0 with the EPS issue that I'm picking up next weekend has 108s that look like they have been through the Ukraine conflict!!
Thinking an investment in some of this miracle stuff may be the answer.
[ref]Chris_D[/ref], for tatty wheels, what do I need to do for prep?
Is it a 'hand job' (oo-er missus) with wet and dry or more complex?
Never used the stuff before so wondering just how much it will hide?
 
enuff_zed said:
[ref]Chris_D[/ref], for tatty wheels, what do I need to do for prep?
Is it a 'hand job' (oo-er missus) with wet and dry or more complex?
Never used the stuff before so wondering just how much it will hide?

Make sure all the ingrained grime, dust and detritus is cleared from the nooks and crannies - the wheel bolt recesses and rim bolt recesses. I used a fine wire brush and brake cleaner and also a small wire rotary grinder attached to a drill for the wheel bolt recesses.
Then sand back if you have chipped laquer like I did. This is where you can spend as much or as little time (as in my case) on prep.
Then a finalo fine grit sand all over to key the surfaces for the Plastidip.
I used my 50/50 alcohol/demineralised-water polishing prep solution for a final clean before spraying.

I think the most important thing with plastidip is to spray the first couple of coats very light/fine. This is always indicated in all the tutorials you will find on Youface and with good reason. Going in heavy will just cause problems.
 
Cheers chaps. I'll definitely be giving this a go as I've nothing to lose really on these wheels.
 
MKZ4000 said:
Do you lacquer over the plastidip to finish ?
No.
It might react with the rubber paint differently than normal paint but do a test and see how it looks. Couldn’t hurt I suppose.
One caveat with a light coloured dip is that if you get oily marks on them theyre difficult to get out. Found out after taking off a wheel with oily fingers. Laquer might have prevented this. Ho hum.
 
Chris_D said:
MKZ4000 said:
Do you lacquer over the plastidip to finish ?
No.
It might react with the rubber paint differently than normal paint but do a test and see how it looks. Couldn’t hurt I suppose.
One caveat with a light coloured dip is that if you get oily marks on them theyre difficult to get out. Found out after taking off a wheel with oily fingers. Laquer might have prevented this. Ho hum.
Plastidip do their own gloss 'lacquer' called Glossifier. I've used it on my front grilles after spraying them with black Palstidip to give a high gloss finish. It works quite well :thumbsup:Screenshot_20230108_181703_Amazon Shopping.jpg
 
patriot66 said:
Chris_D said:
MKZ4000 said:
Do you lacquer over the plastidip to finish ?
No.
It might react with the rubber paint differently than normal paint but do a test and see how it looks. Couldn’t hurt I suppose.
One caveat with a light coloured dip is that if you get oily marks on them theyre difficult to get out. Found out after taking off a wheel with oily fingers. Laquer might have prevented this. Ho hum.
Plastidip do their own gloss 'lacquer' called Glossifier. I've used it on my front grilles after spraying them with black Palstidip to give a high gloss finish. It works quite well :thumbsup:Screenshot_20230108_181703_Amazon Shopping.jpg
Oh yeah i forgot about that stuff. I may try some after touching up some oily fingermarks when the summers go back on.
:thumbsup:
 
Special Kay said:
I must admit Chris D I'm super impressed with your results, the wheels look great :thumbsup:
Thanks!
It was a super-cheap fix that turned out better than expected.
It's not a refurb by any means but it does the job.
My main concern with the dip paint is that it would tear on the sharp adges of those wheel spurs, but not a sign of it thus far.
I'll do a yearly update to this thread for the benefit of anyone else thinking about it, if I can be arsed to remember. :lol:
:thumbsup:
 
Be interested to see the longer term on the rubber, does it hold up to debris hitting it/chipping it off?
 
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