retcav1sg

Now to put on the new T1Rs and see what a difference new shoes makes. Current tires are new condition and tread wise but 14 years old age wise. I'm going to leave them on the chrome wheels for protection, bag them up and put them in storage. The new wheels are correct for the S4 but were in very sad shape, I checked into having them re-anodized but that was quite pricey. This was the compromise and I'm pleased with the result. A few pictures:

voskian

retcav1sg

Thanks Bob...still jealous of the Club Sports you scored I plan on getting the tires mounted after the wheels have cured for a week. I'll let you know.

Wisconsin Joe

Satin finish paint?

The phone dials on the 944 were painted too.

Those look nice.

Bertrand Daoust

Great job Mike.

How did you do the black section on the center caps?

retcav1sg

Thanks guys...I used dupli-color high performance silver wheel coating. I like it because the silver flecks are smaller than in the wurth paints and mimic the anodized platinum/silver finish better. Believe it or not, I used Fiebings black leather dye on the centers. I doused the recessed area real heavy, sanded the piece down with a dual action sander then several coats of clear, the finish matched the wheels pretty good. The dyes consistency is very thin, it covered and soaked into the aluminum and left a great finish. Happy with the results as the wheels were in sad shape to start with.

Bertrand Daoust

Wow!

I thought that the silver portion was painted.

The finish result is just beautiful.

Chris Lockhart

Wow, those look great!!! I agree with Bertrand, I thought the centers were painted. They came out fantastic.

placer

They look great. How did you prepare the wheels? Did they have any deep scratches or scuffs?

Thanks.

retcav1sg

Bill, The worst part of it was a poor prior paint job, just lots of sanding to get a smooth surface. One wheel had to be taken down to bare aluminum. If I had to do it again, I would have taken them all down to bare aluminum. Good thing was that the flat surface made sanding with a dual action sander easier. Once they were smooth it was just a matter of building up layers. 2 self etching primer, 3 primer, 4 color and 4 clear. The self etching was for places where there was bare metal. The grooves were the hardest part and had to be done by hand. I toyed with the idea of just running them with a textured finish on the bare aluminum like the center caps but talked myself out of it because I couldn't replicate the finish consistently around the edges of the grooves and the area closest to the rim of the wheel. Luckily, I didn't have to contend with any deep gouges or scuffs.

placer

Thanks, MIke. I have been thinking about having my manholes sandblasted, but I am concerned about possible pitting of the aluminum. I have a few scratches though the anodization on a couple of them (looks like someone tried to saw off the wheel locks at some point). I may just use your method.