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I should try and media blast it with iron powder then powder coating it with clear powder. Has anyone tried this.
These are forged wheels, so the surface hardness won't be a good candidate for a blasted finish. As soon as you put clear on it, the finish will be smooth again anyway.
As shared previously, the factory anodizing is a satin finish, not a dull or blasted look. Many anodizing places offer bright colors or smooth almost polished-looking finish, and in lots of colors. The original anodizing is aluminum on aluminum, no color added. Rob has some pictures of the properly-finished look that might help you visualize. Perhaps he can dig through his archives and share one.
Interesting that the OP used the word "refurbish" rather than "restore." I think paint is the perfect refurbish and leaves the option open for anyone more **** in the future to simply strip them and restore them with anodize.
This thread seems to me to be more about the economics of these wheels rather than the aesthetics. I would guess that the OP bought these wheels at a nice bargain price, especially given their apparent poor appearance with the bad paint job. His thought about increasing the value and about making a profit from their resale suggests that flipping them is what he has in mind. I think that gives rise to two additional alternatives. One is to simply focus on the rareness of these wheels and resell them as is for what they are actually worth with the profit being in the bargain obtained when he bought them. The other, and probably the best alternative, is to simply strip them and clean them up and sell them that way. That will probably bring a bit more than with the bad paint job still on them, and not cost very much, only time and some chemical paint stripper. As to the other alternatives suggested by him, or me or others, I suggest that the cost of any of them is not likely to increase the value of these wheels by even as much as the cost to that refurbishment or restoration. thereby reducing or eliminating any profit.
This thread seems to me to be more about the economics of these wheels rather than the aesthetics. I would guess that the OP bought these wheels at a nice bargain price, especially given their apparent poor appearance with the bad paint job. His thought about increasing the value and about making a profit from their resale suggests that flipping them is what he has in mind. I think that gives rise to two additional alternatives. One is to simply focus on the rareness of these wheels and resell them as is for what they are actually worth with the profit being in the bargain obtained when he bought them. The other, and probably the best alternative, is to simply strip them and clean them up and sell them that way. That will probably bring a bit more than with the bad paint job still on them, and not cost very much, only time and some chemical paint stripper. As to the other alternatives suggested by him, or me or others, I suggest that the cost of any of them is not likely to increase the value of these wheels by even as much as the cost to that refurbishment or restoration. thereby reducing or eliminating any profit.
I agree with Jerry on this - flip them as-is since you're not interested in them.
Let's assume someone is restoring an 89 GT and needs/wants an original set of rims for it. Let that person make the decision on how to do the actual restoration on the rims. If you powder-coat them now, he'll maybe strip that off and do the anodizing instead, or, vice-versa.
Leave the decision to the buyer and make it very easy on yourself.
That's correct. My intension is to resell the wheels and try to make a profit, to finance upgrades/modifications on my 928.
There is a dent on one of the wheels that needs to be fixed. I will first get a quote to have them anodized and after that make a judgment what to do.
I have a hard time to believe that someone would decide to paint a set of freshly anodized wheels, because that person thinks paint looks better.
I hope the anodizing route will give me the possibility to land top dollar for the wheels.
It is not a question of receiving the top dollar for the wheels, but rather maximizing your profit. You might put $1200 into the anodizing and get maybe $500 more for the wheels. DUH!
The repair method varies immensely depending on your final finish method. Painting opens the door to using plastic fillers for minor surface imperfections like the pits showing near the slots/spokes in your last picture. Looks like there has been some hard-media blasting in their past. Powder-painting takes a different kind of filler, one that will finish out well and survive the heat of setting the paint. Anodizing requires an all-metal repair, often welding and turning where you have metal damage on the lip. These are forged wheels so don't take quite so kindly to brute-force reshaping.
Were I buying them, my target would be anodizing to original or maybe to the ultra-rare platinum-anodized finish. I'd want to see just metal, no filler or paint, so I could have a reasonable assessment of the repairs needed to get them to that condition. But that's a purist view, from a guy with a black '89 car and cashmere interior that would do well with the platinum color.
Meanwhile, as Bob Voskian shows in his pictures, there are some powder and paint options that look just as good or better, present a small fraction of the upkeep effort that anodizing requires, and are undoubtedly better for someone who will drive the car. Very few who see them well painted will ever know that they aren't exactly as they shipped new. Bob is a practical purist, and drives his car between concourse wins. The first scratch or stain on an anodized wheel would make him cry, knowing all four need to be re-anodized together to have a perfect match. Powder coated, he'd have bottles of the paint powders used the first time, and have that one wheel repaired and recoated in a matter of days. If your market is someone who will drive on them regularly, the paint is a better choice for all but a tiny fraction of owners.
Dr bob is right, paint can be easily fixed if scratches or curbing to the wheel happens. When I got the wheels the edges were chipped, likely from removal of the tires. I sanded down the chipped paint and primed, painted and clear coated just the edges and made them look much better. If powder coated or anodized, I’d have to send them out...$$$.
To each his own, depending on how you want to use them....
Chipped edges Sand, prime, paint, clear coat Much better!
10-15-2020 | 04:17 PM
