Schpee007

Picked up a used set of Carrera Sport wheels. The lips on a couple have had some refinishing done in the past and are painted in those spots versus the slight grooved and brushed metal look of the factory finish. What sort of results can I expect from a refinish on the lips? Can a good wheel shop restore the factory finish (without it being a fortune)? Thanks for the help!

fast1

I know that dealerships in my area, Maryland, have mobile wheel specialists that do spot repairs on wheels. I imagine that they must do satisfactory work since dealers use them on a regular basis. In my case I always had the entire wheel painted, and used a local shop, the Olde Wheel shop. I used them on a regular basis since I was racing, and damaged wheels were common. Their repairs were done perfectly, and I couldn't distinguish between the wheels that were repaired vs the factory painted wheels.

SecretAsianMan

A talented wheel repair guy can make it look brand new.

Schpee007

Called my local dealer and asked for a recommended shop. I dropped two wheels off there today for lip refinishing. $85 per wheel. I'll have to do the clear coat myself. Simple as taping off the lip and hitting it with some spray clear coat?

Jake951

Yup. It's just a question of finding the right shop. Figure on $100/wheel as a rough ballpark cost.

SecretAsianMan

Why is a wheel repair shop telling you to do part of the wheel repair yourself? I'd take them elsewhere.

Schpee007

If I did a full refinish of the wheels at $185 per wheel it would have been clear coated. Just the lips did not include the clear coating. The spokes are in good shape and color match; so, figured I'd save the money and do the clear coating myself. Have confidence I'll get a good result since this is the place my local Porsche dealer uses. I'll post results when I get the wheels back in the next couple days.

Schpee007

Got the wheels back today. Flat light so pictures weren't working to show the results. I'm a perfectionist to a degree and give them a B+. Spacing of the groving on the lips looks good. What isn't as good as the wheels with the original lips is the smoothness of the plane of the lip, if that makes sense. Looks like they ran the lathe a few turns, adjusted the angle slightly and ran a few more turns, and so on. Is this something I can wet sand to level out, or it is what it is and I just need to clear coat the lips and be done so I can get these wheels mounted?

vern1

Check out my recent thread on wheel refinishing. You can do it all yourself for a fraction of the cost and a little time. You can probably sand the lip to adjust the angle but will probably have to repaint as well then

vern1

Ps very odd that putting the clear on would cost an extra $100. Something seems off there

Schpee007

Think they wanted to try and get me to redo the whole wheel. Spokes are good and seemed like a waste to me. But I agree. Seemed silly to not just offer to clear coat each wheel for $20 a wheel more. I will check your post. Thanks!

gota911

Vern,

He has the Carrera Sport wheels, which have painted spokes but have a polished lip.

vern1

Ok didn't realize that. Can't help in that case as mine are all paint

Schpee007

Talked to the wheel shop this morning. At least got an answer on why they didn't clear coat. Their clear coat process is a powder coat process. Doing just the lips would have jacked the rest of the wheel from the heating process. So, hopefully I can do a good job spraying clear coat on the lips. Worst case a learning experience and I'll be back to get the whole wheels redone. Still not sure if I should dare to try and wet sand down the ridges with a super high grit paper. Any feedback from those who've been down this path will be much appreciated. Thanks!

vern1

your only challenge with sanding down metal with super fine grit is that it may take you 3-4 weeks not much bite with that stuff