Best way to make wheels look new?

[Stainless]

With many car fixes and repairs, there is the cheap way and the right way. Is it the same principle with getting my wheels looking new again? I recall there being a few threads on the old forum on how to redo DeLorean rims to their previous luster and look, but those resources are lost. Some DeLorean vendors are willing to do this, but it is quite spendy.

How did you have your wheels redone so they don't look like mine:
http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w57/jlattin21/DSCN0230.jpg

[D Knight]

I bead blasted mine back to bare aluminum, then recoated them. Look like new now.

[Rad Dad]

I had my wheels chromed and powdercoated black between the "spokes". This was done in 2004 - nearly 50,000 miles ago and they still look like new.

Yeah, I know, some folks think that this kind of mod is "too blingy", but I am very happy with the look on the car and the ease of maintenance.

Dick

[Stainless]

I bead blasted mine back to bare aluminum, then recoated them. Look like new now.

How did you recoat them? Did you do it yourself or did you pay someone to do it? What did you use?

[Stainless]

Is this a job that I can do myself? I just don't want it to look like a rattle can job, but I want it to look as good as when they were new. Anyone else had theirs refinished, either by themselves, or by a pro?

[sdg3205]

How about powder coating? Way more durable. More expensive.

[Stainless]

I found a few threads on dmchelp.com that had some great advice on how to redo the wheels. It's funny how this forum used to be the holy grail for DeLorean info. I sure hope the old info comes back eventually. Anyways, done with that little rant...

It seems kind of silly to have my wheels shipped off to DMC to have them refinish the wheels when I should be able to find someone locally that can do it, right? I have requested quotes from both a company that does soda and sandblasting, and another that does powder coating. Hopefully they'll be willing to do it for less money than DMC or Special T Auto and that they have the color options that I want. I'll let you know what I find out.

[Mike C.]

You absolutely do not have to ship your rims off to get them re-done.

If you are having them painted, any paint shop can do that if you prep them yourself. If you want them prepped and painted, any shop that does rim repair can do that. If you want them powdercoated, any powdercoating place with a big enough oven can do that for you, and probably prep them too. If you are looking at keeping stock colors, then yes they should have them. As long as you have your rubber unmounted and carry them in, you will save $$. If you eliminate the cost of shipping, it's already cheaper.


Im sorry we're not working fast enough getting this forum up from scratch. We have families and lives outside of the forum as well.


Edit:
If you would like to media blast the parts yourself, Harbor Freight sells a hand held media blasting gun for small projects like this. Should work just fine. They sell the media as well.

[outatym2001]

The original coating on the DeLorean rim is a powder coat.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powder_coat
Which essentially is a powder applied to a metal then baked in an oven at 390 F (200 C) for ten minutes.
The coating is much more durable and longer lasting than sprayed on paint from a can.
Cost for refinishing each wheel probably $200.

The DeLorean rims are cast aluminum alloy and have a porous surface so it is possible to have tiny spots on the rim that look like voids even after applying the coating.

It does not make economic sense to ship yours to DMC Houston because they ship them out to a wheel finisher who ships them back to DMC Houston who then ships them back to you.
All the DeLorean affiliated centers are asked to find some business locally that can do the finishing instead of paying FedEx, UPS to ship from place to place and back to you.

The alternative is this business. Scroll to bottom of page to see refinished wheels.
http://www.specialtauto.com/delorean-parts/brakes-rotors.html

All pictures below are the machined finished rims from http://www.delorean.com
The first picture is not my D. The other pictures of the rim/tire I took of my wheels that I bought at DMC Northwest back in April, 2008 who received them from DMC Houston.

Stainless it seems that by the time I posted this you already have the info you needed.