Wheel refurb - Paint removal suggestions.

[Davey]

I have acquired some ridiculously cheap BBS RX wheels.

The amount of money I have in them means i cannot justify paying someone to refurb them.

I have refurbed plenty of wheels in my time but i am having some strange issues with paint removal this time around.

It would appear that these wheels have been 5 different colours in their lifetime, currently painted black with signs of orange, silver, grey and white. Potentially powder coat at some point.

I am trying to strip them back as far as reasonably possible, the top layer of paint is sanding back nicely but the lower layers i can only describe as playdoh. Its clogging up sandpaper and disks immediately and spreading around the rim.

I have ordered some paint stripper but as we are all aware the new health and safety safe products are pretty useless.

Any suggestions to get these back to bare metal without paying someone...

Anyone in Nottingham want some sandblasting practice?

Lovely gooey pictures below.

[Dr.AK]

I have just refinished my BBS LMs - I polished the lips to a mirror finish.

To get the powder coating off, I decided to go for a bit of a rough method - I used an abrasive nylon cleaning disc.



It will leave a very rough finish, but nothing that a bit of elbow grease can't fix.



After I stripped them, I sanded them from 240 grit to 7000 grit and then polished them.







Maybe this will help you.

Might be a bit of a hassle to get into all of the nooks and crannys - in that case I'd probably go about glass blasting them with glass granulate and after that with glass beads to get a nice surface.

[Davey]

Feb 29, 2024 12:59:53 GMT Dr.AK said:

I have just refinished my BBS LMs - I polished the lips to a mirror finish.

To get the powder coating off, I decided to go for a bit of a rough method - I used an abrasive nylon cleaning disc.



Maybe this will help you.

Might be a bit of a hassle to get into all of the nooks and crannys - in that case I'd probably go about glass blasting them with glass granulate and after that with glass beads to get a nice surface.

These work great on the flat surfaces! Thanks.

[slackerTHEpinstriper]

Get paint stripper from the places that mix paint, liberally coat then wrap in cling film, this keeps the heat in and helps the paint stripper

[Davey]

Feb 29, 2024 15:32:36 GMT slackerTHEpinstriper said:

Get paint stripper from the places that mix paint, liberally coat then wrap in cling film, this keeps the heat in and helps the paint stripper

I have a good relationship with a paint supplier so will have an ask if the stuff i have doesn't work.

[grumpybadger]

Feb 29, 2024 15:32:36 GMT slackerTHEpinstriper said:

Get paint stripper from the places that mix paint, liberally coat then wrap in cling film, this keeps the heat in and helps the paint stripper

This.
Even wrapping them in bin liners and leaving them overnight makes a massive difference to the effectiveness of modern paint strippers

[Davey]

Public service announcement.

This unassuming amazon paint stripper works!

Autotek Professional Fast Acting... www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B079Z243HK?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Before.



Spray on. Advises to leave for 15 minutes. This was after 1 can over 2 wheels. About 1 minute after applying.

It took 4 layers of paint and half the original paint off in one go.

After.









Another can to go tomorrow then take of the residue with sander.

[akku]

I'm interested in the results of that stripper. I have some of that weird black paint which just clogs the sand paper up to remove....

If you need it I can recommend a lovely powder coater in Heanor who does blasting as well.

[Davey]

Mar 1, 2024 9:10:57 GMT akku said:

I'm interested in the results of that stripper. I have some of that weird black paint which just clogs the sand paper up to remove....

If you need it I can recommend a lovely powder coater in Heanor who does blasting as well.

Remarkable for the price.

They are back to a combo of the original colour and primer in one coat.

One can has easily done 2 wheels, it seems good practice to keep applying a little more and keep it wet.

It started reacting with the paint before i had finished coating the wheel and i cleaned it off after 5 minutes because I was being impatient.

Most of the paint washed away with a hose, some light scraping got the rest off. I think a jet wash would remove everything.

I completely forgot to take any images of the result as i was soaked and it was dark. I will try and get some tomorrow when i do the other pair..

I might stock up on this before they change it...

[akku]

Yeah I have grabbed a couple now.

[Davey]

Mar 1, 2024 12:32:55 GMT akku said:

Yeah I have grabbed a couple now.

Also interested in your thoughts.

Knocks current Nitromors out of the park.

[Davey]

The one very quick coats results.

[Davey]

Second pair of wheels done attacked the faces with the recommended srripping wheels and used the spray stripper on the rest left for the recommended 15 mins.

Wire brushed then jetwashed.

Plenty more to do but it's cut through 6 layers of paint back to bare metal or original coating.

[adam73bgt]

I got a can of that Autotek paint stripper a couple months ago as I was trying to strip paint off some split rim centres. It worked OK for me, but needed a few goes to get most of the paint off. Performance depends on the paint that's been applied as much as the stripper I suppose

On this wheel centre, the black bits are all that's left of the paint, after I think 2 or 3 applications (one wrapped in clingfilm as well) I used a brass brush to help agitate before washing off, white bits are alloy corrosion so they'll need some blasting or something anyway



I tried stripping the Silver paint from one of the centre caps though and it didn't make much of an impression on it, I did get through to alloy with help of the brass brush but it didn't peel off like the black paint. I suspect this was either original paint or the black paint was just some cheap rattle can stuff

[Davey]

Wheel 1 is looking good!