Wheel refinishing

[Brett Dikeman]

At 10:13 PM -0400 4/28/03, Martin, Gary G wrote:

>Anybody have any luck getting the OEM 200 20V wheels refinished?  I
>cleaned up the pitting on the lip myself, but without clearcoat it is
>tuff to maintain. I talked to a refinishing shop today about cleaning up
>the lip and clearcoating it. He said it may not work due to porosity??
>Caused by the pitting I assume. Just wondering about others experiences.

A wheel refinisher here in eastern MA told me that the edge of the
rim is machined in a special way.  If you look closely, you'll note
ridges on the rim, and that's partially what gives it such a nice
look when it's in good shape.  They said that as a result, it had to
be done on a special machine, and the wheels would have to be shipped
out.


Then again, I've also had shops quote me enormous fees to, for
example, dechrome and repaint a set of wheels(I was at the time
looking for the ultra-rare Borbet Type C in 17x8.5, found a set, only
they were chrome) - but another shop told me "no sweat.  Takes a
little longer, but same charge."

There's a dealership owner on the east coast who came to Mt.
Washington, and brought his pristine UrQ that had perfectly restored
rims.  When I asked him about 'em, he said he had a friend who owned
a shop, and to catch him later for the info- never managed to catch
up with him.

Best advice is to let your mouse do the walking and find a bunch of
wheel refinishers, and compare turnaround times and prices.

Brett
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