Re: Wheel Refinishing [89 200q]

["Fred Munro" <munrof@isys.ca>]

Hi Osman;

    I recognize your situation; I have the same problem with my winter tires
on OEM rims. From what I've seen, the aluminium corrosion products release
the bead sealer from the rim, resulting in an air leak which gets
progessively worse. I took a good look at the rims when I installed new
winter tires last year ( after 11 years of Canadian winters and road salt)
and the bead area itself was not pitted, just lightly corroded in some
areas.
    If your rims are in similar condition, sandblasting the bead area and
repainting should resolve the problem.  If pitted, remove the pits with
sandpaper (180 git followed by 400 grit should be OK). I would recommend
painting the entire wheel including the inside to ensure you have an
unbroken paint film. Any bare aluminium should be treated with an aluminium
compatible acid metal prep (like Dupont M3) and primed with an epoxy wash
primer followed by a two part polyurethane primer. The corrosion resistance
is in the primer coats not in the topcoat.
    As for colour, OEM Audi wheels are a silver which is almost (but not
quite) a match with the Zermat Racing Silver body colour. I don't know if a
paint shop would have a listing for the wheel paint; I have never gotten
around to checking.

HTH

Fred Munro
'91 200q  248k km
-----Original Message-----
From: Osman Parvez <oparvez1@nycap.rr.com>
Date: Wednesday, April 01, 1998 12:58 AM
Subject: Wheel Refinishing [89 200q]


>Hi Folks,
>    Since I'm not quite ready (financially) to buy those Compmotive wheels
>I've been lusting after, and it's getting dreadfully warm to be running Hak
>1's, I need to put my old OEM wheels back on the car. Through a personal
>contact I can have the wheels sand/bead blasted and then repainted for only
>the cost of the materials (thats paint and maybe sand). The sanding will be
>done in some sort of cabinet and the painting will be done under vacuum to
>minimize dripping.
>      The problem with the old wheels is that they tend to leak around the
>bead due to corrosion. The leak got so bad that I was filling the Right
>side tires every day till I put the Hak 1's on (with steel wheels). Here is
>the question: Will I find reasonable sucess having the wheels refinished in
>this way? Any BTDT's. I'm pulling the tires off the wheels tommorow and
>should get a better idea of how bad the corrosion is then. But I have the
>feeling that I won't know what I am looking at or at least won't know if
>the refinishing process willl help the problem.
>        P.S. I'm considering painting the wheels a color other than
>P.White. The #2 choice would be silver. Anybody know anything about
>automotive (wheel paint)? I'm wondering if there is paint that is better
>suited to resisting the heat/salt than what Audi originally put on the car.
>
>Anybody have any suggestions for colors other than Pearl? I don't want to
>hear anyone say yellow!. (no offense to the owner of that Yellow A6).
>
>Thanks!!
>Osman Parvez
>Albany, NY
>89 200q, TAP Chip, 171K
>
>