Wheel restoration 101

["Daniel Hussey" <dan_hussey@email.msn.com>]

Well, I just picked up a set of Hakka Q's today for like $80 a tire.   Not
bad, and about the same as the Pirellis I was gonna get and supposedly
better.  Now, I just have to finish restoring my OEM BBS wheels (off an '89
200TQ) so I can mount them before we get snow.

They were pretty rough and the paint/finnish was peeling and corroding
around the edges.  So, I dropped them off last week to get sandblasted.
Picked them up and was very upset to find that the corrosion had not only
started to eat through the paint, but into the wheel itself.  The paint was
gone and you could see where the salt had pitted the wheels around the
edges.  Not deep, but it is there.  I was planning on repainting them last
weekend, but got delayed because I wasn't sure what to do....  I'm debating
on whether to just paint them as is, or to sand the edges of the rims down
and then paint them.  I am just thinking I will make a bigger mess of them
by trying to sand them, and I should just paint them as is and be done with
it, but I'd like to hear some BTDT's on this sorta thing.  If y'all think I
can sand them down easily and have them look nice, I'll do that.  But, if it
is more trouble than it is worth, I'll forget about it.  This is just for
winter wheels, but I did spend the money to have the bead blasted, so I'd
like them to turn out as close to new looking as possible.

Once I figure out what to do here, I'll paint them.  I'm painting them with
Worth's silver paint.  I'm gonna do a few thin coats and then a coat or two
of clearcoat.  I'll let you know how it turns out.  Paint was pretty
expensive, but a lot cheaper than powder coating and plus, I'd like to try
it myself.  I painted a friend's set of wheels on his Sterling a few years
back and it came out nice.

Later,
Dan