Refinished wheels, lugs & badges

The wheels on my car were looking very tired. The paint was peeling off and they had no lustre. My chrome lugs were completely chipped and rusting from years of impact wrench exposure. My Cavalino badges also needed new chrome. First pic is the before shot of the wheels - yuck! In the following pics you can see that the wheels were refinished perfectly and the chrome work was professionally done. It took about 3 weeks at Wheel Concepts in Newbury Park, CA. The owner, Al, made sure the job was done right and he even offered to re-paint one wheel since it did have one small flaw. If you want to reach Al, his number is (805) 376-2113. I am not affiliated with his company, but he did such a great job, that I wanted the FChat community to know about him.
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Bling!!

 

Wow, at first I thought you'd gotten surgery done on the cavallinos on your wheel badges! I was going into shock! Do you care to share cost info? I'd be curious what to budget for such work.

 

Looks VERY nice and correct

 

Individually, the wheel re-painting was $125 per wheel plus $38 each to paint the black area on the rear of the wheel. Lug re-chrome was $6 per lug. Cav badges re-chrome were $58 for small and $68 for large due to the detail work required.

Total job to re-paint 5 wheels with factory original color front and back, repair of one wheel that was out of round, re-mount and balance, re-chrome 2 cav badges and 20 lug bolts came to $1235 + tax.

Alan Gerogetti's customer service is exemplary. He called me several times throughout the process with status updates. The guy is a wealth of information about Ferrari since he has owned several himself including his current 550. He has been involved in various aspects of the Ferrari business for a long time.

 

I saw that yours are magnesium. Did they require any repair for nicks, gouges, etc.?...or just a repaint? My wheels are coming off this winter for a complete R&R...I'm looking for someone to send them to who is a good balance between $$ and quality. Mine have several gouges that need repairing...

 

There was one small gouge near one of the valve stems that was missed in the repaint process. Alan said he would re-do this at no additional charge. I would give him a call at (805) 376-2113 to discuss repairs.

 

If you want another source, I had mine done by the folks at www.WheelFixIt.com

 

I just re-finished my wheels about 2 weeks ago. The outside edge was badly chipped on all 4 wheels but I painted the entire wheel, so no paint match problems. I used a "HYBRED" method though. I used Griots wheel refinishing kit EXCEPT for the paint.
1st- cleaned with Griots degreaser using a toothbrush on every inch of surface.
2nd- hosed it off very well with water.
3erd- lightly sanded with 320 grit wet sandpaper.(to give primer a better grip- red scotchbrite works too)- rinsed well with water. (I had to take the outside edges to bare metal to get rid of the chips)
4th- Primed with Griot's primer, about 2 light coats, (excellent primer by the way). Must let the primer set at least 24 hours before painting.
5th- gently wiped a tac rag over the wheel surface to pick up dust.(after primer dries)
6th- Painted with 3 coats of Fer101c urathane enamel paint from Carquest, using my touch-up gun and air compressor, about 30 psi.-
I thought the paint came out more evenly and more closely to the original color this way- wheels look perfect and correct color.-
Total cost about $150 for all 4. Took about 3 afternoons.
$150 includes Griot's kit, 1 qt Fer101c, hardener, filters, tac rags, extra paint cans etc.
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Wow!

Both sets look great!


I also have used the Griot's kit, but like you, split it up between two sets of wheels, quirk of fate but it worked out......you really don't need the clear coat but I'm sure it'll last longer if used.......

I also had some real bad gouges, from pulling old tires off, on the back side thankfully, and used a poly body filler compound on them...it'll last until the next time Mr. Tire Machine takes a bite....you can protect with nylon jaws, if the tires aren't too old....

 

WOW!! Those look fantastic! Good work!

 

Money well spent (and that's a great price if they hassled with unmounting the wheels and tires and futzing with the valve stems).

Wishing you (and knowing you will) have a nice little positive visual moment every time your attention is drawn to those items

 

When they Chrome the lugs they use acids. The steel gets a problem known as hydrogen embrittlement--it can lead to cracks. In aerospace, they bake parts that have been exposed to acid to facilitate the hydrogen leaching back out.

They recommend that you bake the lugs in the oven at about 400 Deg F for a half-hour.

If you Google hydrogen embrittlement you will get plenty of hits including: http://www.mechanicalplating.com/hydrogen.htm

Also, you should probably run a test on another chrome part to make sure 400 Deg won't discolor it.

 

Thanks Mike...I will place a call to both sources. Appreciate the help!

 

What is the best filler or hardener to use on minor scrapes on the wheels? Any suggestions would be great. Thanks.

 

I'll have to get the name of it, it's the skim coat they use on body repairs, very similar to what is used on our body panels.

It fills the chips or tire machine marks well...

 

I just finished my wheels...I'll take some pics and post.

 

I think that you're thinking about spot putty. PPG makes an excellent one.(red)

 

Most likely, I just asked the Auto Paint Supply ...it's a two part filler.

I didn't get to check last night.....dinner date....

 

Nitrostain used to feather out minor imperfecttions.

 

Very nice...I lost a center cap & bought 4 new...now I'm gonna look at my wheels w/the new cap, & wonder if I should get them done...

 

* Spot putty isn't 2 part, so it must be something else.