Re-finishing curbaged AVUS wheels & caliper pain

[Slow4]

So my Avus wheels came like this when I first got it. Didn't want to fix it at first and leave it be, but over the months of the first year, it started getting on my nerves...so now I'm working on it. Any suggestions to help me along this process would be awesome.


Day after purchase...this is how the wheels look
____




Curbage markings
____


After I sanded it down with 320 Grit, and than with 800 grit
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Applied bondo to the areas that had curbage
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Applying primer to the wheel

Now, to sand it and add paint. How does one prevent paint from running?

[S4 John]

looks good! do light coats. also, make sure you turn the spray can upside down and spray until no paint comes out when you are done with one coat. this makes sure the spray can stays good and doesn't make blotches.

[Slow4]

looks good! do light coats. also, make sure you turn the spray can upside down and spray until no paint comes out when you are done with one coat. this makes sure the spray can stays good and doesn't make blotches.

Hm...thats good to know.
I'll try that method on my last wheel. I also bought one of these gizmos:

[Sleeeper X]

Are you going to paint the centercaps?

[Slow4]

Are you going to paint the centercaps?

Yup...it'll be the last step in my process.

How do you get rid of the scratch markes on the plastic center caps? Sand it?

[BMCINSD1]

Which brand of paint are you using for the wheel?...

[Kruat]

I'm doing this right now to my stock wheels. Only I'm using JB Weld instead of bondo. I have the same type of mark/curbing. I'll post some pics of my process...

[Slow4]

Which brand of paint are you using for the wheel?...

Dupi-color from Advance Auto Parts.

[Slow4]

Painting my wheels and doing my "FA-REMBO" (Fake ass Brembo) set-up

[DxC]

I'm doing this right now to my stock wheels. Only I'm using JB Weld instead of bondo. I have the same type of mark/curbing. I'll post some pics of my process...

ive been refinishing wheels like a maniac lately, and jb weld is MUCH better to use than bondo. also when powdercoating, you cant use bondo as it wont hold up to the heat whereas jbweld can. just note that sometimes the coated area over jbweld is a different shade of color, so i usually use a primer coat before coating.

also sandblasting the wheel would be much easier to clean up the wheel ... if u have access to one

[Slow4]

With a little helpful tips from my dad, this is the results of my first wheel job. Now onto the rest of the three.


Wheel #1:






AFTER ACTIONS TIP: When adding primer, ADD more than one coat; at minimum two coats.

[317ssayzarc]

i would suggest sanding after the second or third coat of primer... then two coats of color and two of clear, then wetsand with 2000, 2500 then 3000 and buff it out... that would get rid of that orange peel and give it a glossy look!

not bad for your first try man

[Slow4]

i would suggest sanding after the second or third coat of primer... then two coats of color and two of clear, then wetsand with 2000, 2500 then 3000 and buff it out... that would get rid of that orange peel and give it a glossy look!

not bad for your first try man

Thanks man. The orange peel effect is given off by the light, there is no orange peel color.

Sand with wet 2500 works after you've added the paint on? The paint won't strip?

AFTER ACTION TIP: Wet sand is WAY better than dry sand (under certain circumstances)

[317ssayzarc]

Thanks man. The orange peel effect is given off by the light, there is no orange peel color.

Sand with wet 2500 works after you've added the paint on? The paint won't strip?

AFTER ACTION TIP: Wet sand is WAY better than dry sand (under certain circumstances)

I wetsand scratches out of panels on cars when I detail, wheels are just paint as well... As long as you get a good hard clearcoat on there you can sand away... I'd start at 2k and work it up to 3k then get at it with a rotary/compund on the face and a drill/compound/powerball in the spokes... I'm a little obsessive lol

[Slow4]

I wetsand scratches out of panels on cars when I detail, wheels are just paint as well... As long as you get a good hard clearcoat on there you can sand away... I'd start at 2k and work it up to 3k then get at it with a rotary/compund on the face and a drill/compound/powerball in the spokes... I'm a little obsessive lol

Hm. Learned something new today.

[317ssayzarc]

Hm. Learned something new today.

Awesome, glad I could help

Some dont like being schooled, I think its an ego thing, but I personally enjoy it

[Slow4]

Last post of the night...gotta get up at 5am.

My FA-rembos setup 50% complete!

[Slow4]

^^ Decal or no decal?

I'm thinking the decal would make it look tacky.

[Kruat]

^^ Decal or no decal?

I'm thinking the decal would make it look tacky.

Dunno man, but I've yet to do this. I have some red caliper paint as well. I wondering if red will stand out too much for stock brakes...I might get some black.

[Slow4]

What do you gents think?

I think I did a decent job but I'm a little unhappy with the paint job AND that there is a noticeable spot where i wiped off some grease that accidently got on the wheels.




Now to complete the other 2 wheels and my re-finishing project is done

[galvan11]

Looks good..

A buddy and I took 26 hours straight without sleeping to get our wheels and calipers painted! Never thought it would take that long!
All the paint fumes and thinner did the trick to keep us awake!

[Slow4]

Gents, I've finished my wheels and caliper project (wheel caps will be completed later). I'll post pictures of the wheels and the car when the weather is a little nicer.


Refinished AVUS wheel on the left, Original Avus wheel on the right


Refinished


Original

Now to schedule an appointment to mount/balance/align my FALKEN 452s

[Kruat]

Did you paint the barrel?

[Slow4]

Did you paint the barrel?

No. Now that you mention it, it IS very noticeable.

DAMN!

[Kruat]

Well the reason I ask is, once I get to painting mine, I was wondering if I should paint the barrel, but I'll most likely be going gunmetal, so it would be really noticeable.

BTW-yours look great! Good job man!

[Rajan147]

very nice

[Slow4]

Well the reason I ask is, once I get to painting mine, I was wondering if I should paint the barrel, but I'll most likely be going gunmetal, so it would be really noticeable.

BTW-yours look great! Good job man!

PAINT THE BARREL when you do it!

LoL! Learn from my mistake! If I were to paint the barrel, it'd probably be the same steps as painting the front but more cleaning. Tip suggestion, don't over paint the barrel portion, just enough that there is color on that side AND there won't be any noticeable running when you turn to paint the front.

Thank you, thank you gents

[WingsnHorns]

Great work...Duplicolor makes great rattle can paint.

[AudiSportB5S4]

did you do the entire caliper in the front ? looks like you just did the face of it ? this is my caliper when re done with duplicolor but it wasnt a spray can it was a paint brush caliper kit



looks great though, the wheel job came out great

[AMC]

did you do the entire caliper in the front ? looks like you just did the face of it ? this is my caliper when re done with duplicolor but it wasnt a spray can it was a paint brush caliper kit



looks great though, the wheel job came out great

stop bein such a rich greenwich kid

[Dowskeet]

stop bein such a rich greenwich kid

haha..

OP - Your diy looks great.. Good first job. I am about to undertake this on my car although now thinking about it I might have the wheels off the tire and give it a shot. That way I can work on them longer and take my good ol time. I think Ill give JB weld a try instead of bondo though.. I think that would probably last a little longer with the wheel.

Cheers

[Slow4]

did you do the entire caliper in the front ? looks like you just did the face of it ? this is my caliper when re done with duplicolor but it wasnt a spray can it was a paint brush caliper kit

Pretty much. I basically did a 180-degree caliper paint job, so everything you can possibly see up close and far away is red. Everything else inside the barrel and behind the calipers, I left alone.

Theres some things I'll take out and work on, brakes is not one of them. I like to stop.

OP - Your diy looks great.. Good first job. I am about to undertake this on my car although now thinking about it I might have the wheels off the tire and give it a shot. That way I can work on them longer and take my good ol time. I think Ill give JB weld a try instead of bondo though.. I think that would probably last a little longer with the wheel.

Yes. I do recommend you taking off the entire wheel to do your paint job. Its easier and allows you to do a better job. On top of that, it allows you to paint the barrel portion of the wheel. I'm doing that today, I hate the fact that I missed the barrel portion; looks funny.

Is there any suggestions on what/how I should paint the center caps?

[rusky]

Good job man, looks like new now.

[Slow4]

F**K!

My center caps and wheel are two different colors!

Does anyone know how to fix this?

[SoEvoL]

looks great, sounds like a fun project to paint the calipers

[Ber\/ani]

F**K!

My center caps and wheel are two different colors!

Does anyone know how to fix this?

i used electric tape and very tightly taped around the center black ring as well as the grey w/audi rings portion. let it dry for a while, i peeled the tape too soon and took off some paint. but yeah electric tape worked pretty well.

[Slow4]

i used electric tape and very tightly taped around the center black ring as well as the grey w/audi rings portion. let it dry for a while, i peeled the tape too soon and took off some paint. but yeah electric tape worked pretty well.

Nono. I did the same thing you did. The entire center/wheel cap is lighter than the wheel itself. I'm thinking its because I ran out of paint, so there wasn't much left to cover. If thats the case, I'm buying another can to finish it up.

If not, I have no idea how to fix that...

[Slow4]

I'm done. Yea, no more progress pictures

Wheels, Wheel caps, calipers, new tires and a car wash!

[Kruat]

Those look very good man. Very nice DIY.

[Sleeeper X]

uh oh...... this is going to be a thread jack flame war.