DIY diamond cut alloy refurb

[Daveotto]

Had 2 wheels refurbed and retfitted today FOC courtesy of a dodgy tyre fitter so decided to tidy up the one I curbed last week when my front right looked at a curb!!

Before

Mask it up to make sure you don't damage the good surfaces

15 minutes with 600 grit wet and dry

Keep going for another 15 mins reducing coarseness of the wet and dry (1000, 1200, 1500) and finally 2000

Finished it off with some Goddards silver polish and some auto lacquer (£2 off eBay) and once the lacquer dried washed and cleaned the rest of the wheel

Very pleased with my first effort of alloy refurb and now have 4 near perfect alloys again.

 

[Sandra]

Awesome work Dave. You may have a beer now. x

 

[Scottyg]

That's a damn good job.

 

[Chris5]

Can you do mine next.
Great job

 

[Daveotto]

Can you do mine next.
Great job

I was seriously worried I might do more damage than good, but if I can do it anyone can and only cost me £5 for the wet and dry paper and auto lacquer

 

[Jassyo06]

He who dares.... and all that...swaddling lol top work mate,l have two tiny little scratches on the drivers front,l may give it a go of sorts

 

[Terminator x]

*** me next!

TX.

 

[Jassyo06]

*** me next!

TX. View attachment 92425

*** mate that's gruesome...

 

[Terminator x]

Yep, happened 2 weeks after collection!

TX.

 

[Sandra]

@Daveotto look like a nice sideline Saturday job for you, lol. x

 

[CraigI]

Understeer?

 

[encee]

Nice one OP - with skills like that after just one go at it, looks like you might be able to start a nice little side-line on here !

 

[Chris5]

Video demo next time for the useless people like me

 

[Daveotto]

*** me next!

TX. View attachment 92425

Ouch, I can feel the pain from here

 

[Rob2k68]

Looking good Dave !!

 

[musicegbdf]

Nice one you have inspired me. I have one which i think will have to be done properly as it is gouged. The other is similar to yours so might be worth a go.

 

[royalsteve68]

That's a superb job considering you don't have a £100K machine!!

 

[Soulboy]

May have inspired me to have a go at mine too.
Nice one.!

 

[15audis3]

Good work, may give this a go on mine too.

 

[steeve]

Fixing relatively light damage isn't difficult and you've really got nothing to lose so have a go........

 

[Daveotto]

Fixing relatively light damage isn't difficult and you've really got nothing to lose so have a go........

Yep...if I can do it, anyone can!!!!!

 

[robw77]

Managed to curb my alloy today with very similar damage so very tempted to give this a go myself after seeing the amazing work done by @Daveotto above.

Just one question as a complete novice at this sort of stuff - what sort of auto lacquer do you need to get? Anyone point me to it on eBay?

Cheers!

edit: I have the standard diamond cut A3 Saloon Sline alloys if that makes a difference?

 

[Daveotto]

This will do the job just fine...

Look at this on eBay
Clear Coat Lacquer for car paint Touch up brush scratch chip repair

 

[robw77]

This will do the job just fine...

Look at this on eBay
Clear Coat Lacquer for car paint Touch up brush scratch chip repair

Great stuff, thank you!

 

[musicegbdf]

Interesting that more pro repairers will not do this.
You get pushed to the full refurb which to me seems over the top for light scuffs. Though it is about time Audi changed the stock tyres to those with more protection.
I now have three damaged ,and only six months old . Bothe and missus now paraniod about kerbs !!!

 

[pburv]

Interesting that more pro repairers will not do this.
You get pushed to the full refurb which to me seems over the top for light scuffs. Though it is about time Audi changed the stock tyres to those with more protection.
I now have three damaged ,and only six months old . Bothe and missus now paraniod about kerbs !!!

I know what you mean mate....
If you took pictures of my parking it will flood the 'Extreme Parking' thread...lol

 

[Chris5]

@Daveotto
Is this the list I need Dave?
600 grit wet and dry
1000 (grit?) wet and dry
1200 wet and dry
1500 wet and dry
2000 wet and dry
Silver polish (what one?)
Auto lacquer (got the eBay link)

Going to give this a go

 

[Daveotto]

@Daveotto
Is this the list I need Dave?
600 grit wet and dry
1000 (grit?) wet and dry
1200 wet and dry
1500 wet and dry
2000 wet and dry
Silver polish (what one?)
Auto lacquer (got the eBay link)

Going to give this a go

@Daveotto
Is this the list I need Dave?
600 grit wet and dry
1000 (grit?) wet and dry
1200 wet and dry
1500 wet and dry
2000 wet and dry
Silver polish (what one?)
Auto lacquer (got the eBay link)

Going to give this a go

Yep that's pretty much it, can get mixed packs of wet n dry off eBay pretty cheap and I used Goddard's silver polish because it was what the Mrs had in the cupboard but expect any would do the job

 

[15audis3]

I used autosol exhaust polish as final step on mine and came out great, doesn't need to be anything special

 

[batch]

@Daveotto bit late to congratulate you on this one mate, fantastic job. Certainly a lifesaver if you've lightly dinked a wheel that's already been done! Nice one!
My four are now immaculate and stacked up in the garage waiting for winter!

 

[Keef1004]

Did you use a block for the wet n dry and did you use water or go dry going to have a go on the wife's golf next weekend her damage is almost identical to yours

 

[Mattyk55]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Daveotto]

Did you use a block for the wet n dry and did you use water or go dry going to have a go on the wife's golf next weekend her damage is almost identical to yours

Yes and yes - block and water

 

[S3_Blue]

It will be interesting to see how long the lacquer last on this.

 

[DaytonaS3]

Hi, thanks for posting this it’s been very useful.
Did you apply lacquer before the polish? I’ve done the sanding back, and just at this stage!
I’ll chuck some similar photos when finished .

 

[Rayner_1704]

Gunna have to give that ago with mine see if I can fix mine

 

[Daveotto]

lacquer after using the silver polish (got a similar one on the current car that needs doing on the same front drivers side wheel, must be my driving!!!!)

 

[jdp1962]

I am so glad I found this.

 

[davc]

Funnily enough I'm about to tackle two of my wing arms that have suffered minor kerb rash before I put them back on for the summer.

 

[Scotty75]

Threads like this are what make forums so good. Rather late to the party but @Daveotto , ****** well done mate. A question though........

Can your repair method be used on these alloys ?