the half ***** wheel refurb

[fourcircle]

so titled because I'm referring to QuattroJames' refurb guide on audifans and can't imagine I will have as much patience as him. So I'm going to have a bash at sorting my RS6 reps out and document what happens (I'm hoping for a good result rather than comedy but you never know)

First up are the before pics..



A few good scrapes there, mostly courtesy of my missus when we lived in Glasgow but admittedly a couple were down to me.
I'm doing the initial work on the balcony of my 4th floor flat, as most professionals would recommend . It's glass fronted at least so I'm protected from the elements.

wiped down with thinners..


it's been said that I don't look my age


and after a good going over with 240 grit wet & dry, then wiped down with thinners.


I have to say this sanding business takes a hell of a long time. I'm going out again shortly with the dremel to work on the scraped edges a little bit.
The insides/backs of the wheels are in a right state. even after a serious going over with the thinners they look bad. I'm actually wondering if some kind of sanding attachment on my drill would be a better way to start on them???

 

[fourcircle]

oh yes.. I deliberated about avus silver versus anthracite grey for ages but have decided on the silver.. i think.
I like the aggresive dark wheels thing as per leakylloyd's car



and although this is an RS6 it looks close to my crystal blue and so I'm thinking avus silver wheels and mirrors would do nicely

 

[mattyboyc]

If it all goes "BREASTS UPWARDS" you could always give the wheels to me as a set of RS6'S are next on the list after the exhaust and keys are done.

 

[quattrojames]

It looks like ideal conditions for working on them mate!

Avus silver wheels and mirrors look the business, a look I had myself for ages, and might even go back to (see your email...)

Dremel?!

 

[Widemonkeys]

How are u getting on with the key upgrade?

 

[fourcircle]

If it all goes "BREASTS UPWARDS" you could always give the wheels to me as a set of RS6'S are next on the list after the exhaust and keys are done.

ah, I would love to mate but the postage from finland would probably be a killer

erm.. what's the key upgrade?

james - thought mild application of the dremel on the bad scrapes might help. I take it you think I should just stick to block and w&d to flatten it off? I haven't done anything like this before so I don't mind you telling me i'm being a tit.. honest

 

[Widemonkeys]

Something Mattyboyc is doing b6 to b7 keys

 

[simon.m]

id stick to the block and paper mate the dremal can make things worse trust me on that ;-) if you have a da that would be best

 

[quattrojames]

James - thought mild application of the dremel on the bad scrapes might help. I take it you think I should just stick to block and w&d to flatten it off? I haven't done anything like this before so I don't mind you telling me i'm being a tit.. honest

It would make me nervous .... I used some green sandpaper, will check tomorrow and let you know what it is, P60 I think. Its smoothed mine pretty quickly and they weren't great! This is the best picture I have.

Stop being a pussy:

 

[fourcircle]

cool, i'll stick with the block and then use the filler primer and sand layer at a time until I get a good finish.

Stop being a pussy:

genius! now, just to check my life insurance policy...

 

[fourcircle]

id stick to the block and paper mate the dremal can make things worse trust me on that ;-) if you have a da that would be best

a da? aye but sure he's in ireland so he's no use for this job
I have loads of holidays to take but have trouble finding the time to take them if that makes sense? I wanted to take mon to wed this week but it's not looking promising so i'll try again for next week. Time, good music, plenty of tea & biscuits and most importantly... missus at work and kids at nursery.. bring it on!

 

[mattyboyc]

How are u getting on with the key upgrade?

I have both keys with new blades and the imob chip has been swapped in one of them, that one works i just need to pair them to the car for the remote to work but as mine is a early o2 model i needed a new convienience
Module, i have this so just a nice warm day,seat out and fingers crossed all should be good

 

[simon.m]

its just a sander mate the boddy shops cal them DA.s ;-) like this Sealey DAS150T Random Orbital DA Sander Variable Speed on eBay (end time 29-Mar-11 16:35:30 BST) just makes it sooooooo much easyer and you would not need to use paint filler id say if the curb marks are deep use a bit off mettal boddy filler just to fill the small parts if you can just sand them out that is as most do come out with out any need for filler.

 

[fourcircle]

can you get into the back/inside of the rim with one of those mate? I may have to go and splash out on one if it will take polishing pads too. of course once I spend £200 on a polisher and paint etc I may as well have just paid to have the wheels shot blasted and powder coated

 

[simon.m]

if you go to your local D i Y shop they sell them for around 20 pounds halfords do them for 20 ish as well and its a good one that also dose the poilshing you can get it on the inside/back of the wheels but if yours are really bad id say put some paint striper on the backs then just scrap it off the da also gets used at home for me ie sanding the wood down as the pads are the same size for wood sanders well if you get the halfords one ;-)

 

[fourcircle]

20 quid? so like a grinder with a fat pad on it.. kind of thing? Bet it's a bit more out here (Finland) but i'll have a nosey about and see what I can get my hands on. I went halfers on a nice polisher/sander a while ago with a friend but left it with him when I left the UK. nuts

 

[simon.m]

id not use a grinder with a pad mate spins up to fast and its easy to burn through the top coats of the paint when poilishing.

 

[fourcircle]

no, sorry, I meant the machine looks kind of like a grinder with a fat pad on it, like the one you linked to but... erm... a quarter of the price somehow?

 

[quattrojames]

All I used was:

+

+

 

[simon.m]

ha yeah not no where near as much a lol the only real thing i can theink of is a grinder can cut stuff a da will not lol

 

[fourcircle]

there's your problem then. tiny sheets of a sandpaper.. or possible a huge block of wood
the faces will will be fine but the rears/insides could be problematic. we'll see what happens when I get a chance to get stuck in..

 

[docurley]

I would rub the inside best you can and just paint the inside black.

 

[quattrojames]

I used petrol on the inside of mine to remove all tar spots etc and rubbed the rim down smooth, but I didn't worry too much about the inside of the spokes, just doing it enough to key them in.

The three I did are much smoother inside than the one I've subsequently replaced!

 

[fourcircle]

I would rub the inside best you can and just paint the inside black.

I'd thought about that but don't trust myself to get a straight line where the black/grey meets the silver. hmm... masking tape or some other fancy new product I know nothing of?

 

[fourcircle]

I used petrol on the inside of mine to remove all tar spots etc and rubbed the rim down smooth, but I didn't worry too much about the inside of the spokes, just doing it enough to key them in.

The three I did are much smoother inside than the one I've subsequently replaced!

ah, good to know you didn't go nuts trying to get the inside done to the same standard as the fronts. petrol eh? I wonder what the local petrol station will make of the man with the northern irish accent filling a bottle with petrol?

 

[simon.m]

theres a few kind of ways to do it id not bother doing the insides black and the out sides silver id just do both silver prime both front and back and the do the backs silver first then move onto the fronts as the off spray when you do the fronts will hit the backs no matter how good you are ;-)

 

[fourcircle]

no matter how good I am.. erm.. somewhere between **** and terrible

 

[fourcircle]

Right, I bought some more supplies yesterday and did a bit more work. Turns out petrol and cloth, then wire brush and then petrol again, then the first rough sand with 220 grit W&D actually makes quite a difference.

so this


becomes more like this



I also dug out the mirror caps I bought ages ago to do them at the same time.

 

[fourcircle]

I also bought a load of thin polythese sheeting to cover the whole inside of the balcony area to make a spray booth. One the paint is on the wheels will be transferred to the sauna, where i'll keep the heat on low for a few hours to help bake it on.
Note that a sauna is completely dry if you don't throw water on the coals. Not to be confused with a steam room, which would be slightly less helpful when drying paint
No, I haven't told my missus this yet and hoped she might not notice

 

[simon.m]

the backs are painted in like a none stick stuff like whats on your frying pan so any good allow wheel cleaner should do the job i do not recomend using it on the front of any allow wheel just to clean them though as much as it says what it does on the tin as they say its far to hursh for the paint. good luck with the misses mate just hope the paint smell dont last to long lol

 

[quattrojames]

Teflon wheels?! I've heard it all now Simon!

 

[simon.m]

i did say like the none stick stuff

 

[quattrojames]

I made a spray booth in my shed lol:

 

[fourcircle]

RS6 reps by Jamie Oliver

 

[fourcircle]

prob with my spray booth is i'll need to be fully enclosed so I don't get overspray on the vast quantities of glass on both sides (between living room and balcony and then glass panels keeping the elements off the balcony). It'll be like a miniature version of ET when the government take over the house.

 

[simon.m]

hahahaha your wife will love you just send her colth shoping or some thing that will give you the day to sort it all lol.
you do need to have a small amount of air coming in mate the of spray or most of it should get sucked out if you live a small opening

 

[fourcircle]

hahahaha your wife will love you just send her colth shoping or some thing that will give you the day to sort it all lol.
you do need to have a small amount of air cominh in mate the of spray or most of it should get sucked out of it

she should be thankful that I don't use the curtains I'll make sure I have some air so she doesn't come back from shopping to find me unconscious across a couple of pretty wheels.

 

[simon.m]

lmao yeah the fumes are a bit harsh lol

 

[fourcircle]

Dear diary.. I wish I'd just paid to have the ****** wheels refurbed

OK, I'm kind of enjoying doing bits of it but i've paid quite a bit of money for paint etc (esp at Finnish prices) and i'm only getting an hour here and there to do anything (busy at work and 2 small boys at home). But anyway here's the progress so far..

I've learned that too much 220 grid when used dry will sand your fingerprints off. I know this because my fingerprint scanner on my work laptop told me to **** off and I had to resort to remembering the password.


so after rough sanding with 200 grit and a late discovery that those semi hard disposable sanding blocks are actually great, then a wet going over with 600 grit W&D they were looking not too bad




masking off rubber (yes it would be much easier to remove the tyres but i'd originally only planned to do the front faces and it's all gone on a bit from there)


and Home (balcony) spray booth. Does my wife like it? I'm not sure she's noticed yet

 

[simon.m]

hahahahahah this made me lol this morning ;-)
I've learned that too much 220 grid when used dry will sand your fingerprints off. I know this because my fingerprint scanner on my work laptop told me to **** off and I had to resort to remembering the password

spray booth. Does my wife like it? I'm not sure she's noticed yet

oh she has seen it trust me she is going to make you pay mate a nice dinner or flowers lol she is just watting for the right time and place to bring it up lol