Teardrops Refurb

[waynestoyotamr2]

Was thinking of tidying up my Mk1's Teardrops before JAE - dont want to go crazy with the effort, but just enough to make them look smart, as they lacquer and paint is peeling, and they are quite thick with brake dust.

Eventually, I will get them powder coated - but what have other people used? From rubbing down to spraying? Previously I've found the contents of rattle cans to be a bit too thin to use on alloys....

Any advice?

[BIGBOBO]

I'm currently doing the same with my triangle alloys.

I'm not nearly done yet but I'll tell what I did and plan to do.

1. Use a wire brush to get the old paint and dirt off.
2. Wet sand with medium grit sandpaper (Think I have 400)
3. Wet sand with fine grit sandpaper (180?)
4. Lightly polish them with some cutting compound
5. Rattlecan primer
6. Sand down any imperfection you find. Primer and repeat if needed. (this is how far I got so far)
7. Multiple light coats of silver/grey/black/pink/whatever.
8. Clearcoat.

It wont be perfect but it'll be cheap and way better than flaking paint and oxidation.

About the rattlecan paint, I have a friend who did the same and his wheels are still fine (repeat not perfect!) after more than a year. I guess it all comes down to doing multiple light layers, sanding them down a bit between each one and a good clearcoat.

I don't believe it will hold forever but it will till I save enough to get them powder coated.

[Lunarmatic]

Can you get a decent enough finish with the tyres still on the alloys? I'd like to sort out my teardrops at some point but can't take them all off the car at once and would ideally like to get some new (decent) rubber on the wheels asap (i.e. before I get round to sorting the alloys out).

In particular I'm concerned about getting good paint coverage on the wheel rim (without overspray on the tyre) and to not leave a lip where it will easily flake off if caught by accident.

[mr2mk1chick]

Can you get a decent enough finish with the tyres still on the alloys? I'd like to sort out my teardrops at some point but can't take them all off the car at once and would ideally like to get some new (decent) rubber on the wheels asap (i.e. before I get round to sorting the alloys out).

In particular I'm concerned about getting good paint coverage on the wheel rim (without overspray on the tyre) and to not leave a lip where it will easily flake off if caught by accident.

we did our track wheels, but the finish wasn't the best TBH, despite good masking off etc

[GaryR]

I did my teardrops last year - I needed 4 new tyres, so I did a wheel at a time, removing the tyre and using the spare as a substitute on the car.

Sanded down the bits I could reach with an orbital sander, then used a dremel on the rest... took a while to get all the years of brake dust off the back.

A few coats of acid #8 primer.. I did this outside as the warning on the can was very scary!!!! Rubbed down between coats.
Couple of coats of grey primer.
Hand painted the teardrops, with a small modelling brush and quite thin paint.
Masked off the teardrops - used a stanley blade to cut the tape around the lip of the teardrops to get a nice clean edge.
Sprayed the rest silver.
Finished with 3 or 4 coats of clear lacquer.
Cringe when the guy putting the new tyre on, drops one of the wheels face down on the concrete floor.........

Repeat until you run out of wheels, or your wife complains about the smell of paint.

They look pretty good, unless you get really close and (IMO) better than just spraying them all silver.

[MRTWO]

I was lucky and picked up a spare set on ebay for £27 (for 5 teardrops!) a few weeks ago.
It was the sellers for ebay auction and 4 of the 5 wheels were actually in pretty good nick compared to mine which are bubbling, so for now they've got a new set of tyres and are sitting pretty on the car.

I've been looking around for someone to refurb my originals back to standard but everyone just wants to paint them all one colour, except one place (BJV Engineering) that quoted £300 and 1 week to do the 2 tone properly for all 4 wheels.

While I'm thinking about that (!) its good to see that a good job can be done by ourselves and I may yet try this out, so as well as the original poster, I'm thankful for these replies

[MartG]

Dark grey Hammerite is a fairly good match for the original colour of the teardrop holes

[waynestoyotamr2]

Anyone got any thoughts on how to get this "Diamond Cut" finish, like on Wheeler Dealers? I appreciate it wont last long, but looks smart short term.

[kevin..in]

Anyone got any thoughts on how to get this "Diamond Cut" finish, like on Wheeler Dealers? I appreciate it wont last long, but looks smart short term.

thats a professional refurb job
unless you want to set up a jig to spin the rim while you polish the face

I had my tear drops refurbed a few years ago and I would not go for powder coat again on these rims because as you know they are a two piece construction welded together, so this leaves a gap between center and rim which the powder coating doesnt reach, several months later there was corrosion appearing in this area. rims are now scabbier than ever
I would get them bead blasted then sprayed with proper (wet) paint
I'm not against powder coating and only last week had my scooter rims done, but never again on two piece rims


beautiful finish but no good for MK1 alloys!!

[omracing]

Can you get a decent enough finish with the tyres still on the alloys? I'd like to sort out my teardrops at some point but can't take them all off the car at once and would ideally like to get some new (decent) rubber on the wheels asap (i.e. before I get round to sorting the alloys out).

In particular I'm concerned about getting good paint coverage on the wheel rim (without overspray on the tyre) and to not leave a lip where it will easily flake off if caught by accident.

I've tried both ways, with the tyres still on and without.
If you have a spare set of wheels put them on and do the wheels yourself without the tyres on, believe me its alot easier and looks 10 times better.