Wheels Finished – Part 1

Fresh out of the box - 16 x 7

Now the rear - 16 x 8

 

On previous posts I had talked about the work involved to get the wheels refinished to a condition I was happy with.  Everything was done and I commenced the painting.  The paint was supposed to be a satin black but it came out way t0o glossy.  Not only that I had the gun set up all wrong and the finish looked very average.  My only excuse is that it was the first real attempt at painting using 2K so I at least allowed myself an excuse.

To remedy this I decided to take down to a wheel repair shop recommneded to me by my mechanic. A few hundred dollars later they came back looking much better.  They’re still not perfect but I think they’re OK and to be honest I’m just glad they are done.

While all this was happening I came across a set of 16 x 7’s and 8’s that are genuine and had already been polished.  The polishing was rough but I couldn’t resist picking them up with a view to finishing in my favourite combo – polished rims, polished spokes, painted backing.  I really like that early style and will be getting them done this way.  I’ll load up the pics when they get back in a couple of weeks.  With everything else I have got on the go I am outsourcing this job!!  The thought of working on more wheels is too much.  The newer ones will end up on the car and these ones will either go into storage or I might sell them to help pay for the next project..

Refinished Parts

Not a paint booth but good enough for this job!

It’s been a while since the last post.  Since the most recent update I have been slowly completing the refinishing of  all the various bits and pieces.  I’ve done alot of it myself but in the end I had Phil at Auto Coupe look after the important mechanical parts.  In particular he did the following:

• Split calipers, blasted, replated, assembles, baked and fitted rebuild kit.  One piston was replaced but the others were OK.  These will work like brand new.
• Blasted front hubs and coated with clear.  New wheel bearings packed and greased. New rotors to finish off.
• Blasted trailing arms and coated with clear.  New wheel bearings, new handbrakes shoes.  Hubs also blasted and new bushes fitted where the trailing arm attached to the torsion bar tube.  Again, as good as new.
• Spring plates blasted and replated.  Old bushes removed and new urethane ones fitted.  I had asked about squeaking for this style of bush but Phil assures me that use of the correct grease and they’ll be no issues.  There was a bit of surface corrosion that you can’t completely remove but the performance is not affected.  To me they’re still an 8.5 out of 10.
• Camber plates cleaned and painted.  Not replated because of the attached rubber bush.
• Front control arms blasted and repainted.  New bushes (urethane) fitted.  Phil also fitted the ball joints to make my life a bit easier on the assembly.
• Blasted, cleaned and replated bolts, clips and various other hardware items.  Phil then bagged and labelled which I assure you is much appreciated!

Still to come from Phil are the powdercoated sway bars, stone tray, crash bar and tow plate.  He is also supplying urethane sway bar bushes all round.

All the other parts are close to done.  I have stripped and repainted the struts.  My first real project with 2K paint and the results are pretty good – certainly good enough for the struts and rear shocks.

Other parts such as the washer bottle, fuel overflow bottle, fuel filler pipe, rear fender brackets have been done.  No pics but they’ll be shown when I start putting the car back together.

At the moment I am refinishing the oil tank (in POR15) and at the same time will replace some of the oil lines – the old ones are looking every bit of their 27 years!  I need new ones when the SSI’s go on so I am doing it now while everything is apart.  Yet another ‘while you’re there’ project.

Enough words for now. The pics do the talking anyway.

Not a paint booth but good enough for this job!

Close up of front strut. Not bad for 1st ever 2K paint job.

Front hubs came up the best. Look new to me. Very happy!

A Arm blasted and painted. New urethane bushes fitted and ball joints torqued up.

Trailing arms blasted and coated. New bushes pressed in.

Rear hub looks great. New handbrakes shows as well.

Sprin plates blasted and replated. New bushes!

Bolts and hardware bagged up. Camber plates and drop links painted.

Brakes split, blasted, plated, baked and new seal kit.