New shiny NC30 wheel *bling* 9 hours later..

**mark247** · 24th April 2008, 15:40

Got myself another wheel for my bike for an "around town" wheel, which i am putting my old tyre on so i dont put a flat spot on my brand new tyre on my other rim. It was white so i thought i would paint it back to make it match but then i thought, nah thats boring ill try to shine it up.

All i used was lots of sand paper, paint stripper, autosol, and a few wire brushs etc. Just thought i would show a few pics of it because if ya got nothing to do and wanna add some 'bling' to your bike, this is certainly one way of doing it. I know if i polished more i could of got it more shiny but after working 9 hours straight on it i was kinda sick of it all... oh and at the end i gave it a clear coat so the alloy doesnt go all crap again too quickly.

**Gubb** · 24th April 2008, 16:11

Looks awesome.

Well done. Worth the effort?

**Cajun** · 24th April 2008, 16:13

looks good mark.

Now you have to do the front to match

still got another week of school holidays get polishing

**sugilite:Me** · 24th April 2008, 16:17

I reckon that looks primo!

**HenryDorsetCase** · 24th April 2008, 16:18

looks good. what brand are the rearsets?

**mark247** · 24th April 2008, 16:36

Originally Posted by HenryDorsetCase

looks good. what brand are the rearsets?

Tyga rear sets. http://tyga-performance.com/site/pro...products_id=51

They were on the bike when i got it.

Originally Posted by Hubba Gubba

Looks awesome.

Well done. Worth the effort?

had nothing better to do so YEP!

**vifferman** · 24th April 2008, 16:48

Good work, Mark!

I did the same thing on my RC36 when I had it, but did both wheels. The white paint was chipped/n/scratched, and was a real bastid to keep clean - all the road spooge stuck to it summat awful. Also, there was some corrosion under the paint. When the wheels were stripped'n'polished, they were MUCH easier to keep clean. I think the paint/powdercoat had somehwat of an electrostatic effect that attracted crap.

The back spokes were somewhat matt, as they are sandcast and not polished in the factory, pre-powdercoating.

The front disk carrier I resprayed with gold wheel paint (was originally silver).

**98tls** · 24th April 2008, 16:54

Looks great,can you tell me what you used etc?

**mark247** · 24th April 2008, 16:55

I thought having them stripped would of made it harder to clean, esspecially the spoke parts which were a quite a rough texture unlike the dish. I actually got the electric sander and smoothed off the spokes so they were nice and smooth and easy to polish up. To make them easier to keep clean i clear coated them so the dirt would just wash off easy. I hope that works.

**mark247** · 24th April 2008, 17:02

Originally Posted by 98tls

Looks great,can you tell me what you used etc?

I used Tergostrip paint stripper at the start to get the paint off. I used an entire bottle ( the smaller of their bottles. ) Basically you just brush it on, let it sit for 10 minutes, then waterblast it off. Once i had most of it off i used rough sand paper, a chisel, and this wire brush thing on the end of the electric drill to get the rest of the really hard paint off. Then i got the electric sander and smoothed off the spokes so they were not all rough alloy from the casting. Then started with rough and worked down to finer sand paper to get rid of the scratches. I think i used 240grit on the sander, then a few other grids all teh way down to 800 grit. Then i polished it a few times and then clear coated it with just normal clear coat for paint.

**vifferman** · 24th April 2008, 17:03

Originally Posted by mark247

I thought having them stripped would of made it harder to clean, esspecially the spoke parts which were a quite a rough texture unlike the dish.

Well, that wasn't my experience. Prior to stripping them, I had to spend quite a bit of time each time I washed the bike (once a month or so) keeping them clean. Afterwards? Just a quick swish with the brush and a hosing, then some autosol once every few months.

Originally Posted by mark247

I actually got the electric sander and smoothed off the spokes so they were nice and smooth and easy to polish up. To make them easier to keep clean i clear coated them so the dirt would just wash off easy. I hope that works.

I may well polish my RC46's wheels properly when they get too chipped/scratched. They're naturally smoother than the RC36's ones, as they have flat surfaces that are smoothish anyway. With the RC36, I just used stripper (a few applications) and a wooden scraper. The only sanding I did was with some very fine sandpaper where there was a little corrosion under the paint.

The clearcoat can be problematic - it can discolour or crack/peel. Apparently Nyalic is the way to go - just a thin mist is all that is required. It's expensive, but works. or so I'm told.

**mark247** · 24th April 2008, 17:09

Originally Posted by vifferman

The clearcoat can be problematic - it can discolour or crack/peel. Apparently Nyalic is the way to go - just a thin mist is all that is required. It's expensive, but works. or so I'm told.

Hmm well if that is a case, i will have to sand the clearcoat off and put that other stuff on, and in the process make it even more shiny! lol I enjoy doing this type of thing so if it discolours it will just be another excuse to do some more shinying

I really want to do the front wheel as well but i want to have a black one as well, so when i find a spare front im certainly gonna do that as well

**vifferman** · 24th April 2008, 17:09

Originally Posted by mark247

I used Tergostrip ....rough sand paper, a chisel, and this wire brush thing on the end of the electric drill ... the electric sander ... with rough and worked down to finer sand paper to get rid of the scratches.. Then i polished it a few times and then clear coated it with just normal clear coat for paint.

Phew!
All I did was use stripper, scraped off with a hardwood stick, then another application, a rinse, then polish with autosol. Both wheels took me a few hours all told.
Next time, I'll take the tyres off first (just masked them with tape), and probably either pay to get the wheels done, or buy some drum sander thingies and/or a dremel and polish them up properly. They're silver powdercoated at the moment anyway, so it's only when they get really scratched that I'll do it.

**mark247** · 24th April 2008, 17:12

Originally Posted by vifferman

Phew!
All I did was use stripper, scraped off with a hardwood stick, then another application, a rinse, then polish with autosol. Both wheels took me a few hours all told.
Next time, I'll take the tyres off first (just masked them with tape), and probably either pay to get the wheels done, or buy some drum sander thingies and/or a dremel and polish them up properly. They're silver powdercoated at the moment anyway, so it's only when they get really scratched that I'll do it.

Yea you see most of my time was spent getting the rough spokes smooth ( which you didnt have to do ) so they would shine. Getting the paint off took a few hours as well....