Split rim refurbishment is something we get asked to do quite often, however the work involved is not always simple and the cost is also quite high. The process is not always understood and these jobs should only be completed by experienced companies to ensure a quality finish and safety. There are few companies who have over 10 years experience of stripping and rebuilding to a professional standard.
We recently had a set of 18″ Porsche wheels in from a customer who had these ‘refurbished’ by another local company only a few months previously. On taking the job in we were shocked to find such a poor attempt had been made with a high cost. There were no attempts to do the job properly and the wheels were left in a dangerous state in our opinion.
Not very clear on first look, but once we start to get a little closer we can see the real lack of effort.
Simply covered with powder coat with no attempt to do the job properly.
As we begin to separate the wheels the evidence becomes clear of the corrosion left behind on the wheels. We also discovered that the split rim bolts on one of the wheels had become dangerously loose. The worse case scenario would have been the wheel falling apart during road use.
This most likely happened when the wheels went into the oven to be cured.
This fact is often mis-understood when powder coating split rims as the thread lock will sometimes dissipate under high temperatures; and most powders are cured at around 180 degrees c.
The next step for us was to get to work on removing all old powder coat and as much corrosion as possible. This happens in several stages using chemical stripping agents and a series of techniques that also include a pretreatment process.
We now begin to prepare the wheels for new coating.
Below you can see the first stages of new coatings applied giving an even and smooth finish. This is carried out on all parts. The original paint code applied to give an OE look and also powder clear coat to protect the finish.
The outer edges are also machined on CNC machinery to give the original polished look.
We also replaced the titanium fasteners in various places as they were damaged although we cannot be certain why or how.
The remaining titanium fasteners had the powder coat removed and polished up as they were found to be in good condition. Next the wheels were ready to be re-assembled all with the correct torque settings.
These wheels were in a very bad state and we only imagine how they were before they were powder coated prior to arrival here at Prestige Wheel Centre, however with a little hard work and the correct methods used the results, we think were great.
Recommended new centre caps as the old centres had weathered however we still attempted a good clean up.
Total time : 5 working days
New parts : titanium fasteners, New wheel bolts
Editor : CJ Wilson
