alloy repainting problem & caliper painting
 

Hi,
This weekend despite the weather I resprayed my Jags alloys in the shed. I used cards from a card index to tuck around the rim. I used a quality primer, chrome paint and clear finish. Looks great. Paint cost me £35 and I've enough left to do another set.

I want to do my wife's Focus wheels next as they don't look too good. One problem though is that the front face of the alloys has been covered with some kind of clear film. It won't peel off as it bonded on to the surface. I'd imagine ford fitted it to protect the paint. However corrosion has started under the film and I'm not sure what to do. My did suggested paint stripper might lift it. I wonder if I sand it flat and then prime it? Any suggestion please as never come across this stuff before?

Secondly I'd like to have a go at spray painting my calipers. Any suggestion on primers. What do I need to mark aside from hoses. I've seen a few YouTube vids and the outcome isn't too bad. I'd like to give it a go.

I brush painted my calipers. No primer, just cleaned first. Looks really good with no brush lines and not messy like spraying.

Thanks. I have a tin of paint too so I might take your advice here. How many coats did you apply and how long did it take to dry (baring in mind it's Oct now so not ideal time of year).

Just found on Youtube that the clear film on the alloys is called clear coat and can be remove by paint stripper.

When I painted my calipers I brushed them off with a stiff wire brush and wiped them down with thinners.
I had a spray can of silver VHT paint on hand so I masked off what I didn't want paint on and sprayed it with that. The prep and paint only took about 15 minutes a corner and the results were great.
I have people asking if I fit new calipers. :)

http://www.fototime.com/0B4E106CF4B75E2/standard.jpg

This looks good. I'd like to try red and will have a go at the weekend. 15mins sound quick. I'm not sure I'll work at that pace!

I like painted callipers they look good.
I'd like to do mine and the bit of the disc that always rusts.

macafee2

Clear coat, lacquer, regardless of what you wish to call it, as the corrosion is there, that needs to be treated. Forget paint stripper, as you will still need.to smooth it down. Wire brush loose paint and corrosion off first then Use wet and dry sandpaper. I would probably start with an 800 grit (going as low as 200 if it was severe, but only using it on the corroded parts). Then sand again with finer papers up to around 2000 grit. (This more you do, the better the finish will be)

If the corrosion is severe, you would likely need filler, of which there are some for alloy wheels. Smooth this off and then spray a high build primer when you are happy with the sanding results. Rub this down with a 1500 - 2000 grit until you are happy with its smoothness. Then apply the colour, rubbing with wet 2000 grit between each coat until the last. Once the last coat of.colour is on, then spray clear coat/lacquer on. Again rubbing down with wet very fine 'wet and dry' between coats. Until the final coat.

There are YouTube videos aplenty for wheel painting, which should show this. Preparation is key to getting a good result, as is temperature and humidity (I would do it in the summer for this reason).

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I disagree with this.

It's not corrosion as such , its water under the clear coat.
I had exactly the same on my Ford wheels and after spending hours rubbing through the clear , just to get to the corrosion, it is a lot easier to use paint stripper to remove the clear ,then sort out the corrosion.
It shouldn't affect the alloy itself , as it's like a white powder.
Most of mine came away with the paint stripper

Atan

It'll be difficult to paint them properly on the car because you won't be able to get at the areas covered by the carrier and the pads.

I did mine off the car (still not easy but you can get at everything). I used 2 primer coats and 2 top coats. Then new pistons, seals, springs & valves fitted.

Top coat was POR15 Caliper Paint - https://www.frost.co.uk/brake-caliper-paints/
Primer was POR15 Rust Preventive coating (as recommended in the instruction label on the above top coat tin) - https://www.frost.co.uk/por15-semi-g...n-paint-473ml/
All coats were brushed on.

Mine were blast cleaned first (I gave up trying to de-rust them manually).