After buying a Mercedes last month, I started to notice the odd mark here and there on it. I was already aware that all four wheels had some kerb damage but was willing to get them sorted out for a few hundred quid. However, I found your channel while looking for solutions to some paint swirls and light scratches on the bodywork and ended up buying the gear and trying your techniques. I've been so happy with the results I thought I would see if you had some advice for my diamond cut AMG wheels... Now after watching this, I'm going to do it myself. Thanks! Your channel is an invaluable resource
I never, ever comment on youtube vids but i just wanted to thank you. After receiving a ridiculously high quote to refurb my 997 turbo alloys , these videos gave me the confidence to have a go myself and the results are fantastic 😍.
I've been a detailer for over 30yrs and i have done so many wheels pretty much the same way yes it does take a while to do and you need a lot of patience but the end result is worth it.... Excellent job by the way
@@garyeccleston6789 could you explain me in a way i could understand ?? Sorry Mate im from Spain i dont know whats key Up si hahahahah i mean that when you grift them all to finish stage, before you apply the clear coat for máximum atach to the surface you should apply some wash primer or something so the clear coat (bit) better to the surface
@@WalterNut99 when you have polished the wheels get some 2000 grit wet and dry sandpaper and evenly sand the wheels until there is no shine clean wheels and spray with laquor
Great video, very informative and I liked how you gave several options for the finish. I've seen a few of your videos now and they've all been top notch. Thanks again!
Would never have attempted this myself but gave it a go after watching your videos and so glad I did! Having never done anything like this I can confirm I’m very pleased with the results, maybe not a professional finish but you’d only notice there was damage corrected if told where it was. Keep the videos coming!
Great vid, thanks! Tip: if you work from the centre of the wheel OUTWARDS with the scotch on your polisher, it replicates the factory diamond finish, as the wheels are turned on a lathe working from the centre outwards at the factory.
You mean work inwards. Not forgetting that in this instance the sander is orbital so as you move it outwards yes you’ll replicate a diamond cut but then you’ll make a U shape on the outward stroke. Unless you tilt the sander. By moving inwards the last part on the sander replicates the diamond cut.
Great video. The only thing I would do differently is to use the electric sander with only the pad side/ radius facing the outside of the wheel touching the wheel when creating the diamond cut effect. Reason for this is that the diamond cut/ arc effect of the pad will match the round arc/rotation of the wheel. You will notice that after polishing with the dry scotch pad with only the side/ radius facing the inside of the wheel touching the wheel (16:56) the diamond cut/ arc effect is in the reverse/ opposite arc to the round arc/rotation of the wheel. Hard to explain, but look at the arc of the scratches at (16:56) and it should make more sense
Great content very useful video, maybe you could make a turntable for the wheel with a old hub, then spin the wheel and hold the scotchpad moving from centre to outside rim would give you a perfect finish, ,
Would it be a good idea to mask the black paint in this example to prevent the dry scotch pad from scratching the paint when rotating to make the diamond effect?
Awesome video! I recently bought a Qashqai runaround (13yrs old) and the alloys were the worst I've ever seen, they were a mess, even the refurb guy pulled a face. I was quoted over £450 for refurb and spray but as the car is a cheap run around that seemed like a waste of money. Bought the pack from paintgear and gave this a go last week on the two front wheels. They don't look as good as this vid but I am so pleased with them!
I do these wheels as my job daily The oem clear coat removed is clear Powerder coat ! Tend to use same process scotch - -180-320-500 finishing DA - 800-3000 wet ! As for clear coat I use 2k Etch clear as standard 2k clear can get washed off or flake over time as doesn’t key into bare metal surface !
Use a light coat or 2 of Mipa 1k haft promoter onto the bare metal, flash off then clear with your preferred 2k lacquer. Mipa haft is a game changer, takes seconds. Comes in aerosol, or tin to run through your clear gun. Having tried various methods over the years of stripping the DC face, my preference would be 180>320>500>800 rotary mop sander. If you have a tyre machine, keep the wheel rotating whilst holding grey/red scotch firmly onto the face to recreate lines in the correct direction
@@TheOrbinson that's a great idea with the tyre machine, I recently got caught with a wheel in an underground carpark ,I'm just wondering what clear coat to use
I thought it could be done like that but the ‘PROFESSIONALS’ claim diamond cut can’t be re finished! I would re cut with the back edge of the disc or work on the spoke opposite me as the original CNC marks run with the circumference of the wheel. Excellent work!
Absolutely superb, sir! I've just bought a set of wheels with lacquer peel on every one of them but wanted to keep the oem look rather than just having them powder coated. This gives me the insight and push to get it done myself now. Subscribed 👍🏻
@@cvrpov Haven't got time to watch it now after a few words I've saved it to my list, busy painting the steel wheels on my trailer but my Navara wheels are like a spider has been behind the lacquer so yr video will give me the confidence to attack them. Chrs bud much appreciated 🤙
Going to attempt this on some Nogaro GTI wheels I bought which have some ugly curb rash. This video helped prepare me greatly, and other CVR videos have supported what I learned from this video. Thanks mate, keep it up!
@@cvrpov Update - It turned out well. I found that a 400 grit disc Diablo SandNet worked well to give the OEM look. Moving up the grits of paper and then going to a compound didn't quite turn out as I hoped and exposed small flaws. I preferred the OEM style look. Moving from the center towards the edges of the wheel and using only the edge of the disc helped keep the lines slightly curved, but not swirls. It was a bit tricky to do with my wheels, as the individual spokes are a bit intricate and not quite "flat". They slightly angled inwards or outwards which made it difficult at first. However, I would definitely recommend this method to anyone looking to save a buck or two and spend a day on some DIY wheel repair. Rattle can was a flop, and I had to remove it after my failed application - so I had a professional 2k clear coat it for me to ensure a proper finish and protection. Thanks for the inspiration, I'll likely complete the project with the other wheels that are a bit damaged as well.
I didn’t what this finish was called. Search everywhere! My diamond face on my new rims were painted over with stupid silver paint. Now I have to do this method. Thank you
Thank you for these videos I have a RU-vid and I’m doing a budget build. I was thinking about sending my wheels to a near by paint shop. You have inspired me to do a wheel restoration on my diamond cut Starr wheels myself. I’ve taken notes and I’m going to purchase some tools. Thanks for the motivation and inspiration.💯💯
That is great to be inspired by what other people do. I am about to buy a car with diamond cut wheels and they all have varying amounts of damage. The dealer said that he can get them done for me but after watching this video I too am inspired to give it a go. It's a great excuse to buy some more tools too 🤔😁👍
thankyou, made it so im going to attempt next weekend on my daughters car, been driving for a week and just caught her diamond cut alloy on a kerb ouch
@@cvrpov thanks, when i say caught what i mean is she slammed into the kerb then drove along said kerb until shes created a wonderful pattern on her wheels :) i'll watch both videos again before i attempt it anyway
This video was very detailed and the closest to my situations as I've found on RU-vid. Following sanding both dry and wet finishing with 1000, I see colour differentiation in the spokes I've done. It isn't a uniform machined like finish but rather machined and sort of faded white near the hub. Do you have ideas on how that happened and how I can remove them before polishing and lacquer to look similar to your uniformity before you used the compound?
@@cvrpov Thank you for the quick reply. That makes sense but I ended up painting them. I could not get an even sand because of the curve of the spoke in toward the centre hub. due to the offset. Everything else in your video helped very much.
It is impossible to have the same effect. I am doing dimond cut alloys refinishing, and believe me or not, you can't get the same efect Anyway, that's a good job you are doing there 😊
I bought all of this gear to do mine and spent hours trying to get it right. Bottom line is....you can't get it the same finish as being diamond cut. Have a go by all means, but as I say the end product wasn't perfect. I can understand people wanting to have ago though as some places charge stupid prices. I found a place that charged a reasonable price.
Absolutely spot on. By the time you spend money on all the products and hours of fucking about and still no getting it perfect you will wish you paid £100 and got it done professionally. Don't ask me how I know 😂😂
Just a thought. When you use the grey scotchbrite on a machine to produce the diamond cut effect, if you were to work from the rim to the centre, the lines would go the same way as the original. Not a criticism, just an idea
@@cvrpov treat it with care it might last longer. Clearcoat relys on physical adhesion, a polished surface requires chemical adhesion. Thats why wheels with machined faces always end up failing eventually. But you done a good job. What clearcoat is it? 2k acrylic?
I'm guessing @cvrpov uses a direct to metal clear coat, which can be applied direct to polished non-ferrous metals. The issue for us DIY users is that you can't buy it in small tins, and you'd need airgun setup.
Good video. I’d have just left the alloy bare, and gave it a polish to protect it. That way you can easily buff them again if they get dull and corroded.
Conversely, if you are using 600 grit for wet sanding it is where to begin on plastics that lose the clearcoat. I refinished my Benz wheels from 2003 but not machined rims or powder coatings. My new Benz rims are machined, powder coated and yup, I gotta do something about the minor imperfections done the past year.
Grey scotch on black painted areas dulls the paint, I assume those areas need polishing before clear coat is sprayed? Do you clean the wheel with anything before spraying clear coat? Very helpful video, thanks!
I agree... I'm doing up my Volvo s40 wheels just now and they are badly damaged. But watching this video makes me wonder if I should have two tone in order to them look good again. I've got no chance of having a diamond cut on them as they are a different style wheel. 🏁
@@cvrpov next time 😂😂😂😂 I just want people to know it's not as easy as it looks. I've got 2 of them done. And that's with a week off from work. Make sure You've got the tools to do this job. These guys make it look so easy hat's off to them 👍🏿
This is why i like those push on wheel trims/covers, you can repair them at your leisure without taking the car off the road. Simply repair and re paint, they can come up like new. If one is beyond saving simply buy another second hand one. Also steel wheels are relatively easy to prep and re paint to make them look as new behind the wheel covers. It works well for me, but is useless information for those with alloy wheels.! anyway, ps. good video, thanks.
When you put the lacquer on does the colour between the spokes need to be keyd with scotchbrite or can the lacquer be put strait on. I have a Mercedes wheel with black between the spokes you have inspired we to repair myself
Thank you very much for the video, im going to have a go at my T5 wheels after watching your video. Ive got a sander with round disks will that be ok to use or do i need to get a polisher.Thank You
Once you get the alloy to look so good what is the best coating to stop it corroding again? The alloy will badly corrode in just a few weeks if left untreated. I guess the proper OEM wheels are anodised which would give them a long lasting tarnish resistant finish.
Bit confused when you used the scotch pad you also did the inner parts of the wheel that are coloured in with paint. Did you leave that dull from the scotch pad and then buffed with the cutting wax and then lacquer afterwards?
inspirational job! tx. Question: Are the bare looking sections of Diamond cut rims also always all-over lacquered from factory or are the bare metal shiny sections sometimes only polished and left UNlacquered and sold as such? If partly or always fully lacquered, how can I tell? Since on first sight, the shiny Diamond cut sections of my original 19” Audi diamond cut rims look UNlacquered over there?
I'll definitely be giving both of those methods a crack to see how each of them look after clearcoat, would the infrared heat lamps work on this to cure the paint as it does on cars, being alloy it would take a little longer compared to a normal car panel yeah, I am coming into winter soon here so will have to look into getting me some of them
In this video you use a buffer with 6 inch sanding discs but in a previous video you used a cordless drill and 3inch sanding discs. Could the drill and 3 inch sanding discs be used to get this finish?
@cvrpov - Im far from an expert, but why use lacquer paint to finish it off? From what i understand lacquer is a more fragile finish and prone to chipping vs enamel or urethane based paints. Just curious because i painted a spoiler for my car (i admit i am not a painter 😂) and first used lacquer. I used a decent primer but noticed the lacquer finish chipped away easily. I sanded it all down and repainted it using enamel and the finish was much stronger - it didnt chip no matter what it bumped it on. Sick job on the wheels tho. That's awesome.
I can probably only conclude that they aren't suitable for this kind of work. Maybe some issues with them being under constant use or exposed to all weather conditions. 2k clearcoat lacquer is good stuff. Anything 1k is usually crap.
I am going to purchase a new car and by default it comes with complete black alloys instead of diamond cut. I am thinking of converting it to diamond cut look by grinding tools as in the video. It has same shape and size as diamond cut alloys which comes in higher version of car. But which I booked comes with black alloys only. Should I go for it or not was the confusion. Well I will definitely try a single spoke of one rim. If everything looks good, I will go for complete process. If not then I will paint back that small portion again to black.
Will clear coat stay on? I know some people say it will peel of if you don't use some kind of etching primer/adhesion promoter. What's your experience?
Really nice finish there buddy. These wheels were already in pretty good condition, so what if the wheels have deep gouges out of them from being curbed? How do you tackle that? The DIY videos I have seen the person just grinds out all the gouges, completely losing the profile of the wheel, and making it impossible to match all four corners. Any good tips?
Did you polish with polishing paste after the grey scotch or just left it like that? You used: 1. gray scotch 2. 180 grit 3. 320 grit 4. 400 grit 5. P600 6. P1000 7. Plishing paste where does here come the option 2 with grey scotch to recreate that diamond finish effect?
Top man top job,can't understand whay diamond cutting cost's a arm and a leg,diamond cutting is done by machine quicker process,where powder coating is done by hand and it's a lot cheaper then diamond cut.
Hi....great video....im doing my insignia 20" wheels and as well as the face corrosion there is some on the gray inside....do you know what color that is...its only a small area...many thanks
Great video, just getting all the stuff together to do my badly corroded super metal diamond cut alloys, will I need to buy a respirator for spraying the lacquer in or could I get away without one?
When I did mine I used a water and alcohol mix that I had to hand and then a tak rag. I'd use the degreaser if I had some to hand also but alcohol seems to be fine if its diluted
For standard alloys, could you also use the key up method and then laquar, or would I have to use spray paint that matches the colour of the alloy first.
great vid man.. its because of your tips in some of your older videos i was able to redo my rims myself, only thing i didnt polish and use the scotch pad.. which i wish i should have.. thanks for the help.. keep up the good wrk
@@cvrpov no problem! I’ve learned a tremendous amount from you. My back ground was in fiberglass boat repair, so there were new things to learn when I moved to cars and your channel is full Of great info. Cheers!
Ive heard that 1/2k lacquer from a can isnt going to last very long...so is 2k with hardener via tin and spraygun best ? - ie whats best lacquer to use
What is your opinion of sanding the 10 flat spokes and outer rim just like you did and then to apply a ceramic coating such as Gtechniq - C5 Wheel Armour ?
Will a white or blue scotch pad produce an even finer, shinier brushed look? I’m trying to imitate the factory lines on my 2018 accord sport wheels that are machined.
