I have a set of old 12x5" Performance-brand (superlite?) mags which the paint (or is it powdercoat?) is flaking off. I need to fix a little bit of gutter rash on one as well but want to repaint them.

I want to know
1) What is the best way to strip the coating off?
2) Is there a paint colour the Minlites use?
3) Are they supposed to have a separate base coat and clear?
4) Should I get them powdercoated, and then a clear over the top (if this is possible)

I have a spray booth so any painting will be with compressor and gun, and NOT with a can.

-Alan

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-Alan
I blame my dad for my love of minis. I think I was conceived in the back seat of one
I also blame my Dad for me being 6' 1" - not really the optimum height for driving a Mini.

I'd say sand blasting to get the powder coating off,
Can't help you with the colour,
It is not uncommon for guys who do mag retso professionally to put a coat of clear over the mag,
You could get them powder coated if that was the look you were after, and if you do, you would be able to put clear enamel over it....

Someone else might have more to add

Will sandblasting an alloy wheel causing too much pitting in the alloy surface?

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-Alan
I blame my dad for my love of minis. I think I was conceived in the back seat of one
I also blame my Dad for me being 6' 1" - not really the optimum height for driving a Mini.

Sorry I should have been more specific there, my bad,,,

If you use a glass blasting media, it will be gentle enough to remove the old paint with out excessive pitting,, don't use garnet,,, otherwise you could try soda or pea nut shell,, but those two might be too gentle. Hopefully Morris1100 sees this, he seems to know a good blaster who might be able to suggest something better (if there is something better)

Latest forums are saying that soda needs careful post blast processing if paint is to stick.

Better to go plastic beads or walnut shells.

Sand should be ok if done by a pro.

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Regards,

Mike
"He who dies with the most toys wins."

Why not contact the maker and ask what they use or if they can do it for you
http://www.performancewheels.com.au/alloywheels.asp#

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Roundies and Clubbies(except vans) are both ugly that is why I have Midas and a van
1293 Mini Midas Bronze,1275 Clubman van

My local blaster uses garnet, soda, glass, walnut, polymer, etc.
It all depends on what he is blasting. When he is blasting antique furniture I don't think he uses garnet.
He does cars with polymer grit. He prefers it to soda as it is inert unlike soda when it gets stuck in folds and cavaties.

I am in Perth but did ring them already and they weren't much help. Apparently some wheels are powercoated and some are wet painted (as opposed to dry paint? ) but all are baked on. They couldn't even give me any indication on paint colours that are used even though I gave them the rim size & model. Only good bit of info provided was that if there a metal flake in it, then it was "more than likely" powdercoated and even if it wasn't, a media blasting would be step 1 for a restoration.

I'm off to the paint shop at lunch today to try and get a close paint match to spray on after blasting.

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-Alan
I blame my dad for my love of minis. I think I was conceived in the back seat of one
I also blame my Dad for me being 6' 1" - not really the optimum height for driving a Mini.

The reference to "wet painted" is as opposed to the dry powder coating - it's still paint. It is also hard to remove, much tougher than normal paints so that they resist stone chips. I had alloy rims garnet blasted - it was the only way to strip the factory powder coating. Came out fine. Then I had them powder coated. $100 well spent

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Too many cars, and too little time.

let us know how you go with blasting
Andrew

I found a place that does powder coating (A&S Powder Coaters, Osborne Park, Perth) and have quoted $50 per rim which incluses both sandblast and powder coat. Pretty good price I reckon and they have a reputation for good work. I just need to hand file some gutter rash off and sand a few small scratches out first. I will post some pics when they are done in a week or so if people want.

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-Alan
I blame my dad for my love of minis. I think I was conceived in the back seat of one
I also blame my Dad for me being 6' 1" - not really the optimum height for driving a Mini.

I got the rims back today and the final colour turned out to be more of a grey than silver (even though I picked the brightest silver colour directly off the sample sheet last week). I ended up paying $200 instead of $250 but went straight to the paint shop round the corner and bought some nice silver paint for them. The rims had to be powdercoated anyway so it wasn't a complete loss.

Any suggestions on how many coats of paint & clear I should apply?

Edit : I didn't get to see what the rims were like like between the blasting & powdercoat but they did a good job overall - only a couple of small bits of dust in the powdercoat which I will sand out before paint anyway.

Pic of rims after powdercoating http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_rP8rUqK1m3Q/Svued08IeWI/AAAAAAAAAMo/BrjXHgyqzd8/s1600-h/IMG_1838.jpg

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-Alan
I blame my dad for my love of minis. I think I was conceived in the back seat of one
I also blame my Dad for me being 6' 1" - not really the optimum height for driving a Mini.

I thought I'd post a pic of the mags now that they have been painted (by me). I chose a "machine effect" silver for something a little different to the standard bright silver than most mags have. 10 coats of paint, 5 coats of clear and they came up an absolute treat!

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_rP8rUqK1m3Q/Sw6GTjObJWI/AAAAAAAAAMw/1U3ouewSzj0/s1600/IMG_1998.jpg

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-Alan
I blame my dad for my love of minis. I think I was conceived in the back seat of one
I also blame my Dad for me being 6' 1" - not really the optimum height for driving a Mini.

They look the goods! Did you not want to keep the silver polished shoulder?

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http://www.youtube.com/user/Hanras

Cheers! I wanted to have the colour consistent across the whole mag. Like the colour choice, I wanted something a little different to most other mags out there.

I'm reeeeeally happy with how they turned out It's a pity though that they won't go on the Mini for a year or more until the build and paint is finished.

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-Alan
I blame my dad for my love of minis. I think I was conceived in the back seat of one
I also blame my Dad for me being 6' 1" - not really the optimum height for driving a Mini.