Newbie - painting question

[Dunny]

Hi all,

I am in the process of refurbishing my motorbike and I have been focussing on sorting out the wheels. They were powder coated in white from the factory and have held up pretty well but there are areas of corrosion that are affecting their appearance. They are alloy under the powder coat and I have rubbed down the areas were the main corrosion is and used scotchbrite over the whole wheel to provide a key.

Earlier today I gave one of the wheels a couple of coats of primer (tetrosyl trade paint primer aerosol) and I have a couple of things I would like to put right.

Firstly where the corrosion has been most severe I can still see the outline of the area as i mustn't have blended the edges properly (although I couldn't feel anything before I applied the primer coat). Is it too late to repair it now?


Secondly I have a couple of runs - can they be sanded out?


What grade paper would I use?

Thanks

D

 

[richie00boy]

I'm afraid you need to rub that primer off where you went to bare metal and use etching primer, U-pol acid #8 from Halfords is your best bet. You might find that rubbing that back down helps you make your blend. Normal primer doesn't stick very well to alloy.

The runs can be sanded out. Depends how bad they are what grade paper to use. Try P240.

 

[Dunny]

Thanks, does this apply to even the small areas including the stone chip areas where I have rubbed down to metal?

They might not be visible now under the primer coat.

D

 

[marlinspike]

I was going to refurb my car wheels but have realised it can be quite cheap to get them powdercoated. I was quoted £35 a wheel by Manchester Powder Coating. Having them powdercoatedagain might be an option if you are not happy with how its going.

 

[Dunny]

Didnt realise it was that cheap! They dot need to be perfect but I would like them a bit better than they are at the moment. More sanding needed I think!!

D

 

[richie00boy]

Ideally any bare metal needs etch priming, even stone chips. Depends how good a job you want to do.

If you want to make sure it's all good, rub off the primer. Use the acid #8 on the bare areas and lightly feather the edges with P400, making sure you have a good overlap of the primer onto the coating. Then go over the whole wheel with normal primer.

 

[Dunny]

Thanks Richie. I think I will redo the areas I can see as they are the larger ones and need sortin anyway.

Regards

D