Enkei restoration.. *all finished and fitted*

[green_comet]

Hey guys,

Im going down to a blokes house tonight to look at some Enkei's he has for sale, does anyone know what model that are??

http://firesport.com.au/images/129556_2009012134.jpg

They are 15x6.5 +45 offset...

Any help is very appreciated.

Cheers
Ryan

[rayb3na_]

they are hot!

[green_comet]

Well I ended up buying them, and after some tlc they look like new again..

Heres a write up I did in another forum..

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Hey guys,
Im just going to do a quick writeup on what I have been up to today. Friday night I picked up a set of 15" Enkei wheels, the offset is a bit high but they will do for runabouts. They were in ok condition when I picked them up, but they did need a bit of work to make them look new again. After having a fun time restoring the old Simmons, I thought I would get stuck into it..

Here is the link to my old Simmons job. http://mx5cartalk.com/phpBB-3.0.2/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=30210&hilit=simmons

This is what the wheels looked like when I picked them up, a fair amount of gutter rash on all rims, centre caps looked like ass (clear lens had yellowed and was chipping off), and the paint on one wheel (top right) had something on it that had eaten through the paint/clear on most of the wheel, and was damaging the alloy (cant really see it in the pic).

http://img111.imageshack.us/img111/4380/1295562009012134xu6.jpg

Today I got up and decided to get to work. First off I got a very fine file, and filed out all of the gutter rash. Most of the gutter rash wasn't deep so I was lucky. Next I got some paint stripper and covered the wheels with it, that stripped of all the silver paint, and the clear lacquer. This exposed the bare alloy so I gave the lips a decent sanding with wet and dry, working from 600grit to 2000.

Here are a couple after being filed, and stripped, lip sanding awaits..

http://img105.imageshack.us/img105/5475/strippedab5.jpg

After they had been cleaned up it was time to get the centres painted. I was thinking about going gold like with my old Simmons, but I liked the silver look so I decided to keep it that way. I picked up a couple cans of White Knight S.L.S etch primer, and a couple cans of Chevy Rally Silver VHT Wheel paint (SP-186). I got Rally Silver VHT as the other 2 silvers they offered looked too dark.

http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/2667/paintsvi1.jpg

I cleaned the centres up with prepsol to make sure the paint would stick, and then masked up the polished lip and the holes in the spokes. First I sprayed the centres with the S.L.S Etch primer, which is made to prime bare metals like Aluminium, steel, gal etc. This helps the top colour coat stick alot better to the wheel, and seeing as the wheel is going to cop stones hits, brake dust, and high temps its was probably a good idea. Once the primer had dried I went over it with a few coats of the Aluminium VHT wheel paint, and let it sit in the sun.

http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/4503/maskedup7.jpg

While the paint was drying I gave the centre caps some attention. The clear plastic lens on emblems had yellowed, and was chipping off. I spent a few minutes trying to chip away at the plastic lens with no success, It would take hours to get right. I popped the emblem out of the cap and had a closer look, its was a very thin piece of aluminium with the enkei emblem stamped into it, and a clear lens on top. I decided to strip off the adhesive on the back of the emblem and see how it looked. This was alot better, instead of the enkei emblem being embossed out, it was imprinted on the other side. I then cleaned the rest of the gunk off of the plastic centre caps and emblems, and then gave the back of the emblems a light sanding with 1200grit. I polished them up with mothers metal polish, and mounted them backwards in the centre caps with adhesive...Perfect 8)

Before and after..

http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/2374/capsqy3.jpg

By the time I was finished doing all 4 centre caps the wheels were pretty much touch dry. Ill let them sit overnight, and in the 34 degree sun tomorrow so the paint bakes real well.

Here is where im up to now, all 4 wheels are painted and drying. I still need to give the outer lips on all of them a good polishing, and mount the centre caps, after that they should be all finished..

Looking like new again, painted and drying in the sun. (excuse the fingerprints, they still need polishing)

http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/6199/donesr6.jpg

hope you all like.
Ryan

[yourfather]

good shit

post more like this!!!

[DNYALL]

nice work mate, rims came up great :thumbsup:

[green_comet]

I have a small update, I finished the centrecaps, and the wheels have totally dried.. All that is left is to polish the lips up.

Here is a centrecap all finished.. (painted royal blue, polished, and then clear coated)

http://img185.imageshack.us/img185/4373/p1020533ef9.jpg


Ill post up pics when they are all finished..

thanks for the comments guys.. :)

[vinnY]

nice one!
how'd you fill in the center cap?

[green_comet]

I masked off the plastic around the edges, and used a blue rattle can to spray. Once it dried I took off the tape, and sanded it back till there was only colour in the imprint. Then polished it all back up again..

I tried doing it with a paint brush but the paint looked too uneven..

[Limbo]

i think he painted the whole cap blue then sanded the top bits and clear coated them.
Nice job mate. I've seen these type of enkie before but can't rem what model they are

[beeza]

Great work!!

Patience goes a long way.

[I heart the SSS]

Looks good dude!

i want to my center caps like that but in red :)

It's an annoying task lol!

[Red_EG4]

That looks awesome, the simmons came up great too. Well done :thumbsup:
did you take any closer pictures of where you filed the gutter rash?

[green_comet]

did you take any closer pictures of where you filed the gutter rash?

Not really, one wheel had quite alot, but the other 3 were pretty good just a few spots here and there. You just need to file very slowly with a fine file, and try keep with the lines of the wheel, so that it blends in. Round the corners and if its deep just do what you can, and try not to file out too much metal otherwise you will get flat spots, and you'll see it. Then once your happy get some 600grit wet n dry, and go over the parts you filed. Then work your way up to 800, then 1200, then 2000. and finally polish.

When your done it should look pretty much like new..

Here's the centre caps mounted in the wheels.

http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/2039/capsxe0.jpg

[yourfather]

http://img111.imageshack.us/img111/4380/1295562009012134xu6.jpg

BEFORE so you can compare easy.






geez they look porn. you could sell them for twice as much now

[RtN]

thats freaking good job.. haha but wondering why didn't you clear the paint also? why just the centre caps?

[green_comet]

I was thinking about clearing the silver paint, but I did some reading around and found that it not really necessary. The wheel paint is polyurethane, so its pretty tough stuff. If I was to clear over the silver paint, I wouldnt be able to use the VHT wheel clear, as it comes with a warning (http://www.afterthoughtsauto.com/clear-wheel-paint.html):


Warning: Clear coat is for use on polished or bare metal surfaces only, and should not be used over any painted finishes.

I have heard the 2 paints can react if the base colour is cleared over, and the reaction can turn the clear yellow. Besides I didn't want the centres to be shiny, I like the satin look alot better. :) I cleared the centre caps to protect the blue paint, and the polished centres from weathering, and brake dust...etc. If I didn't clear them I would always have to polish up the centre caps, and the blue paint would have got damaged. I just used some clear paint I had in the garage, not vht wheel clear.

[Red_EG4]

geez they look porn. you could sell them for twice as much now
Definitely! They look like a brand new wheel. :thumbsup:

[green_comet]

Got some RE001's fitted this morning, and put the wheels on the car. Now I need to get some nice lugs..

Pics of the finished wheels.. I know its not a honda, I sold mine a while ago.

http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/7149/wheel1yl4.jpg

http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/1386/wheelsonhs8.jpg

Job is complete.. :D

[90LAN]

nice work mate
is that a s2000? lol

[green_comet]

nice work mate
is that a s2000? lol

yeah with an MX5 bodykit.. :p

[yourfather]

you should get blue rays style nutz to match your centre cap

[STTICH]

so sexy. absolutely love the finished work, and these rims are hot as it is :)

[supernatural]

very nice...

[DNYALL]

Awesome work mate :thumbsup:

[mocchi]

Got some RE001's fitted this morning, and put the wheels on the car. Now I need to get some nice lugs..

Pics of the finished wheels.. I know its not a honda, I sold mine a while ago.

Job is complete.. :D

ooo... niceee hehe, umm mind telling me how much & where your re001 cost? fitted?
pm me if you prefer.

thanks!

[green_comet]

Na its cool...

They were $135 each for 195/50/15 fitted and balanced.. from Bridgestone select in Caroline Springs

[VTi_b0i]

thats awsome dude! i wish u were in sydney so u could do mine :p my wheels look the same as urs but mine r blitz

[lenz]

i love these wheels when i first saw them on this 300zx i had to work on
enkei rs evolutions nice job finding them