Sprint Alloy Restoration

[jedo]

Hi Guys,
Was wondering if anyone had any tips about restoring a set of Dolly Sprint Alloy wheels, I got a set of 5 from ebay recently and they're in a nice condition regarding the rims not being curbed but the paint looks a little tatty. I've wire brushed the back as there was some gold coloured paint peeling off one. Does anyone know,
What paint to use on them to make them look original.
Which part of the alloy actually gets painted, the black bits are a cast alloy finish?
Do i cover them with a clear lacquer on the front?
Interestingly, the inside section where the tyre sits has been painted black in the past, is this done to help stop air leaks?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

James

[Purplebargeken]

Hi James,

As far as i know it's the wedge shaped bits at the centre of the wheel. I think people have used smoothrite before now with reasonable results. There are plenty of pictures of sprint wheels around to give you guidance. Others may provide different info on painting, etc. I am sure there will be more answers along soon.

All the best.

Ken

[lwalton]

i had mine done at spit and polish in tonbridge 160 cash for five if you look at my resto of jyp there are some pics on there

[jedo]

would anyone recommend doing the job themselves?

[Toledo Man]

In Mad Mart's own words:

After giving the wheel a quick wipe over to get rid of any grease or loose dirt I start restoring the wheel using 250 grit wet & dry. This takes approx. 15 mins. to do the rim & the wheel centre.

I then went straight to 1200 grit. You can obviously use various grades in between first if you want. This is similar to the original finish but you can take it further...

To get a polished finish I bought a kit from The Polishing Shop which comes with various attachments for a power drill.

To finish off I used Black Hammerite Smooth on the centre panels.

You can check out Mart's website HERE

[jedo]

thanks guys for all those suggestions, i'll let you know when I get them done how they went.

[jedo]

How does anyone keep the polish surfaces really shiny, is it advisable to put a clear lacquer on it?

James

[Purplebargeken]

You could do but it would go manky again at some point. I was told years ago that the best way of keeping ally shiney was to use Mr. Sheen or similar. Never use abrasive polishes like autosol.