924Board.org

[joecitizennn]

The world is full of chalky faded out disgusting looking phone dial wheels. I have always thought that is a shame since I think that the phone dial is one of the more attractive Porsche wheels. I have 16 of these buggers, and thought one day, "you know, I need a set of these that actually looks bad-ass.
I have always liked the black on a polished rim, it seems traditionally Porsche, so that is what I set out to do.

I started with a crappy phone dial off the 924SE and sanded it with 220 grit wet or dry. I sanded wet. The area I intended to paint I only sanded thru the paint leaving the factory primer, the rim that I intended to polish I sanded to bare aluminum.



Then I sanded everything again with 320 grit to get a finer finish and taped off the aluminum rim.



Then I painted the center with duplicolor black primer. I find that it helps to use a primer that closely matches the paint in color. One light and one heavy coat here.



I lightly sanded any areas that appeared rough in the primer. It wasn't much. Then I laid one light and one very heavy coat of Duplicolor black lacquer.



Done? I think not. Though the paint job appears shiny, as it dries it shrinks up and the surface gets a little rougher. To get that showroom professional look I wanted to color sand and polish. That is why I selected a lacquer paint. To those of you who are not familiar with color sanding, it is simply sanding the surface of the paint itself with a very fine grit paper such as 2000, and then polishing it.

All color sanding should be done wet and with fingertip pressure only. Beware of curves and edges as you can easily sand through the paint.



The goal is a smooth matte surface. It will polish like glass.



For polishing I used meguires scratch-x. It is really good stuff.



Now you have only to choose between a brushed aluminum rim or a polished one. Your choice. Brushed to the left, polished to the right. If you want the polished look, I used 1000 grip paper and then mothers aluminum polish. Oh yeah, doing two wheels cost me less than 20 bucks. of course I dismounted the tires myself.









As a further note on the project, it is VERY time consuming. I have only finished two wheels as of yet, because it takes darn near a whole day to do one. I just had two days off from work, so it will be until the weekend at least before I get the back two done. This project is NOT your average backyard tape it-spray bomb it job. Anybody can do this one, but only if you are patient and well stocked in elbow grease. Many of you know I like to save money before time, and typical of my projects this is very cheap but takes some doin'. I dismounted the tires, and cleaned the entire rim including the backside of all brake dust, wheel weight adhesive and general gunk with a wire brush on a drill and a fist-full steel wool. Then I got the sandpaper out.

[pocketscience]

Wow, they look awesome!! Nice one!
_________________
Whoever said you can't buy happiness forgot about Porsche!
81 924 N/A, GTS lights, Saratoga, interior, headers, Integral cam, EFI (sold)
95 993
69 911

[Jakkq]

I have pure black stock rims. They are beginning to look a little nimble, and I want a new look for them. I'm thinking getting the outer and inner ring portion of the rims Silver or maybe even Chrome, like what you'd see with a Sebring. It makes me think a little, as I do not know for sure if I really should keep the car stock as it already is, or have fun with it and add some modifications, such as a body kit even.
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1979 Porsche 924- Snailshell
http://porsche924workblog.blogspot.com/

[morghen]

this stage looks very nice to me....i'm going to paint my wheels dark grey...like i did in this photoshop mockup.


_________________
Supercharger and EFI kits
https://www.the924.com

[Joes924Racer]

Nice job dude. Hey i live jus a couple blcks from you ..
color sanding with rattle can applications leaves a big
opening for blow thrus ,,as in sand thrus though for the finish its
essential though you could include a stage where you use a grittier
compound before the last polish.
_________________
1979 porsche 924 Na
1980 porsche Turbo 931GT Replica
Have u ever driven a turbo.

[joecitizennn]

My camera did not focus well in the dark, but these are very sexy in night light.

[pocketscience]

[Jakkq]

Does the black you used coem in silver? Iv'e been thinking about doing this liek you did. My wheels are completely black and I've been wanting to get the outer portion of the rims silver or chrome actually- as you may see on a 944 or Sebring. Then painting the center black, to cover the cruddy dull current paint.
_________________
1979 Porsche 924- Snailshell
http://porsche924workblog.blogspot.com/

[joecitizennn]

more pictures of the finished product. Not bad against red calipers.

[bnoon]

Thanks for showing me the first and only set of phone dials that I've ever liked! Nice job!
_________________
'80 924 Turbo - SOLD!
1986 Porsche 944 Turbo - SOLD!
Porscheless

[pw49]

Nice job on the wheels. How did you do the center cap?
Thank you.
pw

[joecitizennn]

painted the surface just the same as the rest of the wheel, then color sanded it. Then I painted the center by hand with paint acquired at a hobby store. After the center was painted I finished by polishing the cap to a shine.

[joecitizennn]

here is another set of at-home finished rims in alpine white.


=
_________________
87 924s
88 924SE gone
447 hp cgt clone
87 924S gone
84 944 sold
83 944 sold
89 turbo S LSD, ABS etc
86 951 white rocket
85 944 sport everything.
84 944 sold.
87 944 sold

[Joes924Racer]

Ive been leaning towards the clear flat coated bead blasted look.
After polishing.. two 16x 6s ... Im hoping to find a polisher thatll give
the other 16x7s and the 16x6s the full on polish for not to much money.
Could just bead blast the 16x7s after they go to the chrome remover
to have the pealing and bubbled chrome removed.
_________________
1979 porsche 924 Na
1980 porsche Turbo 931GT Replica
Have u ever driven a turbo.