Scotchbrite Wheels

This is a compilation of a post I made over at Pelican Parts.com detailing my work refinishing the wheels from a Porsche 911. I thought someone would find it an interesting process that can yield great results.

From a distance the wheels looked pretty good, the black centers were nice and the polished lips had a nice finish. The closer I looked the more I realized my wheels were in need of a refinish. The previous owner (PO) had repainted them with quite a bit of gloss black and didn't do the best job of masking. Even the lug seats had been painted which is a big no no because the lug nuts can loosen over time.

I completely stripped the wheels and sanded a bit to remove imperfections. The scotch-brite part of the job wasn't difficult at all but the masking for paint took a long time. Oh and paint stripper burns like you wouldn't believe when it gets on your skin!

For supplies you need to have the paint stripper, I used Aircraft Paint Stripper from the hardware store because it is safe for use on aluminum. You also need Scotchbrite pads, these are also in the paint section and come in various levels of coarseness. The red pad is the most coarse, then grey, and finally the white pads.

Basically you take your scotch-brite pads and start with the most coarse working down to the fine pads. You can make a uniform finish or a random finish. My wheels ended up with a uniform finish which you can get by keeping your scotch brite action going one direction.

Once you have the supplies get a little helper to monitor the progress. Make sure your little helper does not get near the paint stripper or any dust from your Scotchbrite process. My helper's name is Bentley, he's a puggle.


This is how the wheel started after stripping off the paint with a chemical stripper....
Follow the instructions for your specific paint stripper. On my bottle it said to put the stripper on very thick and once the paint bubbles you can remove the old paint with a plastic scraper. Wear some thick and long gloves for this process, the paint stripper really burns if you get it on your skin!

The process for refinishing the wheels begins with rubbing them down using your red scotchbrite pad. The red pad is the coarsest of the pads and will help get rid of any imperfections in the surface. Be sure to only use the scotchbrite in one direction, don't do circles or random directions unless you want that kind of finish.

This next photo series shows the wheels after the center is done with scotchbrite and after the entire wheel has been done.









The wheels will now begin looking pretty good. Just like any project it is good to have your assistant check your work.


Inspector Bentley says the wheels are ready for masking. Masking is the most difficult part of this project. It also adds important detail to this wheel design and I think it really punctuates the raw metal finish of the wheels.

Originally when Porsche Fuchs wheels were painted at the factory the entire wheel was dipped face up in a big barrel of black paint. Depending on the depth that the wheel was submerged you either had an all black center or you had exposed petals. Upon learning this I realized that the lines around the petals were never meant to be perfect.

Masking the lips of the wheels is not difficult, I used blue painter's tape for this section. For the area around the petals I used electrical tape because it stretches very well around compound curves. Special tape is made for this purpose and is probably better than electrical tape.













Once the wheels are masked double check all of your tape before spraying. I used Rustoleum Semi-Gloss black spray enamel and it has held up very well. The paint sprays easily and has excellent adhesion. I will take some pictures of the completed wheels by Tuesday for everyone to see.

A lot of wheel refinishing options are available, Harvey Weidmann and Al Reed to name a few. They do absolutely awesome work for reasonable prices, based on how long I spent refinishing my wheels it is well worth the money. I like the Scotchbrite finish but it does take some maintenance, I wouldn't recommend it for a daily driver just because the factory anodized finish is so low maintenance.