Cromadora wheel restoration

[alfacybersite <acs@domain.elided>]

In V8 #383 Paul Leone asks some questions regarding 5-stars (Daytonas).

Why-oh-why did I have to have a father who said, "If it's worth doing,
it's worth doing right." We disagreed on a lot of things, but
unfortunately I bought into that one.

I just spent a big portion of last weekend refinishing my four 5-stars
and a friend's eight pound 6" x 13" Abarth Cromodora rim. When he calls
to chat I always tell him I sold it on eBay and will soon be moving to
the Riviera where I will begin living a sumptuous life. Also,
unfortunately, I lie. (But hey, it's still in my shop and should you
need one and have Really Deep Pockets...but I digress).

Bought my 5-stars new for the Alfetta GT in the early eighties. Except
for a scrape or two were in pretty good condition. Unless in really
tattered condition I don't believe in stripping paint, etc. off,
especially magnesium surfaces. If terribly bad, I'd bead blast, though.

For mine, mixed up a batch of very stout T.S.P. (trisodium
phosphateavailable at Home Depot, lots of other places, and cheap). I
use a hand mop which is probably made for washing the insides of
drinking glasses. Rinse well. Did have the paint begin to bubble in one
spot so rinsed sooner rather than later.

With clean hands (the T.S.P. will take care of that) I filled any flaws
with polyester finishing putty and sanded (carefully). Don't use the red
or (?) filler in a tube. It's lacquer based and crap if for no other
reason it shrinks as it dries and can keep on shrinking, 'after the
fact'.

On Sunday, I laid out in the shade the five rims, cleaned, primered with
two-part epoxy primer where filling sanding took place, let dry for
about 30 minutes, sprayed two coats of quality silver from a non spray
can (which dries immediately), then applied one good coat (both sides of
course) of quality clear, again from a non spray can.

Whenever the sun peaked out the past few days, set rims in sun. Today
(Thursday) I had four 195 65R 14 Yoko Avid H4's installed on them and
balanced.

Oh yeah, when I had old tires on rims removed last Friday, dropped off
the 16 Cromodora lug nuts at chrome shop. Paying a bit of a dividend,
picked them up today when having tires installed. Ohhhh, pretty.

Me anal? Perish the thought.

Biba
Irwindale, CA USA

Think of the rims as part of the body. Would you use a spray can to
paint a fender? Unfortunately there are some on this list who would, but
don't. Do it right and don't rub your rims against curbs. Should last at
the very least five or up to 20 years. I'm basically lazy. Why rush
through a project using so-so materials, knowing you'll need to do it
again in a few (or less) years? There will be those who argue.

Today while I was dropping off the rims and tires (in a decidedly
blue-collar area) then later picking up, there were three groups of
'kids' who were each spending Well over a thousand on tires and rims. Oh
to be young and 'rich'.

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