Re: Turbina Refinishing

["Obie Fayth" <bibendum59@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

    I refinished two of the turbina knockoff wheels on my Alfetta a few 
years ago and have a few words of advice. For some reason I decided that 
they had to be polished which in hindsight was not the greatest decision 
unless you are paying someone else to do the work (in which case it is 
probably cheaper to buy a new set of wheels).
    DO NOT sandblast the wheels! It will create a horrible rough texture 
(amhik). Plastic media worked well for striping the old paint, but glass 
bead was required to strip off the extremely tough green (epoxy?) primer. 
Powder coating is fantastic stuff. I had mine coated clear which has a very 
slight yellow tint. They are very easy to clean the the finish is extremely 
durable. I think the cost was around $30-$35 each for clear and colors were 
more.
    I also refinished a set of wheels for my gtv6 which are a similar 
style, but two tone. I think I used some kind of Rustolium or Krylon spray 
paint from the local hardware store on those (black metallic or anthracite 
for the center and aluminum for the rim). The finish isn't nearly as durable 
as the powder coating, but still quite good. As with all painting, prep work 
is key. Before I painted these I cleaned the wheels with a wheel cleaning 
product and then again with a pre-painting cleaner. Next I sanded the old 
paint, feather-edged and chips and cleaned them again. Then I primed them, 
did a little wet sanding, painted the centers, masked and painted the rims 
and did some more wet sanding and finally put a couple coats of clear over 
the whole surface. The results were great, but it is a time consuming 
process.

-Obie
Tacoma, Wa.
assorted alfas

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