Hi Guys

I've got what I think must be the deal of the decade!

As I've found a firm that can 'Chemically Strip' and then 'Bead Blast' Lattice Alloy Wheels. (To a Perfect Finish! According to them)

They sound like they know what they're talking about, as they were properly horrified, when I mentioned 'Sand Blasting' which I did just to 'test' them.

To a Perfect Finish (according to them) for £125 for all 4 Lattice Alloys!

So in the event I have them done, I'm wondering if I should give them a coat of Clear Lacquer or Just leave them as they are and keep them clean!

The Alternative would be to have them Powder Coated, which is an extra £25 per Wheel.

Still a bit of a Bargain, even at £225 all in!

I've got more 'Lattice Alloy' Wheels than I know what to do with but on many of them the Powder Coating, is looking a bit Shabby.

Do you think that they would be OK if I just left them with a 'Bead Blast' Finish?

Has anyone had any experience of this?

Is 'Bead Blasting' the same thing, as having them 'Diamond Cut' whatever that is.

 

You can all ways give them one and check results. Leaving the rims raw will require alot of maintenance. Lotsa polishing in your future.

 

I would certainly have some sort of clear coat put on, yes. The raw alloy won't hold up well if exposed to the elements.

Those are bargain prices, yes, IMHO. I have a set of Lattice wheels and spend umpteen hours....I don't even wanna venture a guess how many... sanding/stripping for new paint.

Cheers
DD

 

OB,

"Bead blasting" & "Diamond cutting" are not the same thing at all.

As you've discovered "Bead blasting" is often used as a generic term for using a bead-based media (could be soda crystals) in a compressed air stream to abrade the item and strip paint, rust etc. It's a softer form of "sand-blasting" which is more usually a coarser treatment and can have health issues.

A "Diamond-cut" finish is a term to denote the use of a diamond-tipped cutting tool on a lathe or similar to provide a specific type of high-lustre finish on an item. When used on car wheels it is used to cut the surface and leave a very fine pattern of concentric circles on the surface of the alloy. It was used by Jaguar on certain wheels. See the pic below of my refurbished diamond-cut 5-spoke alloy. It's not a great pic but if you look closely, you can just see the concentric circles. The wheel is powder-coated or painted before the final diamond-cut is put on the outer face. I don't think that the lattice alloys originally had a diamond-cut finish as it is usually only used on wheels with a large outer surface area, unlike the lattice.

Once your lattice wheels have been blasted, you should definitely have them coated in a lacquer finish even if you don't have them powder-coated. Lattice alloys are a pig to keep clean anyway and, if they are not lacquered, will deteriorate faster than your fuel gauge drops!

Cheers

Paul

 

Hi Paul

Nothing deteriorates faster than my Fuel Gauge drops! and I am totally in denial as to how much I spend on the stuff, otherwise I would never leave the house!

But I 'get' the 'Diamond Cutting' now and see why it can't be used on Lattice Alloys.

The Guys who do the 'Bead Blasting' warned me about having them Sand Blasted, as it can destroy the integrity of the Wheel.

Apparently the smoother the finish, the longer it takes before any Corrosion appears and they reckon that my Wheels will shine like a mirror.

So I am going to take the worst four along and see what they can do.

Thanks for your help,

Your Diamond Cut Wheel looks Amazing!

P.S. I've bought some Car Shampoo!

 

Hi Doug

I really can't wait to get these done to see what they look like and will get before and after photos.

Maybe I'll give them a very thin coat of WD 40 and then wash that off with some solvent after a few trips and then do that again.

 

I kinda get the feeling you are right!

So in any event it will be fun to do a few experiments to see what coating works best.

Thank You

For Replying.

 

Your wheels will look considerably better after Bead blasting whether they use Glass beads or Plastic media beads or soda in the blasting process but I can assure you they will not shine like a Mirror from bead blasting only.
That is a misleading statement.

Wayne

 

Hi Wayne

They seem to take a great pride in their work, so I will go along and have a look for myself.

As long as they look a lot better than they do at the moment, then I will be very happy.

 

That reminds me...


I have 4 reasonable lattice wheels and one 'as new' spare wheel sitting in my shed in Cambridge UK if anyone wants to make an offer.....

 

If you want the same effect as my Lattice have, then you need to machine polish them, not bead blast! Bead blast will result in a rough surface making them easier for corrosion to eat up.

There is a way to compact the surface with beads, but that is expensive and takes a long time. I was told about €300/rim here... In Poland around €100/rim. So £135 is only "sand blast" equivalent.

The rim surface finish will be the same as my intake manifolds (which as not exposed to the elements will stay shiny). And that will, when damp, corrode really fast...

Machine compacting or machine polish are both great. No need for surface sealing... But bead blasting isn't ideal.

 

Hi Daim

I think my wheels are not good enough for polishing until they have been Bead Blasted.

But I would be very happy, if I could get a finish like yours.

 

This is what you could do:


No need for a sealant or so afterwards. And this is a material protecting process

 

Fantastic, Daim. How much a wheel?

Greg

 

That's Amazing Daim!

Just what I need, I wonder who does that in the UK?

I'll put up a Post if I find someone.

 

That service costs around €100-140/rim. Which is quite good. I might have my XJR rims treated like this

 

Sorry to hijack this thread with a non-XJS wheel polishing issue but the good comments or advice given here may help me taking the right decision to refurb my wheels.

I have 20" Callisto wheels on my Super V8 X350 that were diamond cut from factory, apparently with no clear coat.
Unfortunately, some kind of pitting developed under the dirty surface (shame on me...) and I am wondering what would be now the best treatment to recover a factory like finish.

I was thinking to first clean them thoroughly and derust the pitted surface with an aluminum deruster such as Belgom Alu.
If that is successful, I was wondering how to further proceed with a new polish and possible clear coating to avoid favouring a new surface oxidation because of the pitted clean aluminum surface produced.

Do you guys recommend a machine polish like the one shown by Daim possibly followed by a clear coat, or should I envisage a diamond cut reprocessing (is that possible?)?

 

They can be recut. You need to find a company who can do it though. Most rim refurbishers can do so... But it is costly and not always possible...

 

Thank you for the feedback, Daim.
Do you think that the machine polishing that you recommend above would be a worthy cheaper alternative, and if yes, would a clear coat be useful afterwards?

 

Clear coat: yes! But not sprayed! Get a clear powder coating...