Best place for 20" wheel refurb in NorthWest?

[eng33]

No worries, I guess the biggest pain using a courier service over hand delivering locally, is having to package them up. I cut several big discs of thick cardboard to cover the faces, and then wrapped in a plastic sheet, with lots of tape! Did only send one wheel though.

One other thing to bear in mind, if the wheels are to be 'diamond cut', is the process obviously removes material off the face during the machining operation. This means your centre caps may not fit as well and / or protrude slightly. Was amplified on mine as they had already been refurbed once already.

[tintin]

I've used Pristine in Milton Keynes (twice) - they'll diamond cut 20" FE wheels, and I get them picked up and delivered back to my local Kwikfit, no additional courier costs.

[Mikey-S]

But 20" FE wheels are painted from the factory? I'm going to stick with what it looked like originally.

[eng33]

Originally Posted by Mikey-S

But 20" FE wheels are painted from the factory? I'm going to stick with what it looked like originally.

Nope, the face is diamond cut & lacquered, sides of spokes are painted silver.

[Mikey-S]

D2, are you sure?

[tintin]

The inside faces of the 20" FE wheels were factory shot blasted by Audi, not painted, and then the front faces were diamond cut -any refurb will not be able to replicate the shot blast effect fully, but may come close if it, particularly if they can create a colour which is close to "white silver" effect on the inside edges.

Any diamond cut (original or refurb...) is more prone to problems than a normal finish, but this can be reduced by protection with a further aftermarket coating, such as Metalmate.

Hope this helps.

[Mikey-S]

I'll be honest I'm really surprised they were diamond cut from the factory. I've been looking for a photo of a D2 FE when they were new to have a look.

[eng33]

Originally Posted by tintin

The inside faces of the 20" FE wheels were factory shot blasted by Audi, not painted, and then the front faces were diamond cut -any refurb will not be able to replicate the shot blast effect fully, but may come close if it, particularly if they can create a colour which is close to "white silver" effect on the inside edges.

Any diamond cut (original or refurb...) is more prone to problems than a normal finish, but this can be reduced by protection with a further aftermarket coating, such as Metalmate.

Hope this helps.

Backs of mine from Lepsons were a white'ish paint / powdercoat finish, I very much doubt the factory finish was bare uncoated shot blasted aluminium.