16x7 enkei 92s

[hlfazn]

Well, i had these for about 6 months now and i figured it was time to put a plan in action. I searched for some 16in enkeis high and low and after about 3 months of searching i found a set... on the other side of the coast. So i suked it up and bought the set. Until recently I mustered up whatever motivation left in me to get these repainted. Also, d-.-b gave me a boost in giving me a set of center caps that ive been looking for since ive owned the wheels (Thanks again d-.-b). Sooo here we go.......

This is how i received the rims......................... almost like a takata green...
http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee166/toobookoo85/camerapics387.jpg


These rims had soooooo many coats of paint on them i really wanted to go on a rampage. They had the green coat, a super thick coat of black, then after that it had the original gold. I used air-craft stripper to remove the paint (if any one had has a better method of removing a lot of paint at once please let me know....thanks). This was getting kinda ridiculous.....
http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee166/toobookoo85/camerapics399.jpg


After lots of elbow grease and a buddy to switch out with they started to look pretty decent. I gave them a quick sand down before i applied paint.
http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee166/toobookoo85/camerapics402.jpg


How they looked after a few coats of primer...
http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee166/toobookoo85/camerapics405.jpg


Then i went with a graphite color. I was gonna go with black but my friend talked me out of it...... i dont know why.... *sigh*. But heres how they looked after a few coats of graphite and a few coats of clear. not too bad...
http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee166/toobookoo85/camerapics407.jpg

and pretty much the finished product.... I'll have to redo the lips later. Getting the paint off the rim was just too time consuming.
http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee166/toobookoo85/camerapics417.jpg

Let me know what you guys think of the color. Thanks
I saved these from being on a 240sx... Im just saying........ GREEN?!?!?!?! what the hell are those 240sx people thinking? lol

[Greg G]

Centers look good, but the hoops could be improved.

I know the effort you already put into them... dont half step the lip.

[williamb82]

nice job, but to be honest it would of been best to work on the lips after striping all the paint. easiest way to get the paint off is sot sand blast them. though if the lips are already good mask them off good with multiple layers of masking tape firs.t otherwise if they are kinda pitted i found that blasting the lips too helps with polishing. after blasting start with 220 grit paper and then 400, 800, 1200, etc.. depends how shiney you want them. then a HARD cotton buffing wheel from sears on a angle grinder wit hthe shield remeoved and some tripoli compound. after your done polishing with that use some wenol or mothers just to clean the lips and leave the film to keep them looking nice. ive done this to a few rims. hehehe

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y155/williamb82/15in%20enkies/8f55.jpg

[hlfazn]

thanks for the tips william82, it looks like ill have to go to sears this weekend. Ive done polishing before on some 7m valve covers but when i was finished i was expecting better results (it was shinny but not mirror shinny). But i guess the secret ingredient would be that angle grinder.

[williamb82]

yes, the high speed plus the pressure you can apply it with with that hard cotton wheel. the ones at home depo are woven and too soft to get a good polish. but the biggest secret is proper sanding. its a total pita and makes your hands hurt, thats why no one wants to do it. and has to be done in steps. and thoroughly, if you miss a spot it WILL show when you polish wit hthe buffing wheel and the tripoli compound. trust me, i learned from experience. lol. and if you have any dull streaks in the lips make sure you sand them till the streak is gone. the steak wont polish and will stay dull, i found that out the hard way too.

[Superium]

Well I would of polished the lips first since your now going to run into trouble trying to avoid scuffing up the paint. The paint itself looks a bit textured and it looks like you missed a lot of the inner spokes. It probably could of used a few more coats.
I probably spent 15+ hrs. on each of my enkeis, half of that was just polishing the lips but I just took my time while watching tv since I wanted them to look perfect inside out.

[williamb82]

yeah, on mine i taped the front and back lips and alternated coats from each side.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y155/williamb82/15in%20enkies/87ab.jpg

[williamb82]

just figured id give you an update. one of the 15in enkies im selling had a couple dull spots that wouldnt shine up with wenol. i guess i let brake dust sit on them too long. anyhow, i sanded the whole lip with 220grit, then 400 grit, then polished it the buffing wheel on the grinder with tripoli compound and then finished with wenol all the way around.

heres a pic of it after sanding with the 400.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y155/williamb82/15in%20enkies/Picture092.jpg


and after polishing completely.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y155/williamb82/15in%20enkies/Picture095.jpg


also, you might want to check out this link here. gives a more detailed step by step writeup.

http://www.poleringsguide.se/english/

[hlfazn]

thanks will for the extra advice, i went to the store today but as i was getting there they were closing. sigh.... But I ending up going to Lowes and just looking around. I seen the dremel 400 that was for $79 bucks if i remember correctly. I thought it was a pretty good price since ive seen these go for over 100 buck before. I may even get a military discount too. But anyways, Ive already started on the lips. They all have a slight bit a rash but its nothing really eye popping. I just firgured that i shouldnt half ass it like greg said. Ill be at the store again tomorrow since its my day off.

[williamb82]

dremel is small and a pita to work with. will work for cleaning up the curb rash but thats about it. for sanding do it by hand with paper. only way to get in the corners of the lips. the dremel would dig a hole quick. and you dont want that. and to polish get the HARD cotton buffing wheel from sears. as i recall only sears has it. lowes and home depot have a soft one that spits lil strings everywhere and just doesnt work as well. the buffing wheel is like 6-7in diameter. just take the gaurd off an angle grinder and put it on there. works awesome. and if you do the white rouge after the tripoli make sure you get a separate buffing wheel for that compound. every compound should have its own wheel. btw, if you want them super shiney, dont stop at 400 like me, got to 600, 800, 1200, 1600, then 2k. the finer the grit you use before buffing the easier itll be to polish wit hthe buffing compound and better itll look. with 400 grit it looks amazing in person. people always ask me how i did it. its a simple process but is time consuming and can be frustrating, especially when you get blisters on your fingers and thumbs from the sanding.

[hlfazn]

yea, I was thinking about getting a dremel just for rash purposes but other than that i dont really need one so i passed, the rash seems to be comin out fine with just the sand paper. I be getting an angle grinder too since i dont even have a drill, any suggestions or things to keep an eye out for?

[williamb82]

buy the buffing wheel first then go to a pawn shop. take the disc lock off and see how long the threaded part is. there is a piece that goes between the disc and grinder. some come off, some dont. you need a grinder that the piece comes off. otherwise the buffing wheel cant be mounted to the grinder. the threaded shaft wont be long enough with that thing on there. grinders are cheap at the pawn shop. i got a dewalt i beleive it is. its bright yellow. lol. oh, and wear goggles when doing this. you might throw somethin at your face. a face shield on top of the goggles aint a bad idea either. my friend brian nearly took an eye out withthe polishing compound once. had a nice shiner for a a couple weeks.

[hlfazn]

Well, i was just waitin on a angle grinder and i didnt see any good ones at the pawn shop soo i just bought a new one. anyways i finished sanding up the lip all the way to 1000 grit. After that i put on some tripoly and went to work. Heres what i came up with..... i messed up the face a little bit but its not too bad and its not like im gonna have to strip 3 coats of paint to fix it.... But anyways i liked the results.. (it still has fuzzies on it) (and my camera suks- it was my iraq camera!)
http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee166/toobookoo85/camerapics419.jpg
http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee166/toobookoo85/camerapics421.jpg
http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee166/toobookoo85/camerapics423.jpg
thanks for pointing me in the right direction will.

[williamb82]

well if all that is is with tripoli, get some wenol and go over it by hand with that. itll make it even shinier. hehehe

[MKI_FAN]

Another amazingly informative CS thread with links and user tips. I definitely need this one. I have a set wheel that came with my car I need to work.

[dbdaniel]

where or who did you get the enkei centercaps from? Do they have an extra set? I need 4 for the wheels I picked up last year... thanks.

[supra-b]

Yea, I need 2 caps too. The wheels look great btw.

[hlfazn]

Well, on these center caps i got extremely lucky. I have been looking for center caps that fit for a long time. I came across d-.-b thread and i seen that he had the same rims. Basically i asked if he wanted to sell them and well.... he gave them to me. i dont think he has anymore. Its hard to find center caps and even harder to find ones that people will sell separate. Just keep looking around and it never hurts to ask. And no, i dont want to sell them ;)