Weekend Workshop

The best tips and advice on how to refurbish your alloy wheels.

Alloy wheels are jolly splendid. Being lighter than their mild steel counterparts, they help to keep the unsprung mass of the suspension as low as possible, allowing it to react more quickly to bounce and rebound forces and resulting in better tyre-to-road contact. Alloys also have a lower rotational mass, allowing more rapid changes in speed. Some people think they look better than steel wheels, too.

The biggest drawback of alloy wheels is that the aluminium alloy they’re made of is relatively soft. This makes them far more susceptible to damage than steel wheels. Scraping them against curbs when parking and hitting potholes at speed – an increasingly significant problem in the UK – are the most common culprits.

If your classic car is used as it should be, alloy wear-and-tear is almost inevitable. Even if you cosset the car and hide it away in a garage, aluminium alloys absolutely love to oxidise, particularly those with high magnesium content. Don’t be surprised to see the paint or lacquer erupting in ugly pustules given enough time and moisture. Alloy wheels tend to be finished to higher standards than steel ones, making defects all the more conspicuous.

So, what do you do when your alloy wheels go pear-shaped (perhaps literally)? Addressing cracks, deformation and major dents is possible – but it requires specialist equipment and is best delegated to professional repairers. Lighter damage, however, can be tackled at home. It’s possible to repair and refinish wheels to a very high standard yourself using only basic equipment.

In this feature, Chris Spencer of Flat Cap Classic Cars (flatcapclassiccars.

co.uk) is taking us through the repair of a typical alloy wheel with scruffy paint and curbing damage. This will encompass all the techniques you’ll need to refurbish your alloys at home.