Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Hi Folks

Anyone know a good contact for alloy wheel refurbishment in the Essex area ?
not necessarily for Lotus wheels

would be interested in any results folks may have had

cheers

Bob

Bob,
I had excellent results just over the River at Lepsons. They are based at Gillingham Kent, but will collect your wheels (with the tyres fitted) and return them in about a week. I had some 14x6 Minator wheels refurbished earlier this year and they are genuinely better than new.

http://www.lepsons.com/

Very nice looking wheels too.

They do look nice. But I've gone off powder coating wheels. I have a set of Minilite look-alikes on my MGB and had them blasted and powder coated about three years ago. Recently the finish has been lifting, particularly around the valves. I've seen the same problem on powder coated suspension components. It's great when new, but the smallest break in the surface and water gets under, the metal corrodes, and the coating simply peels off in sheets. I shall be painting my next set of alloys. A chip on a painted surface doesn't generally lead to deterioration of the whole coating and can be cleaned up and repaired easily.

Mike

Lepsons don't powder coat, the wheels are painted gloss black with diamond cut rim and I have a 12 month guarantee on the diamond cut lacquer coating.

The original finish was powder coat with a heavy 2k lacquer on the polished rim, the moisture started getting under the lacquer about 3 months after the wheels were new and the looked quite sad after 4 or 5 years on the car.

Lepsons don't powder coat, the wheels are painted gloss black with diamond cut rim and I have a 12 month guarantee on the diamond cut lacquer coating.

That's excellent. I wish I was close to them rather than 500 miles away! My wheels might have been done properly.

Much experience of restoring all sorts of vehicles and artefacts over the years has revealed to me that powder coating is a not a long-lasting solution for exposed parts. Even bus seat frames, which are largely shielded from the weather, start to peel after a couple of years and chip resistance is poor. I've seen kids picking it off with their finger nails! Any metal parts we restore now are blasted or pickled, chemically etched primed then painted, with cellulose if we can get it, or Williamsons' Transport Finish enamel. The results in terms of longevity and durability of the finish are inarguable. Powder coating is a waste of money in my opinion - its only advantage is its fast to do and you get a reasonably good initial finish. Also with powder coating it is my understanding that you cannot get true metallic finishes.

Nigel F.

Thanks for the useful info

will be in touch and see what they can offer
should be a nice drive down to see them

cheers

Bob

Hi Bob

Although I haven't tried them yet, I've heard good reports about Lepsons and intend to get them to have a go at refurbishing the wheels from my Europa. I believe that if you check out their website it does says that they can arrange for wheels to be collected.

Regards
Andy