Wicked Wheels Crawley - Excellent!

[WhyOne?]

As part of my ongoing (obsessional!) refurbishment of Y1, I had all 4 wheels refurbed at Wicked Wheels, Crawley. Only 1 had any sign of curbing (very slight) but they were getting a little chipped/tired looking so I went for the full strip down / refinish / powder coat treatment and they now look bloody excellent.

I was speaking to Roger, one of the owners, and he was a little suprised to have recieved an NSX wheel, out of the blue, in the post from Somerset this morning. I asked if the owner happened to be called James and he said 'yes, James Taylor'! So James - I can assure you your wheel in in very competent, safe hands.

[michaelw]

Was yours the blue car there this week, it looked superb? I popped in this week for a quote and the guy said we have NSX's coming out of our ears when he saw my car outside.


Michael.

[WhyOne?]

Was yours the blue car there this week, it looked superb? I popped in this week for a quote and the guy said we have NSX's coming out of our ears when he saw my car outside.



Yes that was Y1...and thanks for the complement Michael.

Given the rarity of NSX's, Wicked Wheels are seeing a lot of NSX wheels at the moment - the power of internet forums, coupled with a company who care about doing a good job at a reasonable price.

[simonprelude]

Are they refurbing the wheels to original painted spec ??

I have a company trying to powdercoat wheels using a mix that will be the same as the darker finished wheels, will post pictures when done.

The reason they didn't want to paint them is the finish will not wear well.

[WhyOne?]

Hi Simon - I was after a durable finish which matched the original darkish silver (not dark enough to be called 'gunmetal' IMHO) colour as far as possible. As I dont now have anything to compare them with it is difficult to say how close they are to original, but they look good to me!

[Papalazarou]

One of my split rims is with them at the moment due to an argument with a rock on a country lane.
Leigh recommended them and the job they did on his wheels were excellent.

http://www.nsxcb.co.uk/testvb/showthread.php?t=1385

Cheers,

James.

[blue5]

Hi all,

I have had need to re finish a wheel on my type 49 elise, its gold and no one could garantee the colour match with the origional so i investigated and did it myself.

The key is that in general alloy wheels have a rough finish and the only commercially economic way to get the smooth shiny surface we want is to powder coat the wheel which acts to seal and smooth the finish, and become the undercoat for the painted and laquered finish.

So to cut a long story i contacted the origional paint manufacturer, who provided the above information, bought the paint, stripped the wheel, got it powder coated, painted and laquered it in my garage, got the tyre re fitted and balanced £28. thank u very much , and i can do another 30 wheels with the paint i have left over!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes i know that for £50 or so i could have got it done quicker (see above) but my hobby is restoring classic cars so i had the skills (and spray gun) to do it.

When i had my nsx wheels done i used Lepsons in Gillingham kent and the finish was wonderful (sparkle silver was the colour), same process, powder coat to create the base followed by paint and laquer. Still as new after 6 years.

BTW up to this point i had only ever used cellulose paint and i could not believe a. how easy the paint went on, b, how little paint was needed (2 coats and the colour was thich and deep), and how difficult it was to get runs!

[WhyOne?]

One of my split rims is with them at the moment..........

James.

See my 1st post James!

[simonprelude]

Were the wheel centres done also ?? That is what we are looking at, a finish that means the centres will not need touching.


Hi Simon - I was after a durable finish which matched the original darkish silver (not dark enough to be called 'gunmetal' IMHO) colour as far as possible. As I dont now have anything to compare them with it is difficult to say how close they are to original, but they look good to me!

[WhyOne?]

Were the wheel centres done also ?? That is what we are looking at, a finish that means the centres will not need touching.


Yes, the centres have been (very well) re-painted.

[Papalazarou]

See my 1st post James!


Cool, yes I guess I read your post whilst asleep!!

I'm really looking forward to getting the wheel back in about a week, which I thought was a pretty good turnaround considering the work needed.

The guy I spoke to 'Les' said they prefer not to laquer polished split rims because there is a small amount of movement in the wheel which can cause the laquered surface to flake.

For this reason, I've chosen to have the wheel done without laquer. more effort to look after, but hopefully a more reliable finish.


Cheers,

James.

(will post pictures when returned).

[trackdemon]

Hi all,

I have had need to re finish a wheel on my type 49 elise, its gold and no one could garantee the colour match with the origional so i investigated and did it myself.

The key is that in general alloy wheels have a rough finish and the only commercially economic way to get the smooth shiny surface we want is to powder coat the wheel which acts to seal and smooth the finish, and become the undercoat for the painted and laquered finish.

So to cut a long story i contacted the origional paint manufacturer, who provided the above information, bought the paint, stripped the wheel, got it powder coated, painted and laquered it in my garage, got the tyre re fitted and balanced £28. thank u very much , and i can do another 30 wheels with the paint i have left over!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes i know that for £50 or so i could have got it done quicker (see above) but my hobby is restoring classic cars so i had the skills (and spray gun) to do it.

When i had my nsx wheels done i used Lepsons in Gillingham kent and the finish was wonderful (sparkle silver was the colour), same process, powder coat to create the base followed by paint and laquer. Still as new after 6 years.

BTW up to this point i had only ever used cellulose paint and i could not believe a. how easy the paint went on, b, how little paint was needed (2 coats and the colour was thich and deep), and how difficult it was to get runs!


I've heard good things about Lepsons too, how much does it cost per wheel? I'm thinking of sending all 4 down for a refurb.

[NSXGB]

I popped in this week for a quote and the guy said we have NSX's coming out of our ears when he saw my car outside.

And I was in there last week too...:p


They are very good.

[jonathanolney]

I went to Wicked Wheels today -they were amused to see yet another NSX. Their finish on NSX wheels in the workshop looked superb & I will be asking them to do my '91 wheels in January. Can anyone help with the code please? I can find every other wheel paint code on Prime but this one,

John

[WhyOne?]

I went to Wicked Wheels today -they were amused to see yet another NSX. Their finish on NSX wheels in the workshop looked superb & I will be asking them to do my '91 wheels in January. Can anyone help with the code please? I can find every other wheel paint code on Prime but this one,

John


Can't help with the paint code I'm afraid (I just asked them to match the colour of my wheels, not very scientific I know, but I am pleased with the results!

As for the wheels you saw - I am guessing they were Luke's? He'll be pleased to hear they are looking good - they were in a bit of a mess when he took them in.

[jaytip]

So can anybody quote prices for powder coating all four wheels with this company?
Cheers.

[jonathanolney]

Yesterday they quoted 4 wheels powder coated painted then clear coated at £220 + VAT, this includes minor rim repairs & I assume that this also includes tyre changing & balancing. They also quoted £65+VAT for P6000 front tyres. I imagine that they would be careful tyre changers & they seem like a reasonable source of tyres only. Did someone along the south coast reecntly offer a loan set of rim? My other cars are unsuitable for driving to work at this time of year whilst the NSX rims are being done.

John

[WhyOne?]

So can anybody quote prices for powder coating all four wheels with this company?
Cheers.


I paid £55+VAT per wheel. (so the same as you Jonathan)

This included stripping back to bare metal (wheels spend 24 hours in a bath of something I imagine to be pretty noxious!), refinishing (only 1 wheel actually had any damage and that was very light) powdercoating and repainting. Also included was the refit of tyres and re-balancing all of which they do very carefully and well as you would imagine from a company who must see tyre-monkey induced damage on a daily basis.

I needed 2 rear tyres which I was intending to supply to Wicked Wheels for re-fitting, however they beat the Black Circles price I had, so I allowed Wicked Wheels to source and supply and fit.

[Papalazarou]

Just had mine back today,

I sent one of my split rims off after curbing it on a local lane (currently suing the council and highways).

Anyway, it came back and the work was excellent. unfortunately the courier had dropped the box and flat spotted the rim so back it went to WW for a second repair.

Just got it back today and it's a very good repair and I am happy, they also said they'd come to some arrangement with the re-repair because the box the wheel was in could have been sturdier. Anyway, glad to get my wheel back and looking forward to getting my car back on the road.

I also sent my oem wheels away at the same time, and they've also come back looking great.
I wasn't sure which colour to go for, but decided in the end to go bright silver which on reflection was a great choice.
If I had to be critical I'd say the centre caps were not 100% but they are acceptable and I know WW tried hard to get them right.

I would definately use them again as I couldn't believe how good the repair was on the split rim.

Cheers,

James.

[simonprelude]

The problem with centre caps is that they cannot be powdercoated.

So will not match 100%.

[mutley]

Maybe not 100%, but look pretty damn close to me. Good job.

[Papalazarou]

Maybe not 100%, but look pretty damn close to me. Good job.

Yes, very pleased. Not sure which wheels to put on the car now?!

Cheers,

James.

At last, my 500th post.........

[Nick Graves]

I went for bright silver for the Prelude, which isn't original, but does look better against the pearlescent blue paint.

It involves PCing the wheels black & overpainting them silver, which means the caps can be blown it too.

My BBSs on the S2000 are PC'd straight silver & it's very tough stuff.

Did melt it on a very hot trackday once, resulting in all four wheels coming loose at once!

[jaytip]

Just had mine back today,

I sent one of my split rims off after curbing it on a local lane (currently suing the council and highways).

Anyway, it came back and the work was excellent. unfortunately the courier had dropped the box and flat spotted the rim so back it went to WW for a second repair.

Just got it back today and it's a very good repair and I am happy, they also said they'd come to some arrangement with the re-repair because the box the wheel was in could have been sturdier. Anyway, glad to get my wheel back and looking forward to getting my car back on the road.

I also sent my oem wheels away at the same time, and they've also come back looking great.
I wasn't sure which colour to go for, but decided in the end to go bright silver which on reflection was a great choice.
If I had to be critical I'd say the centre caps were not 100% but they are acceptable and I know WW tried hard to get them right.

I would definately use them again as I couldn't believe how good the repair was on the split rim.

Cheers,

James.
That's exactly how i want my wheels done.James can you tell me what colour you asked for with regard to your stock rims please.I have always felt that the Factory colour was a bit too dark for my personal tastes.
Cheers.

[Papalazarou]

That's exactly how i want my wheels done.James can you tell me what colour you asked for with regard to your stock rims please.I have always felt that the Factory colour was a bit too dark for my personal tastes.
Cheers.


I don't know the colour code, but if you are getting the work done through WW they will know. I just specified bright silver and that's what I got.

Cheers,

James.

[jaytip]

Another question sorry guys.
What company did you use for shipping and what sort of money did it cost to send them.
Cheers,

Ivor.

[jonathanolney]

Original style '91 wheels had some kerb damage & lots of paint bubbling - now perfect. On time (3 days) & in budget. Wicked Wheels do retail tyres (& fit carefully) - in 2 months they will have extended their premises to store cars whilst wheels are refurbished & also to sell more tyres,

John

[Kevin]

Ressurecting and old post here, but is this Wicked Wheels that people are using, the same as www.wickedwheels.co.uk (http://www.wickedwheels.co.uk)?

From the website it seems they are a mobile based company, but the previous posts mention a site in Crawley.

..........So much to do to get ready for JamesFest.

[Papalazarou]

Ressurecting and old post here, but is this Wicked Wheels that people are using, the same as www.wickedwheels.co.uk (http://www.wickedwheels.co.uk)?

From the website it seems they are a mobile based company, but the previous posts mention a site in Crawley.

..........So much to do to get ready for JamesFest.


Really not sure, but here's the number for Crawley; 07798830415

[NSXGB]

Yes, the same people. They've got a workshop in Crawley and mobile people.




Ressurecting and old post here, but is this Wicked Wheels that people are using, the same as www.wickedwheels.co.uk (http://www.wickedwheels.co.uk)?

From the website it seems they are a mobile based company, but the previous posts mention a site in Crawley.

..........So much to do to get ready for JamesFest.

[jonathanolney]

As Simon says they are a mobile (franchised) company. But a proper job involves a large bead blasting cabinet & powdercoating track with oven which you cannot do in a van -so in Crawley they invested in premises. The link with a mobile company initially put me off until I found this out,

John

[WhyOne?]

As Simon says they are a mobile (franchised) company. But a proper job involves a large bead blasting cabinet & powdercoating track with oven which you cannot do in a van -so in Crawley they invested in premises. The link with a mobile company initially put me off until I found this out,

John


John is absolutely right.

Indeed, they are scaling down the mobile side of their business (too 'cut-throat' vs. low quality / cheapo outfits offering this service) and concentrating on high quality / sensibly priced work from the extended Crawley premises.

[Lankstarr]

I had my wheels refurbed by wicked wheels in Crawley back inJanuary.

I am still waiting to get the centre caps back!

To be fair to them the job on the wheels was excellent, but waiting over three months to get the centrecaps back is starting to get annoying. Problem with the caps is teh black H sticker in the middle - WW have tried to get 3 different ones made up to make the wheels look factory but all three attemps have failed due to flimsyness of materials / poor fits.

OK - so I'm a picky ***** but the original attempt of redoing the H's that they tried to fob me off with was completely crap and took away so much from the great job they did with the wheels.

Most recent update is that they are just going to paint them back in by hand, something I'm sure will look great if done with care but I think they were trying to source the sticker replacements as a long term solution for all NSX refurbs.

Hoping (praying) to get them back soon and will post results once they are back on the car.

L*

[mutley]

...............Most recent update is that they are just going to paint them back in by hand, something I'm sure will look great if done with care but I think they were trying to source the sticker replacements as a long term solution for all NSX refurbs.

Hoping (praying) to get them back soon and will post results once they are back on the car.

L*

I was reading through your post I was thinking that the best solution would be to paint them in by hand.

Sure in the long run that would be better than stickers anyway?

Jim

[Lankstarr]

Yeah - I thought that at the start as well but as the centrecaps are plastic and the original H's were glued on there is not a perfect finish left on the cap when the old sticker is removed. They were trying to get it looking perfect by replacing the sticker and covering up any old glue marks.

Maybe next time they'll just paint over the existing sticker as that will avoid glue issues. the plan for my caps was to de sticker them, repaint them then resticker them... it wasn't until the final stage that they must have seen taht the stickers were going to look crap.

We live and learn I guess - I'm sure they'll just go for the straight paint next time after all the hassle they've had with mine.

L*

[mutley]

Next time??? how often do you plan on refurbing your wheels?? ( or do you mean by that their next time with someone elses wheels).

Jim

[Lankstarr]

they'll just go for the straight paint next time after all the hassle they've had with mine.

L*

Jim - I think I'll just buy a new set if there's a next time for me - far too much hassle!

Not likely though; I only ever curb the wife's alloys - I'm far too careful in my car (now where's that wood gone!?)

[TheSebringOne]

When I brought my X from a Honda dealer, had all alloys refurbed as most of lacquer was peeling & noted centre H was an rough worn black, having read this thread, it seems it originally had H stickers which is new to me, but these have been removed. When I painted my callipers, I removed the caps, took to em to an traditional sign company who hand painted the H for 20 quid? Then I thought they did ok job, but it was'nt dark enough for me, so got some black car touch up paint & painted myself 2/3 times as the H sinks down into the cap, then finished off with lacquer for painting models to give it protection & shine! Looks really well now! If I knew it had a H sticker prior to having them painted, I would have used special model brushes that used for scraping inperfections to get rid of the old sticker glue & then painted them!! You live & you learn. Hope this is useful ! :D

[rkanaga]

Hi, I've just had this issue with my 1991 wheels. They were very nicely powdercoated and repainted but of course the 'H's were sprayed silver as well. The original inserts were going brownish so needed redoing so what I did was to very carefully prise them off (tip heat the H with a hairdryer to soften the glue). They are actually very thin stamped pieces of aluminium sheet set into the plastic centre caps and attached with double sided tape. I then got some 250 micron laminator pouch, laminated it (empty) and using one of the old 'H's as a template cut out 4 more out of the laminated plastic film. If you get a VERY sharp modelling knife, and use tape to hold the template in place you can get a perfect match to the original.

The trick is then to spray the plastic 'H's with gloss black enamel paint (you will need a few very light coats) and then stick them back on with double sided tape, but make sure you mount them with the painted side towards the wheel. This way the top surface is just very smooth laminated plastic (much flatter than any paint finish you can achieve) and looks very professional IMHO! Also has the advantage that the paint can't scrape off as it is on the underside of the new decal If you make sure that you scrape all the old glue off the plastic centre cap before sticking the plastic 'H' back on it will end up perfectly flat again and look good.

The alternative that I investigated was to get some laser cut from aluminium by a local metal work shop and then painted or anodised, but this would cost around £100 for making up he CNC programme. Actually manufacturing them after this was done would cost peanuts and might make sense if a few people wanted them. I decided that the DIY opion was just fine however and costs all of £2.48 for a can of spray paint a a sheet of lamnator plastic!

Hope this helps

Robin.

[TheSebringOne]

Robin, sounds like you have found your long lost vocation & now that you've told us of your lost talent, expect loads of us here to start sending our centre caps to yours truly!! Wish I read your thread, before paying some one to do my & then trying it myself! Instead of the hair dryer, I had my caps in a fan assisted oven at low heat each time I added a coat of black paint! Bit risky thinking about it now ! :D

[TheSebringOne]

Are they gunning for bigger fish! Saw their ad in the car supplement of the Sunday Times, claiming they are the UK's no1, I'm not sure you can say that? & it still states its a mobile service? I hope with more exposure & demand, their quality doesn't go down & prices inflates? :rolleyes:

[NSXGB]

For those inquiring about the 'H' decals, I found this which may be of interest....


http://daliracing.com/v666-5/catalog/index_browse_part.cfm?focus=1009

[Problem Child]

I'd recommend these guys in Woburn Sands every time you ding an alloy...about £100 per corner. I go there every time my wife does another one!


http://www.pristinealloywheels.co.uk/