When the vehicle arrives, we allocate it a parking spot or loan wheels (if available).The car is left in our secure parking area and is fully insured unless discussed otherwise. Or a set of our loan wheels are fitted on the car (if available) and you can stay on the road while we fix up your alloy wheels.
Either option, your wheels are taken off and sent to the tyre room.
Tyres are removed by our expert tyre fitters, labelled and stored away. We remove all valves, sensors and weights. The wheels are inspected for buckles and cracks. Tyres are also inspected. If we need to get in touch with the customer, we do so at this stage and further instruction is taken.
The wheels are then chemically stripped, The wheels are dipped in special chemicals where all the previous paintwork and coatings as well as rubber,grime and dirt are all removed leaving a bare aluminium wheel,
This stage is vital in ensuring a quality finish.
In this stage the wheels are blasted with high speed aluminium oxide. Removing any rust and corrosion and also giving the surface a uniform finish for the next stage.
When the wheel is clean and down to the bare aluminium, we inspect the wheels again for cracks and buckles in case anywhere was missed previously. At this stage we normally never find anything because it was detected before. But we rather be safe than sorry (there may be an additional cost involved if we do find anything).
Using machines and hand tools all smaller cosmetic damages are removed from the wheel. After final inspection the wheel us finally ready for a powder coating.
The wheels first go through a process known as degassing. After this a powder base is applied and it is sent back to the ovens to cure. Once cured and colour coat is applied, again back in the ovens to cure.
The newer more premium wheels are called diamond cut wheels. This is because the wheels are put into a lathe and a diamond tip is ran across the other surface of the wheel face. Taking of microns at a time the face of the wheels adopts a polished finish. Not all wheels go through this process and it can be opted out.
Once the wheels have undergone the diamond cut process, they go back in the ovens with the other wheels to get a powdered acrylic lacquer. This special process creates our signature gloss look. Resulting a high gloss, durable and vibrant finish.
After the ovens the wheels are left to cool and cure. This is where the gloss levels deepen, and the powder coat gets harder. Once fully cooled new valves are installed and tyre re fitted. The wheels are balanced using our state-of-the-art machines and fitted back on the car. The tyres are filled with recommended air pressure and the wheels torqued to manufacture specs.
