I woke up this morning with an idea...this is what happened.

**BTJ** · 03-01-2013, 08:55 PM

Hi there folks,

I've recently had my love affair with VW rekindled after purchasing a new Polo (not to mention trip to Wolfsburg a few months ago) and today I woke up inspired after viewing a few threads about plastidip and after a quick phone call and a short drive to Bardwell Park I had 4 cans and a spray holder for $100.

So my new TSI77 POLO in its glory. Sports pack and comfort pack.

Fairly standard affair but I do love the Candy White. Just so thick and rich. Best looking white cars on the roads are our VWs.

So I got the car up and took off the first shoe. Between the little black caps and the one special locking bolt I cant envisage anyone stealing a set of wheels without a good half an hour and a tolerance for lower back pain.

The instructions on the can are fairly simple, shake; shake some more. Just to be sure shake. Don't spray it in your eye/fire/garden salad.

I took off a second wheel in the pursuit of doing the job a bit quicker. This story we will return to later.

The first coat went down easily and my excitement levels jumped up as the proof of just how good this stuff is was laid before my own eyes. This would prove to lead me to my first mistake as I got a bit over zealous and applied some more without really letting it dry for the suggested 30 mins. I got too close, pulled the trigger too hard and laid on too much PD. The result was some VERY undesirable bubbles.

Hard to make out here, but they were there.

I let it dry for about a session in the cricket and came out determined to be more careful. I diligently applied thinner, more even coats and smoothed off the finish. The problem was that due to the extra coats I had entered into my 3rd can. I would have to be flawless with the next two.

So I put the wheels back on and I was feeling positive about the decision to cover my 2 week old wheels in black spray.

Onto the second set of wheels.

Now I had taken off 2 wheels at a time, diagonally opposite (ie front left, rear right). I'm sure someone will come on here and tell me this was foolish to do with only two standard car jacks and if I'm honest with myself I probably that myself at some point, but everything was going well so far.

The last two wheels were hit with my best work spray wise. Some real nice even coats that had a great matte finish across them. Was happy to have all the spraying out of the way, with a bit left over.

Now to put it all back together!

As I gently maneuvered the wheels into place both jacks needed to be taken up a bit to get the wheel in. I started winding the front one up and to my absolute horror the vehicle started sliding forward. there was nothing I could do but hope. In my mind and my memory I'm sure the vehicle moved 3 feet. In reality it probably rocked about 2 cm but as you can imagine I was not keen to put my suspension through that.

All was well and I was pretty happy to put those wheels back on. I think the end result looks pretty damn good myself. Plastidip is great stuff to work with and I've already got some more styling ideas in mind.

If anyone is thinking of doing this then I can say the following things:

1) One wheel at time. It might take longer but unless you have the car up on a proper rig, your heart rate will thank you.
2) Slow and steady wins the race. You'll use less and you will get better results.
3) Don't listen to your girlfriend/sister/wife/mum or anyone else who says they liked it better before. Its your car!

Hope you enjoy guys and be sure to wave if you see me on the roads!

Brendan

**tassie devil** · 03-01-2013, 09:00 PM

good job mate looks fantastic

**alexaescht** · 03-01-2013, 09:19 PM

Looks really good. When I had the spare on mine the other day I actually liked the black wheel sans the yellow stickers and the fact that its made of steel. Might have to have a look at the stuff.

As a side note: Good job not destroying your car by sliding it off the jacks! I had mine up on some little stands on the back today (I was fixing the bumper and needed to get to some bolts in the wheel well) and it almost slid sideways onto the rear left disc, eek even thinking about it makes me cringe! Luckily nothing happened and I quickly ran around and attached the wheel.

**Nuggos** · 03-01-2013, 09:22 PM

looks good, now you have to pass the shoe test, lower it!!!

**sVWatt** · 03-01-2013, 09:40 PM

It looks the dogs danglers - v.nice indeed.

**BTJ** · 03-01-2013, 09:47 PM

Thanks for the kind words folks!

Alex it was heart stopping stuff. glad you didnt suffer either.

nuggos Im very tempted to close the gap between wheel and arch. No idea where to start and there are just so many threads on this forum! lol

**Lemonskin** · 04-01-2013, 07:20 AM

Nice one BTJ, I really like the 77TSI's wheels and they look wicked in black. Nicely done

**BTJ** · 04-01-2013, 10:00 AM

Cheers Lemon. Ill keep an eye out for you round the shire and such.

**SAV84C** · 04-01-2013, 12:24 PM

Get yourself some car stands... For the price its added security and A LOT safer...

Autobarn: Catalogue

SCA Car Stands - Pin & Screw Type, 1200kg - Supercheap Auto Australia

**seangti** · 04-01-2013, 12:54 PM

Looks good.

Originally Posted by SAV84C

Get yourself some car stands... For the price its added security and A LOT safer...

Yup, car stands and bin the crap jack that comes with the car, too bloody dangerous. My car fell of the crap jack when changing a wheel, it was on flat hard packed dirt. Had to use another jack to lift my car to get this one out. No damage but I was more pi55ed at myself for even trusting the thing. Think changing a wheel on ground that isn't perfectly stable or flat... not going to happen.