Cleaning the wheel hubs on the E63

[AMGeed]

Reading a recent post by daveenty has inspired me to start a few outstanding jobs that need doing to the E63.

The first of which was to clean up the rusting and manky looking hubs and repaint them with Smooth silver Hammerite paint. I would point out I would have preferred to use a rattle can as the finish can be far better. But the amount of masking up required led me to use a brush and the paint I already have.

Whilst the wheels were off, they all got a proper clean and a wax before being remounted. The plastic front wheel arch protectors were also washed, rinsed and treated to a back to black Carplan plastic polish. No photos of this as the ones I took were in shadow and look rubbish.
The hubs didn't look great but I'm quite pleased with the finish and look of them after painting. Luckily it was a warm day and they dried within an hour each.

A few photos of before and after. A full days work from 9am until 4 this afternoon.

 

[Gazwould]

Wrong colour , you are highting a mundane area that detracts attention from the stars of the show namely the AMG wheels and calipers .

Silver hubs will also show up the brake dust .

Smooth Hammerite black .

Both industry and folk are catching on .

 

[AMGeed]

No thanks. Black against a black wheel?
I'll stick with the OEM silver thank you.

 

[Gazwould]

OEM blindness

 

[Gazwould]

Oooops , here's another one .





Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

 

[AMGeed]

Gaz, you can paint your hubs pink if you like.
I'm happy with the colour they came with. Silver.
End of story.

 

[ChrisHGTV]

look good, I’m a big fan of hammerite, I get through cans of the stuff! I’ve also found VHT high temp paint is good, and the spray is easy to control so you hardly have to mask. I’ve got my technique pretty good now. VHT do a silver and black, I’ve used both on my hubs at various times on various cars. It dries super quick so a bit more forgiving than hammerite.

 

[Gazwould]

Trouble is VHT is less rust resistant .

No burning off of Hammerite Smooth with the 5 pairs of discs I've painted .

Only issue is some paint may part company when removing a wheel .

My next experiment with a future pair of Brembo discs is to treat the slim band of unswept unpainted area with XCP .

 

[E55BOF]

Just noticed something. Why do you end all your posts with "E55BOF'S bollocks, innit..."? None of the images I've seen from you look anything like anyone's knackers...

 

[Muckypaps]

I bought these Brembo for the front, always stay black.

 

[350cls]

As the wheels are black I also would have went with black hubs. The silver kind of takes the eye away from the wheel now and has more focus towards the hub. Not for me

 

[Atavus]

They look a lot smarter painted. Would have preferred the star badge to point to the tyre valve, but that’s a personal preference.

 

[E55BOF]

They look a lot smarter painted. Would have preferred the star badge to point to the tyre valve, but that’s a personal preference.

I'd have liked that double if I could. Brilliant...

 

[Deleted member 113659]

Great satisfying days work there Roger. You certainly earned yourself a beer. Super job. Looks awesome

 

[AMGeed]

As the wheels are black I also would have went with black hubs. The silver kind of takes the eye away from the wheel now and has more focus towards the hub. Not for me

Says the man with lurid green calipers ;-) There is no accounting for taste. I'm a little surprised that a quick clean up job,done in the colour I prefer can cause so much angst. Sometimes I feel it's hardly worth bothering posting these little tasks and keeping the forum ticking along.

 

[ChrisHGTV]

Says the man with lurid green calipers ;-) There is no accounting for taste. I'm a little surprised that a quick clean up job,done in the colour I prefer can cause so much angst. Sometimes I feel it's hardly worth bothering posting these little tasks and keeping the forum ticking along.

I like them (Silver hubs) I even went a stage further and sprayed the dust shield things silver as well. Plus my callipers silver with a black highlight on the rears And Merc decals on the fronts. The dust shields stay clean which surprised me. And looking from a distance it now looks like my discs are enormous!

 

[350cls]

Says the man with lurid green calipers ;-) There is no accounting for taste. I'm a little surprised that a quick clean up job,done in the colour I prefer can cause so much angst. Sometimes I feel it's hardly worth bothering posting these little tasks and keeping the forum ticking along.

You get very rattled at the slightest dislike to your tastes. It's a forum to view your opinions. It's not for me that's all I have said. Like you dislike my Green calipers . You come across very very touchie !

Lighten up a little

Like HT73 has said, have a few beers and chill my good man

 

[Gazwould]

I like them (Silver hubs) I even went a stage further and sprayed the dust shield things silver as well. Plus my callipers silver with a black highlight on the rears And Merc decals on the fronts. The dust shields stay clean which surprised me. And looking from a distance it now looks like my discs are enormous!

And now it's a silver 'white out' such as..

 

[merc estate]

Any tips for cleaning the original ones as they are a bit dirty and i don't want to paint them.

 

[ChrisHGTV]

And now it's a silver 'white out' such as..

View attachment 116966

Much better! Saying that my Alfa has red brembos and black hubs, as the Abarth actually. And the Ducati has gold Brembos and gold floating discs. All look good I reckon.