09 SHINEY CORNERS...

Remember I mentioned that Carl wanted gold wheels for his car?  Yeah, well, I want white ones so it looks authentic.  The issue is that new car wheels cost about £200 a corner, and that is without tyres.  Spending £1200 on wheels and tyres goes against the 'homemade' ethic we are going for, so we will need to unleash the ingenuity again.

I went on a YouTube deep dive about refurbishing wheels and came across a guy who refurbished four alloys for $25.  Nope, that isn't a typo; he reckons he can make old wheels look good for the price of an artisan burger and fries in Liverpool.

The makeover requires soapy water, sandpaper, an undercoat and top coat of special alloy wheel spray paint, patience, and a deck of cards.  

The wheels are thoroughly cleaned to remove grease and then left to dry.  Once dry, it is time to rough up the surface with sandpaper.  Then, the undercoat is applied in three layers using the cards jammed between the alloy and tyre to catch any overspray.  Once the undercoat is dry, the top coat can be applied again in three layers.

If everything has been done correctly and carefully, the result should be a lovely, even-coated alloy that looks box fresh.  That is the theory.  I await the results, especially as Carl has suggested doing it as we sink a few cans - what could go wrong?

I've invited Lisa's dad to act as 'Technical Advisor'.  Edd is there ostensibly to provide sage advice, but he has been unwell recently, and I thought he could use a laugh watching us two apes destroy two sets of alloys!!!  Hey, even if we do a terrible job, it fits the aesthetic we seek.

"Hey, mate, who refurbed your alloys?  Stevie Wonder?!”

"Just please squint, lad.  How good do they look now?"

All we need to do is find a suitable set of alloys.  I saw a set on eBay that had been 'refurbished' by some idiot in glorious matt back, and they have done a terrible job of it (they have set the bar relatively low).  Because of the shoddy work, the alloys (with tyres) were up for just £180; if we can get a couple of sets like this and make a half-decent job of it, we will be laughing.