New Powder Coated MG ZR Hairpin Wheels

Bought a spare set of MG ZR Hairpin alloys, way back at the start of the year, with the intention of spraying them black myself.

After a LOT of consideration, I decided to have them powder coated. That then raised the problem of where to get it done. A number of recommendations were made to use City Powder Coaters, in Birmingham.

This is the place I used, and I have to say the finish is fantastic for the price, £25 per wheel inc refitting the tyres and balancing. The guy that I spoke to was a really nice bloke, always willing to help and let me examine the wheels at every stage of the process, which I imagine most companies would not allow without becoming agitated.

I'm still deciding what to do with the centre caps, but to be honest, I quite like the look with them missing. Almost a race feel to it, which is the direction I'm taking the styling.

Anyway on with the pictures, first up is how the wheels looked when I got them home. Look ok, but I'm a detailer so there is room for improvement.

The detailing began with a light jet wash to loosen up the tyre soap and dust from the factory, then a hand wash using a microfibre wash mitt and some Meguiars Gold Class Shampoo and Conditioner. They were then dried with a microfibre.

After that, two layers of Meguiars Step 3 Carnauba Wax was applied, this should hold off the brake dust and grime for as long as possible. Then finally, two coatings of Meguiars Endurance High Gloss Tyre Gel.

This left the wheels looking like this.

All cleaned up they looked absolutely awesome, very high gloss finish and a deep black. Exactly what I wanted.

So having spent ages cleaning them, I eagerly set about fitting them. Finally here are the photos of the wheels fitted to the car.

I think they look really good, they tie in with the rest of the car, giving it that aggressive race look that I was aiming to achieve.

(Note: Some eagle eyed readers will notice the tyres are low in the photos, directly after taking the photos I went to the garage and blew them up to the correct pressure)

X-Power Caliper Vinyls and Brake Paint Refurb

Due to the impending refurb of my spare set of alloys, I wanted to tidy up the brake/wheel area.

Using some Halfords Brake Cleaner I got most of the crap off the calipers, then took a wire brush to them, and finally sanded the main face. I sanded the main face ready for the white X-Power vinyl decals I acquired to go there.

I got the vinyls from a member of theMGZR.co.uk (Dazzer) who runs his own custom vinyl business, very nice chap. Got them specially made up the right size for the 1.4 calipers.


I repainted the calipers in the same Hammerite smooth red as before.

The calipers needed two coats of paint to get them looking as good as they could be, wanted to give them a good going over so they last a fair while.

Whilst I was there I noticed my new mintex discs had gone rusty in the non contact areas. This was making the wheel area look very untidy. So I painted them with black engine enamel, which not only covers up the rust but should prevent any more rusting.

All in all the wheel/brake area looks a treat now, makes it look very fresh and a bit sportier/newer.

(Note: In the pictures the before shots are of the opposite side to the finished shots as I forgot to take pictures of the process on just one side.)

Before 

Painted

Applying the Vinyl

Finished

Finished - Wheels On

Painted the Brake Callipers

Next up I decided to do a cheap mod while I couldn't afford to do anything substantial.

Decided to paint them red to match the car, red's also quite a traditional colour for painted calipers. Went for Hammerite's smooth red and painted it on with a brush, rather than spraying as you can be more accurate.

First off I cleaned the cruddy calipers with some Halfrauds brake cleaner, it turned out to work pretty well actually, so I'd recommend picking some up if you are going to be attempting the same job.

I started off just painting the caliper itself not the carrier.

Didn't think it looked right, so I painted the carrier too.

Looks pretty good in my opinion, nice subtle change and when I get new wheels it should set those off a treat.

You can pick up a tin of hammerite smooth red, the same as what I used on my calipers from amazon, just click the link below to go straight to the page. An alternative to tinned paint is aerosol spray tins, really is just a preference to which you use, I just thought it would be easier to use brush on paint.