Anyone stripped clear coat off rims and polished?

[Chrome Magnon]

I was wondering if anyone here has stripped that peeling clearcoat off the alloy rims and polished them instead of painting? Would like to see how they turned out.

 

[Chandlerdoom]

I have done it before on a set of wheels for my old car, it sucked. Strip, sand, polish. Probably the worst idea ever, it took me days to do one wheel. Every time you sand it has to be even, and it only gets harder with finer grit.

Save your time and take them to a shop that will polish them, or just buy a set of wheels that you are happy with.

 

[bgibbs11]

Was looking into this idea myself for my dad's truck awhile back. Apparently rustoleum has an auto stripper spray and it works well. Let me know if you try it.

Here's a link to some real world results on an F100
Best way to strip clearcoat off wheels? - Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forums

 

[Chandlerdoom]

Was looking into this idea myself for my dad's truck awhile back. Apparently rustoleum has an auto stripper spray and it works well. Let me know if you try it.

Here's a link to some real world results on an F100
Best way to strip clearcoat off wheels? - Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forums

Only issue is out factory wheels came painted not polished, So it wont have a smooth surface to just polish from the get go. So you have to start from bare metal and work up to a polishable surface.

 

[Fireball]

Anyone have them sandblasted and powder coated? I had a local guy do a set of steel rims for me for 50 bucks a rim. Not sure how the aluminum would work??

 

[Chrome Magnon]

I was thinking of using Klean-Strip Aircraft Stripper to take off clear coat. Then use Autosol Metal polish to clean and polish bare metal. Wanted to see if anyone else has done it before I try.

If not, then was thinking of stripping clear coat then paint. Thinking of first using self etching primer then a gloss black. Then applying Dulicolor chrome.

Not sure which method would be better.

 

[BrianSD_42]

lots of people have done the sand blasting to powder coating route ...

I had mine done for $70 / wheel out-the-door at a local shop here in San Diego.

 

[zgensler31]

Ive also gone with the blast and powder coat method. I would try to have them bad blasted instead of sand blasted though. It isn't as rough on the aluminum.

Also. They has to pre-bake mine as well. There were some impurities in the aluminum that rose to the surface when they were baked...

 

[paddlenbike]

I have, and the process isn't much different than properly preparing a wheel for paint. I just finished stripping some Sequoia wheels down to bare aluminum and painting them. First hit them with gel-based aircraft paint stripper (might take two or even three applications to get all of the factory clearcoat off), then sand the spokes smooth with finer and finer sandpaper, and now you simply choose between applying paint or using jeweler's rouge on a cotton wheel on the end of the drill to polish. I would say polishing takes a little longer than painting due to the extra sanding required, but not significantly more time than waiting the proper amount of time for multiple coats of primer and paint to dry. To do it correctly will cost you time either way.

I have refinished six sets of wheels now. Here's my write up for the set I just finished.

 

[Fireball]

For those of you who got your rims powder coated, what did you do with the center caps?

Also, bonus points for anyone who may happen to have a powder coat color code for the anthracite gray color that some of the Sequoia rims were painted in.

Thanks!!

 

[Chandlerdoom]

I was thinking of using Klean-Strip Aircraft Stripper to take off clear coat. Then use Autosol Metal polish to clean and polish bare metal. Wanted to see if anyone else has done it before I try.

If not, then was thinking of stripping clear coat then paint. Thinking of first using self etching primer then a gloss black. Then applying Dulicolor chrome.

Not sure which method would be better.

If you are stipping the wheels, use aircraft remover but not the aerosol stuff. Buy 2-3 brushes for application and another brush for scraping off the loose paint, buy one that has a scraping edge (not metal) on one side.

If you still want to polish you have to make sure the front of the spokes are not corroded otherwise your SOL on polishing that surface. Now the sides of the spokes will have to be sanded up to a polishable surface because they are bare metal that was meant to be painted. So start at 120,300,600,1000,1500,2000 Everytime you move to the next grit you have to make sure you are completely even with the previous grit (it will show if you don't)

Once you finish sanding you can move onto polishing, just like [MENTION=9596]paddlenbike[/MENTION] said you use rouge (harbor freight has some) Same concept as sanding you will have to start with a rougher compound and work your way up.

This is what I did, It took me about 3 days for this one wheel. Isnt even a full mirror polish, I would have had to sand to at least 3500 and spent way more time polishing.

And this is what you start with after you strip the wheel (minus the few areas of paint left)


4Runner wheels will be slightly different because the front of the spokes are kind of polished from the factory, but the side of the spokes are not.

 

[Chrome Magnon]

Thanks for the feedback on polishing these 4runner rims. Since the sides of the spokes are rough and meant to be painted, I think it will be too much of a PITA to sand to a smooth surface. I'm gonna strip the clear coat and paint. Thanks again so I don't waste time and energy for not.

 

[Chandlerdoom]

Thanks for the feedback on polishing these 4runner rims. Since the sides of the spokes are rough and meant to be painted, I think it will be too much of a PITA to sand to a smooth surface. I'm gonna strip the clear coat and paint. Thanks again so I don't waste time and energy for not.

NP, it looks cool and its different, but takes way to much time. And you may not even like how it looks in the end lol

 

[Chrome Magnon]

NP, it looks cool and its different, but takes way to much time. And you may not even like how it looks in the end lol

Trying something to look cool and different is exactly why I was thinking of doing it. So now I will try to paint it to "look" chrome. You can tell I like chrome, unlike most on this forum. My black 96 came with lost of chrome so I embrace it and go with my 2 color theme (black and chrome). When it's time to buy a new one, they don't make chrome anymore so I wlll embrace that and do another 2 color theme (leaning towards white and black).

So, after stripping clear coat, I will use a self etching primer and then paint with a glossy black. I will remount and see how it looks. If good then i will add clear coats. If too much black, then I will paint over the black with the Duplicolor chrome and then clear coat. To have some black, I think I will paint the lugs black and paint the center cap logo and circle black. We'll see. I will need to do on next vacation as this will take some time.

 

[Tig]

Centre Caps

For those of you who got your rims powder coated, what did you do with the center caps?

Hey Fireball - funny thing is, I did exactly that just last weekend.

I finally got around to refurbishing the OEM Alloy wheels on my '97 KZN185' as I was itching to fit the new Hankook Dynapro RA33's that I have read so much about - I thought it best to get the lot done at once, obviously starting with the wheels.

Initially I was going to re-polish the machine-polished surfaces (as mentioned) & powder coat all other cast area's but then after a patch test & realising the Alloy quality I decided to just go ahead & coat the entire wheel.

I went for a metalic mid-silver + 3% royal blue & it's a very, very close match to that on the vehicle:

To add a little contrast I then sprayed the centre caps Azure Blue & laquer (clear coat) to exactly match the top colour of the vehicle:

The finished article:

Hell I took an immediate dislike to the combination but before stripping the cap I decided the best thing was to sleep on it.

I woke up the next morning, peeked out of the window &......well I guess it had started to grow on me, thankfully more-so as every day has passed....so it's staying as-is :tongue:

Your comments are always welcome guys (good/bad/indifferent).


Tig

.

 

[cdrewferd]

^^^ I like it. Different, but subtle.