Anyone Ever Refinished Their Wheels?

[MBDiagMan]

I have an '88 non Z51 with six spoke wheels. These wheels were used only on the standard suspension '88 cars so they are near impossible to find.

Mine are in reasonably good shape except for peeling lacquer. I am contemplating removing the tires and using Peeler paint stripper to get off the old lacquer, touch up a few minor scratches and then relacquer them. Has anyone ever taken on such a project? If so how successful were you.

Thanks for any comments or suggestions you might offer.

Thanks,

 

[MBDiagMan]

Well I spent about an hour in the shop this evening and answered my own question.

I peeled off the tire, wiped off the dirt and sprayed on some of the Peeler. I waited about two minutes and the lacquer did just that. I just peeled off really easy. I got the wheel completely stripped before coming in to look for my aluminum polish.

I think that all I need do now is use aluminum polish on a few dull areas where the lacquer was gone and then wipe them down with prep sol, let that dry off and shoot it with clear lacquer. It is appearing that this will be a MUCH easier and MUCH LESS time consuming job than I expected. I was just figuring I had all Winter to get it done, but I think it will only take a few hours per wheel.

Have a great day,

 

[mkapp7879]

Recently refinished 2 sets of 78 style aluminum wheels. Had to sand and polish one set before re-clearcoating them. Other set just needed polishing before clearcoat. First set about 3 months ago resprayed with VHT clear wheel finish that I got from Corvette America. Second set used professional urethane with activator from auto paint place. Used my old Binks No9 spray gun. Turned out fantastic. The first set?!!!! Thought they looked good until I compared them to my second set. The spray can clear YELLOWED very noticeably in just 3 months. Ended up using paint stripper to remove the clear and sprayed em with the gun. NOW they too look great. Did the second set and the redo with the tires on. Let all the air out to get tape way down behind the rim edges. Lot of masking but was worth it. Saved me from worrying about tire mounter messing them up again. First time had the tires and valves off, guy pryed right on the clear to pull the valves on, chipped all 4 wheels! In conclusion, DON'T go cheap with the clearcoat. My qt. of clear with activator cost about $50. Threw the leftover spray can crap in the trash! Mike

 

[MBDiagMan]

Thanks for the response.

I have my own tire machine and I'm not worried about messing up the wheels mounting the tires or putting in the valve stems.

What kind of two part finish did you use? I have done a number of paint jobs over the years and have a good paint gun, etc., so I will go that route.

Thanks for your response and good information,

 

[mkapp7879]

Used DuPont ChromaClear HC-7600S with their mid temp activator. 2 coats, applied about 3 minutes apart. About a mid price product. Mike

 

[MBDiagMan]

Thanks for the product info.

I have some clear coat and matching activator left over from a body repair on my daughters car. There should be plenty enough to do the wheels. I think I will take it by my paint supplier and ask them if I can use this on the wheels. If not I will get the one that you used since we know that it works and holds up in the long run.

Did you use anything for final prep before shooting the clear? Anything such as Prep Sol or some other solvent to ensure that there was no polish residue or oil that would prevent adhesion?

Many thanks,

 

[mkapp7879]

Just wiped em down with some lacquer thinner since that's what I had on hand. Mike

 

[MBDiagMan]

Well, it's going to take longer than I thought. By chance the wheel that I pulled last night was the one in best shape. I finished polishing it out tonight and it is ready for coating. I pulled another and it is really bad.

The problems I'm dealing with is the places where the clear coat was scratched off. These areas are corroded. I polish out the corrosion with scotch brite, then polish the whole wheel with Mothers wheel polish.

After removing the wheel and dismounting the tire on the second wheel I spent probably an hour with the stripper and then the scotch brite and I still probably have at least a couple of more hours work on it.

Part of my time tonight was replacing my rear brake lines with steel braided lines after both wheels were off. I will replace the front lines after I get the front wheels off.

Anyway, the job is moving along and I don't depend on the car for daily transportation so however long it takes, that's just how long it takes.

Also I called my paint supplier and the clear coat that I have on hand should work out fine.

Thanks for the help,

 

[mkapp7879]

That scotch brite can be kinda brutal. Might want to try finer and finer grades of sandpaper ending with maybe 1000 grit before polishing. I actually used the scotchbrite on my 78 wheels to put a correct brushed finish on the inner area. That's why I prefer the clearcoat finish, kinda hard to keep the duller finish looking nice otherwise. Not into the high polished look. Mike

 

[MBDiagMan]

The Scotch Brite I'm using is from a very old package and is a very fine grade. It is fine enough that the wheel polish easily takes away the marks from the Scotch Brite.

My wheels originally had a pretty polished look rather than a brushed or bead blasted look. I am just trying to make them look original. The wheels are 88 standard suspension wheels that were only used that year, so they are not very common. They had a polished look on the surfaces that were lathe turned and a cast look on the spoke insets. That's what I'm trying to retain.

When I'm done, this car will NOT be car show ready, but will look about 300% better than they did before the project. They were really looking nasty. I guess I need to do some before and after pictures.

Thanks alot for your help, suggestions and comments,