Corvette Wheels

[rich95]

Does anyone know if there is a product out there that I can use to restore the plasitc coating on my 95 wheels? It's starting to chip off in places. I thought I read a thread on this a while back.
Thanks
rich95

 

[Eric]

Rich,

I just threw out my Eastwood's catalog but I know they sell a clear coat kit for alloys.

If I'm not mistaken, the complete kit comes with the bonnet bits for your drill to remove the chipped stuff and polish the metal along with a two stage final application.

You can find a link to Eastwood's here, in the Corvette Portal.

BTW, thanks for the carfax.

 

[rich95]

Eric,
Hey, thanks, I'll give it a look.
rich

 

[Yoda]

Rich,
I moved this to the car care section in hopes some of our members can help, we may need to move this into the C4 section where some of our members may share their experience with this same problem..

Good Luck finding the solution

BudD

 

[rich95]

Eric,
Couldn't find anything on plastic coatings on the Eastwood site. They had a number of wheel paints and powder coatings, but didn't seee anything for reapplying plastic coating to wheels.
rich95

 

[Eric]

Dangit! I'll have to look at the rest of my catalogs. Sorry bout that. I'll let you know what I find.

- Eric

 

[C6 CRZN]

wheels

Mid America Designs has everything you need. I took my wheels to a shop, they stripped and polished them and told me not to put the clear coat back on.

 

[RubyDropTop]

A Few Thoughts...

First, by "plastic coating" do you mean clear coat?

Second, if your wheels are stock you may not want to polish the surface after the clear is removed. If the stock '95 rims are the same as the stock'93 rims, then they are machined and not polished. By polishing a stock, machined rim you will be changing the appearance of the wheel. Do you want to do that?

As far as not re-applying the clear coat, that is up to you - but a bare wheel will require a bit more time an effort in the care dept. than one that has a clear coat applied.

 

[Eric]

Rich,

I found an Eastwoods catalog and it's a polishing kit, not a coating kit, that I had seen - sorry.

- Eric

 

[DetailingDude]

Powder Coating

Depending on what Corvette wheel you have it may be powder coated so if you have some of that chipping off it would be nearly impossible for you to repair. However, if it is not and you are suffering from so paint delamination I would like to offer three things: Not only "How do I repair this?" but "How did this happen" and "How do I prevent this from happening in the future?"

See if you can answer these questions for me:

Do you have a picture of your wheels so I can get a better understanding of what we're talking about?

What kind of painted metal are we talking about here?

What kind of painting process was used on your wheels in the first place?

 

[Hotred94]

I kind of agree with not putting the coating on the wheels if your wheels are buffed and not machined. Let me just knock off some advantages and disadvantages of coatings from the top of my head.

1. Yes, uncoated wheels do require more attention.
2. Coatings protect wheels from minor scratches, but not major ones.
3. Coatings are not 100% optically clear, so a coated wheel is not as shiney as a non-coated wheel.
4. Regardless of the coating quality, coatings eventually cloud and peal over time. That is because they react with sunlight, cleaners, and road chemicals. The more you care for them, the slower the deterioration process, but it is unavoidable.
5. Once coated wheels are damaged or degrade, to my knowledge, they are unrestorable (to 100% condition) except by stripping, repairing, and reapplying. The damage or degradation is pretty well locked in until you do that. Uncoated wheels, on the other hand, can be restored to show condition in just a few minutes through buffing.

I have a set of beautifully buffed rims with no coatings and I like them, but I think the issue of coatings verses non-coating is more a matter of which useful option suits your needs/desires best rather than one being better than the other.