refinishing alloy wheels

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bob sandercock
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refinishing alloy wheels

Post by bob sandercock »

I know this must have been addressed previously but I can not find it.
My alloy wheels (on a 2008) are having the clear coat, or what ever the coating is, separating
and they now look like they are 50 years old with separation lines and blistering.
Can it just be removed and the underlying wheel be polished?
What products are recommended?
And if so, should it be re clear coated?
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Suicidekid63
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Re: refinishing alloy wheels

Post by Suicidekid63 »

I used Rustoleum clear and base coat remover. Spray on, wait 15 or 20 minutes, and scrape off. This shit is really sticky after it dries, so a sanding disc worked great. I started out using a plastic flexible scraper, to remove the majority of the stripper and clear coat. Then went with a 400 grit wet sandpaper and then moved up to a 800 grit paper. After that, I just used a Mother's Powerball and aluminum polish.
You can then rattle can clear coat or powdercoat clear coat.
The Rustoleum remover worked great, but took some work to get fully removed after it had eaten off the old clear coat.
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malibu9in
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Re: refinishing alloy wheels

Post by malibu9in »

You can remove clear and then polish like the above poster stated. But get ready to start polishing them forever. Bare aluminum is hell to keep looking great. I suggest to find a wheel restorer. They are mobile sometimes. They can usually make them look new again and keep them from tarnishing.
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Dan Szwarc
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Re: refinishing alloy wheels

Post by Dan Szwarc »

No matter how perfectly polished they end up, you MUST coat them with a urethane or clear powdercoat to prevent the bare aluminum from oxidizing, even if you never drive the car.
It's a fact of physics (or chemistry).
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