wheel finnish

[Guest TommyH]

my dad and i made a trip down to our guy in delaware, and got some new wheels and rims. on some of them it looks like they are peeling or something. what can i do to remove this, and maybe polish them. i have this stuff called wenal, i think thats how you spell it.

[jchudyk]

I'm not a wheel expert, but it looks as if the clear laquer coating is peeling off the wheel. The only way to properly finish the wheel would be to strip the laquer, polish the aluminum , and respray the laquer.

[Guest mongeonman]

you could sand them and paint them like i did,i had the same problem you do,it costed to mutch to get them refinish so i decided to paint them,you can see pics on this forum(white wheels),itis not like the original wheels but i think it lookes nice.

[Guest F14CRAZY]

You could have them chromed. The stock 15s look pretty good in chrome IMHO

[Guest EDBS0]

been there, done that!

[Guest waxbgone]

Take the wheels over to Motomotion in medina and have them refinished. it will cost around $800 and be worth every penny of it. They have refinished 2 sets for me and did a SPECTACULAR job. If you have them mount the tires, you will be amazed at what proper balancing (without weights on the outside) can do

[Rawja]

Or you can get refinished rims for $ 125.00 each <span style="font-weight: bold"> HERE

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Currently offering free shipping through the end of the year.

Got a set from them 2 years ago, and I'm still loving them.

[Guest TommyH]

i dont think you all understand how old i am. and how much money i have. and i refuse to get a job, until i have a drivers lisence,too.

[Roadster90]

Tommy,,,

Waxbone and Raja have the ultimate/correct answer...however, in you situation....(as in mine...no money)take the advice of EDBSO....follow his instructions above, and your wheels will look good....

[Barney Eaton]

There is no easy-cheap way to refinish them properly.

Look closely at the wheels and hub caps and you will see there are very small tool marks in the finish. When you remove the clear-coat and attempt to correct the dings, scuffs, etc.. it is almost impossible to duplicate the original finish without equipment.

Several owners have refinished their wheels and their solution was to polish the wheels. This takes out the imperfections, as well as changing the original finish.

You must do the same to the hub caps to make them match the wheels.

When you finish the job, you can......(1) do nothing and will need to polish the wheels about 2-3 times a year to keep the nice finish. or (2) spray them with a tough two part clear paint that will hold up. The original wheels were finish this way because many people run their cars through car washes and the chemicals used to clean the wheels and tires will attack normal clear coats.

[Guest TommyH]

so, if i do it myself, i cant get out the scratches and dings? so in the long run,it would be best to just leave them like they are, and re-finish them when i have time and money at some place like motomotion.

[Rawja]

I believe the factory service manual has detailed refinishing instructions for the wheels as well.

[Guest smith356]

My wheels were looking cloudy from many years on the road. I went to Autozone and bought a quart of JASCO Premium Paint & Epoxy Remover. It's a brushable semi-paste. Didn't even take the wheels off the car, just did one at a time - this stuff peeled the clear coat off quick ! Within a few minutes. I wore rubber gloves because it'll bite if it gets on your skin and applied with an old brush, then wiped the clearcoat off after it loosened and wrinkled. Finished up by spraying with the hose. Took about an hour and cost less than ten bucks. The point is, even though you can't get rid of scratches or gouges, you can make them shine like new again pretty cheaply. I follow up every once in a while with Mother's polish - shines them right up. One day I'll get ambitious and clearcoat them again