Has anyone either tried to, or successfully removed the finish from a 16x8 alloy rim that came stock on a '95 z? Mine wheels don't look bad; but, I was just wondering if anyone had successfully removed the sparkely finish and polished a set of these - if so, how did you do this? javascript:void(AddText('[8\|]'))

 

oops - bad attention to detail - should read: "my wheels arent bad"

 

You know, you are allowed to edit posts on this forum

I haven't personally tried it, but it's going to take a pretty heavy solvent to remove the coating, or I would expect. I've seen a set of the stock salad shooter wheels that were chrome plated and they looked ok, but that said I'm not much of a fan of the stock wheels anyway, I prefer a more simple "5-spoke" (I say that in quotes because technically I have 10 spoke wheels in a 5 spoke layout) design.

 

"Salad Shooter"? That fits pretty good! Anyway, I noticed that they're sprayed with clear coat which I believe should be removable with MEK or some similar stripper. To save some shekels I was thinking of just polishing them myself, or maybe get them powder coated black - bet that's probably around 50 bucks a wheel which wouldn't be bad. I'll have to check out my local finish shops for an actual price - thanks for the input.

 

Honestly I think it would take you a while to strip the clear coat off with MEK. MEK is some nasty stuff, but usually the finish on wheels is pretty intense since it has to be able to withstand flying rocks etc. that come off the road. I have this stuff that's an "Aircraft Paint Stripper" or something along those lines and it would do the trick, but that said, it will also start to melt the handle and bristles of a plastic toothbrush, so it's some nasty nasty stuff. I would say go for powder coating if you're thinking of jazzing up the stock wheels, or you could check out some of the specials TomzWheels has on this sight, they're pretty decent prices and they're a forum sponsor, so you can't loose!

 

Used A/C stripper today - stripped 1 wheel - took clear coat and sparkely finish off after leaving on for 30 minutes - works well - going to do other 3 tomorrow - then going to paint rims black - leaving lip edge shiny silver and using stock center caps. Should be pretty cool!

 

Just a couple notes:
Regular paint will not last long. When your car is going 80 you wheel are spinning much faster then that. Unless this is rarly driven show car. With our rims the offset does not help. Painted rims will only last months without outter beauty ring unless you use a very high end paint.

All exposed aluminum must be coated. Aluminum will start to oxidize in days and be noticable in a couple of weeks. Remember the farther from center the higher the air speed. Also its not the air as much as what the air has in it, dirt, sand ect.

last note. If you are getting you rims powder coated talk to the powder coater about surface prep. The powder needs tooth. Normally a 400 grit sand paper type finish or a light sandblast. Don't polish the rims, with a few exception if you powder coat polished aluminum the powder coat will crack in the curing process.