Wheel Lip Repair

[blackgt87]

When I bought this 95 GT the rear wheels (anthracite FR500's with polished lips) have cracking in the clear coat on the polished lips. Does anyone know of a place that will remove the old clear, polish if necessary, and re clear them?

[FineLineMtrSprt]

Check for any local powdercoaters..they may be able to do it

[blackgt87]

I asked a couple they said they could coat them but they don't do polishing.

I was thinking of trying it myself with zoop but I don't wanna spend 737738383 hours sanding and polishing. It seems like a fairly easy fix for a wheel shop, but maybe there aren't many shops like that.

[SonofaBish]

When i had my previous sportbike, i polished the wheels and did a lot of research on how to clear-coat them... most clear-coats will either cloudy the finish, or not stick altogether... there are some alternatives, like that zoop, but its still not going to be an easy task i don't think...

[CollinsPC]

When I bought this 95 GT the rear wheels (anthracite FR500's with polished lips) have cracking in the clear coat on the polished lips. Does anyone know of a place that will remove the old clear, polish if necessary, and re clear them?

Is the clear cracking just on the polished lip or over the entire wheel? You may need to strip the whole wheel polish, coat or paint the center then clear the entire wheel.

[blackgt87]

Nope just on the lips. The center of the wheels are perfect.

[CollinsPC]

Nope just on the lips. The center of the wheels are perfect.

If you are comfortable masking and sanding or stripping the lip, it should be an easy fix with some time and effort. You could strip and polish it then have the lip cleared.

[FineLineMtrSprt]

A podwercoater should be able to do a "clear" or machine finished podwer coat

[CollinsPC]

A podwercoater should be able to do a "clear" or machine finished podwer coat

It can be cleared after it is repaired.

[50Dro]

Here's what mine looked like when I got them:

DSCF8387 (Large).jpg

DSCF8385 (Large).jpg

And now:

Proof-09.jpg

Proof-12.jpg

I used a Scotch-Brite stripping pad and/or green pad soaked with lacquer thinner to strip the clear coat and started wet sanding at 320, 600, 1500, then 2000. It takes a lot of patience. My hands are still recovering! I literally sanded the tips of my fingernails off!

I then polished them with a polishing wheel on a drill with Wicked Metal Polish. That stuff kicks butt!

I'm not going to coat the aluminum since the car only sees good weather. I'll just have to keep after them. I'd be interested to know if a powder coater can keep the polished shine. You'll have to keep us updated as to what you find.

[CollinsPC]

I'm not going to coat the aluminum since the car only sees good weather. I'll just have to keep after them. I'd be interested to know if a powder coater can keep the polished shine. You'll have to keep us updated as to what you find.

Yes, Powder Coating can keep the polished look. If you liked the look from the factory, then you liked the look of powder coat clear over the polished lip.

Most wheel companies are pcing rims or e coating these days.

[blackgt87]

I will, because I love having clear coated wheels, they are so easy to keep clean. Mine have like 4 spots that look like yours did, nothing bad at all. I found a place that polishes semi truck wheels that said if i removed the clear they would polish the lips for like 50 bucks. Ill keep this thread updated when I figure out what to do.

[50Dro]

That sounds like a deal considering the time I put into mine! Please keep us updated! $50 doesn't include a clear coat right?

[blackgt87]

No, they have some kind of buffer with two different wheels. He said the first one would take out small scratches and the second would shine it up. But thats if I remove the clear myself and no they wont clear them.