Polished wheels.....clear powder coat, or seal and maintain?

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blazini

New member
I'm about to start polishing these wheels I just picked up. While the tires are off, I was thinking about having them powder coated clear when I'm done. That seems to be a sure way to keep em looking good for a while.



The only problem with that is it's inevitable that they're gonna be tapping the curb every now and then. Every wheel I had got nicked a few times being that I park on the street. If I don't get them powder coated, I like the idea of being able to sand the marks down and buff them right back up, but I don't wanna be buffing them every week.



I just wanna know how hard it is to maintain a polished wheel with no clear coat. I don't plan on using that $100 stuff (forget what it's called). I figure a couple coats of Klasse SG might be good since I already have some here. Any opinions?
 
blazini- Uncoated bare metal wheels are an real PIA...you have to redo them quite often and it's not fun.



Get *something* on them, but I wouldn't use powdercoat; I'd rather use a regular clear that'll be easier to touch up. But I'd *really* try to simply to hit curbs with them, it's not all that hard to avoid ;) [OK, OK, I won't lecture...]



I had some incredibly good results with Wurth brand wheel paint. Their clear flows on well and holds up great. I'd get a few cans of that and see how it goes. If you decide to get them powdercoated later, the shop will strip/prep them as part of the job anyhow.
 
I can't imagine a spray on clearcoat sticking to polished wheels very well, there's just nothing for it to adhere to. I see powder coat as the only clear coat that's suitable for polished wheels.



Like I said, I park on the street every day. These wheels are 8.5" wide and gonna have 225/40/18 tires on em. That fitment leaves very lttle tire covering the rim, the wheels will take the curb before the tires do.
 
blazini- Just remember that powdercoating doesn't touch-up the way paint does. AFAIK you simply cannot touch it up but rather have to have it redone, and that's not something that sounds right given your concern.



Not sure why clear wheel paint wouldn't stick to polished metal..my wife ran BBS wheels with polished/clearcoated outer rims on her first Audi and they held up fine for many years. I had one of these rims disassembled, repolished, and recleared and the redone clearcoat held up fine too. Admitedly I didn't do the work myself, but it was just clear lacquer that they sprayed on with a paintgun.
 
Generally paint is meant to adhere to a rougher surface, that's why painters will always rough up the surface before painting. Polished aluminum is very smooth it's almost like painting glass. It can be done but pealing is much more likely. Powder coat will basically stick to anything



Once I get tires on these wheels, I can't get them powdercoated. I'm on the fence for just the reason you mentioned, powder coating can't be touched up. I'm not a fan of dragging the drill out and repolishing unprotected wheels once a week, so I have to get something on them. Eastwood sells this stuff Eastwood Co. - Eastwood Diamond Clear Metal Aerosol 11 oz, I think I'll just give that a try and hope for the best. Only thing I'm worried about is that some of the reviews said it turned the wheels dull. I don't mind losing a little shine, but I wouldn't wanna do anything that would defeat the purpose of all this hard work.
 
blazini said:
Generally paint is meant to adhere to a rougher surface, that's why painters will always rough up the surface before painting. Polished aluminum is very smooth it's almost like painting glass. It can be done but pealing is much more likely...
Click to expand...



The cleared rims on those BBS wheels lasted for years and years, no peeling at all. Probably depends on who does the work. Hope the Eastwood stuff works for you, dunno how it really differs from regular paint though :nixweiss
 
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