Clear Coating Alloys

Okay, since firewood is bored....

I have a set of OE Roadmaster alloys. Sooner or later they will get a nice set of OE size Cooper whitewalls and be mounted on the 96. My question is this. The wheels are in good shape, no road rash, etc. However, the clear coat isn't perfect. I'd like to have them redone. Yous guys have any tips on where I should look to have them cleared? Would a regular body shop be capable of doing a quality job here? I don't see why not at it's clear coat, similar to what goes over paint. Right?

Comments? Suggestions?

Heck yes a body shop COULD do them, but in most major cities there are wheel repair shops that do the process regularly and have more experience. Further, I belive there's a thread on this forum about stripping and polishing wheels... that might help.

I'm eventually gonna strip and polish mine- and add gangster whitewalls. I'm just crazy like that.

Yeah, I figured I could do the stripping myself. I want to have them clear coated again though so I guess that's my real question. Is there any difference between clear coating the paint on a car and clearing an alloy wheel? If there isn't any, then a body shop could probably do it just as well as a wheel shop. Just thinking out loud I guess.

THe clear is treated the same from MY perspective on detailing. From what I understand, most polishes have a wax in it to help "protect" the bare aluminum and help the shine last. I wanted to have my SS wheels stripped and recleared,the shop told me that the wheels needed to be acid dipped to remove all the wax, which, in turn, would leave a "brushed" aluminum finish instead of almost chrome. So I did it myself and polish my wheels about once a month.

mike,.use aircraft paint stripper,. polish to your liking,.
wash liberally with some alcohol,. i.e methyl hydrate,. thinners etc,.
spray the clear coat on yourself,.with rattle cans,.
why pay a body shop??
OR,. robert and mike,. check out ZOOPS seal,. amazing stuff,. lasts a long time thru weather etc,..guys on the show circuit swear by this stuff,. polish once a year,. zoop seal it,.
i saw a set of valve covers done,. the guy is the type to never even lift the hood if you know the type i mean,. after a year or so i asked about them and was he happy with the stiuff,. and he laughed and said "i dunno??",. so we opened the hood,. they looked crappy,. we took a cloth and some simple green and wiped them down,. and it was amazing how they had retained their shine,.underneath the crud,.
stuffs not cheap tho,. but it doesn't yellow in ultra violet light like clear coat does,.and you have to follow the instructions faithfully,.
hope this helps as an option,..

Nick

Kurt what about my question in the other thread?