Anyways, my clear coat is wearing thin on my rims, and I am getting some spots of aluminum-oxide.

My question, if I paid $110 per wheel to get them machined and re-coated(Lifetime Gaurantee) back to "stock condition", am I getting ripped? Should I just go out and buy some new rims? I really like the look of my Firebird rims, that sort of spiral effect. I like my firebird, so I want to keep it as original as possible.

Did these rims reflect almost as much as a mirror like I have seen in some of the appearance posts, or do they just have the normal aluminum luster?

If the $110 per wheel seems outrageous, then I have another question. How do you RE-coat the wheel with that polymer-based coating? Or is it not? I definitely need that coating, I don't want to have to clean my rims every other day.

Also, does anyone have any recommendations for touch-up paint? Blast High-Pressure water streams and their paint-stealing abilities.

BTW this company offers this only as an over-night service, so at least its convenient.

 

This is what mine looks like a year after reconditioning. Actually the wheel was dirty when I took this pic.

I pay $110 canadian per wheel, your price seems a bit high.

 

You must like those stock wheels to refinish them for $110 EACH Unless you have a show car and want it stock, I would look into updating to a newer wheels or refinishing them yourself. My opinion

 

If you have the 15'' bird rims, check ebay. I have seen brand new sets of those rims for 150 a set.

 

That's about what it costs here in Texas per wheel. Personally I would do it. I have the 16 inch crosslace rims. I don't like the look of most of the aftermarket rims so for me its worth it.

 

Why don't you save yourself 440 bucks and do it yourself. Refinishing a wheel isn't rocket science.

 

ya, there are a lot of good articles on refinishing rims both here on thirdgen.org and out on the internet. you're looking at a total of probably $50 materials for all 4 wheels, but they need to sit after you re-clear coat them so there's a bit of downtime involoved. o and lots and lots of sanding. you can probably take them to a machine shop/body shop and have them bead blast them for you since there are all those vent spots. then you just repaint/clear coat them yourself; definitely cheaper and if u goof up u can do it again, no warranty required

 

Yeah I agree with logikal it would be a whole lot cheaper to go to some place and have them sand/media blasted then you can finish them up yourself with the wetsanding and clear.

 

thanks for the advice, I actually know a friend with a sandblaster at his workshop, so I can use that. I wonder if I could just use the sandblaster for the whole wheel? or should I use dremel/powersander for the flat parts if I can. I am worried that the sandblaster/powersander could leave lines or scratches in the metal.

Question: Where can I find the clear coat spray? I assume I will need to use a spray gun to apply this. I want a durable coat like the rims stock, I don't want to have to replace it every few months. Is the coating some kind of plastic or epoxy?

Thanks.

 

also CheezX, aren't our rims supposed to be black in the "vents" or slots? I have cleaned mine many times and it seems like black paint or just another type of coating that is black. Doesn't look all that bad.

 

actually the dremel is more likely to leave scratches and fine lines.
here's the tech article, u'll see what i mean.

" If you put the dremel on a fast speed you may burn swirl marks into the aluminum " - just go slow and be careful =)

https://www.thirdgen.org/newdesign/tech/wheels.shtml

 

Mine are the Formula rims, I'm pretty sure that's they way they came from the factory. Check out the sales brochures on the main page, thats what they look like.

 

yup, i left some burn marks in mine, it was only one speed though