I have 86 TA with the 16" WS6 wheels. Clear coat is all cracked. Im going to polish them. Inside the "honeycomb" on these is painted. On the back two, I stripped (mistake?) the paint a while back. Any advice on the best way to tackle this and what paint/primer to use inside? Best to paint the whole wheel then polish the face? On the fronts, should I just scuff and paint over existing paint? It sure didnt want to come off.

Thanks for a point in the right direction.

 

If your not doing a color change on the centers.I wouldnt remove all the paint.Just clean them VERY well,brake dust,etc!I first paint my centers from the back to get into all those small holes really good.This kept me from using too much paint if i only tried to paint from the front.As for stripping the clear/paint.I used brake fluid(slow but works great) & it doesnt hurt the aluminum.When it came time to clear them i lightly polished the bare aluminum(didnt want the chrome look).Then washed them,dried them(heat gun helped).To spray them evenly, i mounted the wheel(s) one at a time on the rear diff.With the wheels off the ground i started the engine,put the trans in neutral(wheels will spin).Then just held the can(yes spray can)in one spot & let the spinning wheel do the work,so to speak.I started from the edge of the wheel& worked towards the center.Back & forth in a straight line until i had several coats on the wheel.I used paint made for wheels, but i dont see why other paints wouldnt work also.So far so good!

 

I did this too:








If you make DOUBLE SURE your paint is heat resistent, you should be good and happy with the with results.

 

awesome man!!

 

Thanks guys. Unfortunately, I did already strip the inside colors on my back ones. It sure was stuck well and I shouldnt have stripped. I'll primer before paint, but worried. It think it'll take a little finesse as mine are the nearly flat Trans Am wheels with paint on the insides of the holes. I guess paint first. I can always polish off overspray. thanks again.

 

just spend a few bucks and tape the wheel off so you dont have to polish off the overspray...

tape off wheel(thirty seconds) > polishing paint off wheel(couple hours)

POZ

 

My wheels are similar to these except 16"...same pattern. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...6164765&rd=1,1 I think the taping will be a bit involved, but maybe I can find narrow tape the right width to cover all those thin spokes. Thanks...you got me thinking.

 

Here is a tutorial I made over on www.firebirdnation.com
You might find interesting.
http://www.firebirdnation.com/forums...0&#entry111045

Leon