I'm stripping the clearcoat and gold from a set of look-a-like GTA wheels to be repainted black to match my Formula. My question:what primer can I use to ensure that I won't be doing this job again in a couple of months? I plan on using either wheel paint or high temp engine paint for the color. What about self etching primer? Any thoughts or suggestions?


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Mongoose-NCTGA-1990 Pontiac Formula/305 TBI-700R4 with Edelbrock Performer TBI intake,TES headers,and STB,K&N,MSD-6AL,Holley laser shot coil,Accel Extreme 9000 wires,Jet Stage 2 chip,TCI shift kit with corvette servo,Richmond 3.73 gear with Auburn 3 series posi,high flow cat,SLP 3" cat back,Eibach sportline springs,Energy Suspension poly throughout,Lakewood LCA and adjustable panhard bar package,SSM subframe connectors,IROC wonder bar,Tokico 5 way adjustable struts and shocks,Autometer electric fuel pressure gauge,Alpine,JL Audio,MB Quart,92 GTA taillights,92 GTA aero wing and hatch,Steve Spohn LCA relocater kit and torque arm,MacEwen White face gauges,84 T/A cold air induction air cleaner,Grant Formula GT wheel.

 

Instead of stripping the gold, just sand it and paint directly to it. You need special aluminum primer, and that stuff still sucks. The gold paint is already on there really well, and your paint will bond to it as well as it will to primer.

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The IROC Homepage
<A HREF="http://www.rit.edu/~jli4307/camaro" TARGET=_blank>
View the restoration of an 85 IROC</A>
Custom Thirdgen Subwoofer Enclosures
"I didn't know a bored out Ford could go so slow" -Shenandoah

 

I am planning on repainting my black GTA wheels. Now when I sand them....how do you actually get between the "laces or spokes". They are pretty faded...and I want them painted since my car is getting repainted. Now what brand paint should I use....and what type? Where do I get the paint? Please let me know. Thanks.

James

 

With sand paper. Fold it or whatever you need to do. Scouring pads (The automotive type, not Scotch Brite, work well too) Whatever dude. Brand doesn't really matter. I did my wheels with a spray can of wheel paint that I bought at Advance Autoparts. Considering that I painted powercoated wheels, I'm pretty happy with how it's holding up. Anywhere. Go to any automotive store.

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The IROC Homepage
<A HREF="http://www.rit.edu/~jli4307/camaro" TARGET=_blank>
View the restoration of an 85 IROC</A>
Custom Thirdgen Subwoofer Enclosures
"I didn't know a bored out Ford could go so slow" -Shenandoah

 

I've already stripped them with aircraft paint remover so all the old paint is gone completely. I'm just looking to make sure the new paint doesn't come off.

 

Then you have to use aluminum primer. Good luck. I've never had good results keeping primer on aluminum. You may want to have them powdercoated instead.

------------------

The IROC Homepage
<A HREF="http://www.rit.edu/~jli4307/camaro" TARGET=_blank>
View the restoration of an 85 IROC</A>
Custom Thirdgen Subwoofer Enclosures
"I didn't know a bored out Ford could go so slow" -Shenandoah

 

I am hoping to start removing the clear coat as soon as I get home. After I remove it with the aircraft paint stripper, I then sand with sandpaper in very fine amounts. I will worry about grit when I get there. If I remember correctly it is like 1000 or something like that. Anyway, after I strip the clearcoat I want to paint the aleuminum. It is clear coated aleuminum right now, so do I need a primer, or will a few thin layers of paint along with a few layers of clear coat solve the problem? i will do what I have to, but I would like to start out easy. Thanks for the info.

 

What exactly are you trying to accomplish? If you're painting the wheels, don't waste your time stripping the clear. If you're polishing them, then why would you paint them? You've got me confused here. Sand paper will get the clear off better than stripper will, and it's a lot less messy. So if you just want to polish the shiny parts and paint the rest, just use the sand paper to strip off the clear from that section so that it will still be there on the parts you want to paint.


------------------

The IROC Homepage
<A HREF="http://www.rit.edu/~jli4307/camaro" TARGET=_blank>
View the restoration of an 85 IROC</A>
Custom Thirdgen Subwoofer Enclosures
"I didn't know a bored out Ford could go so slow" -Shenandoah

 

I'll be using a self etching primer on the centers. After some further research it's supposed to work well on aluminum. And the high temp black should be able to withstand the temps of the wheels.

 

So how did it turn out? I want to paint my GTA rims today or tomorrow..but I am worried that I will be doing it wrong. Should I just sand them then paint them? Let me know ASAP. Thanks.


James

 

I hit a snag when I took them to have them polished. It seems that the rims are anodized and it will have to be removed before polishing. I'm waiting for chemicals to remove it to arrive so there's no telling when I'll finally get them finished.

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Mongoose-NCTGA-1990 Pontiac Formula/305 TBI-700R4 with Edelbrock Performer TBI intake,TES headers,and STB,K&N,MSD-6AL,Holley laser shot coil,Accel Extreme 9000 wires,Jet Stage 2 chip,TCI shift kit with corvette servo,Richmond 3.73 gear with Auburn 3 series posi,high flow cat,SLP 3" cat back,Eibach sportline springs,Energy Suspension poly throughout,Lakewood LCA and adjustable panhard bar package,SSM subframe connectors,IROC wonder bar,Tokico 5 way adjustable struts and shocks,Autometer electric fuel pressure gauge,Alpine,JL Audio,MB Quart,92 GTA taillights,92 GTA aero wing and hatch,Steve Spohn LCA relocater kit and torque arm,MacEwen White face gauges,84 T/A cold air induction air cleaner,Grant Formula GT wheel.