What's the best/safest way to fully remove all of the clearcoat on my GTA rims?

It has started coming off on it's own on the front rims and I'd like to remove the clear on all 4 rims, polish them, and them re-clearcoat them if possible.

Any thoughts?

Alex

 

Use "Aircraft Paint Remover" in a can from any parts store or Wal-Mart. Safe on aluminum.

 

If you have any paint you want to keep on it, then you'll have to repaint it too.

 

You mean the gold paint on the crosslaces? Damn! I didn't want to have to do that. There is no other way??

 

No other way. Anything that will remove clearcoat will remove paint too. The "aircraft remover" will take it all down to bare aluminum.

 

well this is bad news to me too... any one know how much this will cost to get it done?

 

Couldn't you just mask off the painted areas and re-do the silver?

 

Yes you can mask it but be sure and use quality automotive masking tape and apply several layers to prevent bleed through of the stripper. But to tell you the truth I'm not sure how it reacts with polished surfaces.

 

after you strip the clear, then polish.. what do you clearcoat it with.

 

Couldn't you just skip the whole entire clear coat stripping process?

I am going to re-finsh my GTA rims this summer, but all I plan on doing is starting out with heavy grain sandpaper, then working my way up to the fine stuff and wet sanding. This sanding process would remove the clear coat, and not harm the gold mesh sections. Really, I think it will be no different than how many guys on here polish their plenums or AC compressors.

Also, can't you just buy clear coat in a can and spray that on when you are done?

My brother recently redid his '89 Grand Prix rims. They came white from the factory, so after he was done re-painting them he just sprayed on a few coats of clear coat, now they look great.

 

Here's how I stripped my Notchback GTA's peeling rims.....

GMForums Discussion Area - cleaning wheels

 

would that jet paint remover take off clear coat and the paint on my rims? i want to pollish them when i repaint my car black... they are green and i want to make them shiny...

 

Do you have to take the tires off before you use the stripper

 

Not if you are sure you will not get the stripper on the tires. It will eat the tires up, and your hands if you aren't careful.

 

I used some paint stripper on my wheels. Well I couldnt find the aircraft stuff at wall mart or anywhere els. Where I found some was a home depot, this stuff is weak and comes in a orange can. You might now want some strong stripper though if you are not doing you whole wheels. This stuff comes in the form as a gel, so you can brush it on. Get gloves!!! Unless you want to do it like I did and splatter some on you hands. Go ahead and try it. That stuff starts burning skin within 2 to 3 minutes, bubbles up a tire and pops it with in 3 hours, strips paint in 5 to 10 min. Go with the cheaper stuff at home depot. You dont need the industrial for you project, maybe if you were stripping the paint off a whole car but no for rims.

 

I tried to sand the clear off but it was too big of a pain in the *** to do it. I found the aicraft stuff at Autozone and Pepboys.I ended up stripping all of the faded paint off the rims too.I don't have a closeup of my rims but you can see from this pic

 

91Zman, did you repaint the areas where you stripped the paint off? or did you just clear coat over the metal, its tough to tell from the pic, and if you did repaint those areas, how did you accomplish this? Thanks.

 

Hehe,I didn't even put the paint or the clearcoat back on it's just bare metal.You can't really tell from this pic either but this is what the rims looked like when I first got the car almost 5 years ago when the paint on them was red and not pinkish.

 

I found a stripper that came in a aresol can that would bubble the clearcoat off in a few minutes. I didn't have enough to get to the paint though.
What do you guys use to take the losened paint off the wheels? I used a powerwasher, which matched with the stripper really cleaned the wheels fast.
I have only got 2 wheels done for now. It took me 3 months to do 2 wheels.
1. Stripping
2. Sanding 600, 850, 1000
3. Repainting
4. Clearcoating

 

I highly recommend "Glisten PC" clearcoat after you have the wheels the way you want them. This stuff is as close to orginal factory clearcoat you can get(maybe better).
http://www.por15cr.com/catalog/glisten_pc.html

 

Thanks, that stuff looks great but it looks like you have to apply it with a brush Couldn't that get really messy? Can you put it in a paint gun and shoot it on that way? Will the quart be enough for all 4 wheels do you think or do I have to spend a grip and get the gallon?

Alex

 

there is a pic of mine. i didnt get crazy with the polishing, but they are polished. you can really tell that much in that pic though. i used a spray stuff from home depot, the company name was "BIX" and it cae in an orange and white can. it worked pretty good, bu what a PAIN IN THE BUTT!!!


worth it though.

-brian

 

4 wheels you wants a gallon for that. You might have some left over but that better then running out. I got one can and ran out. Now I have to ride around with some krappy looking rims. Now that it is too cold to go outside a mess with it Im out of luck untill I find some free time to do this.

As far a using a spray can Im against that. It cost 5 bucks and you run out before you even done with the first wheel. Maybe thats just the brand that I used but the old paint on gell works for me. It sticks where I want it and thats what I like. Putting it in you own spray can? That can be interesting. Just make sure you know get over spray anywhere, I mean no where. That suff will burn you skin eat you paint and what ever. I have allready have my share of chemical, freezer, and heat burns.

>hack at it!!

 

I suppose you could apply it with a brush. I used a gun, it was thin enough when you mix it(it's a two-part). I bought the quart and used about 2/3's of it. Don't mix the whole quart right away. Here's a pic. This stuff is about as thick as a penny and ROCK hard when dry.