I've been considering stripping and polishing my aluminum firebird turbo wheels. i want to completely strip the paint and clearcoat, and give them a smooth finish. what would be a good quality clearcoat to put on the bare aluminum to keep them from rusting or corroding?
has anyone ever tried this before?
if so can you post a few pics and point me in the right direction as far as the clearcoat?
thanks!!

 

i just finished removing clear coat with paint stripper. used a little bit of sand paper in the troulbe spots. then polished the rims with aluminum polish. "mothers". sanded/ masked the crosslace and painted black then clear coated just the center.
wheels look killer!! not sure about how bare aluminum will stand up to time. i plan on using a little bit of polish each time i wash the car. nothing has more shine then fresh polished aluminum.

 

I've also heard of people just polishing them, and using carnauba wax on the bare aluminum without clearcoating them. I'm not sure if i want to go through the hassle of polishing them every couple or few weeks and re-waxing them especially after i spend all my time stripping the paint and clear off of them.

How much more difficult would it be to just sand and polish without using a stripping chemical? (using an electric drill obviously) i really don't want to even mess with having to repaint the slots, i just want to polish the outermost surface and leave the slots as they are (the nice charcoal-ish color).

any pics of the 20 slot wheels without paint (polished aluminum)? would really like to see how this might turn out before i start.

 

well i can tell you this! my gta wheels look like new, i used this spray can that says paint stripper. i spray it on and 5min later i spray off with a hose. it does nothing to my paint. i purchased a power ball too. my time ive spent about 2.5hrs and finished 2 rims. sanding the crosslace spokes takes soooo much time. masking will take a long time with your case.

i decided to restore my wheel because i wanted something different then my gold (i went black w/clear coat), also my wheels were looking so worn out i really had nothing to loose.

 

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If you got the money get them powder coated clear it will last forever but isn't cheap.