gator79

carb cleaner will remove the factory clear coat from your 80-82 aluminum wheels. spray on wait a few mins and just wipe off, then you can polish them. works better than scotchbrite or sandpaper. no scratches.

pcfred

Then polish with Mothers Billet Metal Polish, auto stores $14, Walmart $10

Glass Act

I sent mine to a machine shop and they turned them on a lathe, removed just enough to cut into the Alum. Then sent them to a paint shop for clearcoat re-spraying. They ended up looking better than new,total cost $80.00 X 4

ruby76

I used paint stripper on the old aluminum wheels on my truck. Once the clear was gone, used mothers aluminum polish and shined em up real good.

flyC3girl

I would love for my wheels to shine better, but I am very hesitant about taking off the clearcoat. I mean it was put there for a reason right. Are my concerns unfounded?

ruby76

the clearcoat is added to aluminum wheels to keep them from oxidizing. Oxygen in the air will overtime make them dull. The clearcoat will mean low maintenance as long as wheel weight's etc don't cause the clearcoat to chip off etc. If you take off all the clear coat and polish the wheels, the only difference will be that you'll occasionally need to polish the wheels when they get dull - once every month or two is what I did with mine after my initial polish. The initial polish, the one to get it looking like mirrors is the toughest. After that, just once in a while will maintain it.

flyC3girl

Thanks for the info Hopefully I will have some time in the next couple of weeks to do it. Still have a couple of other projects I need to get done on her first.

Techno

I thought painting them clear made them invisible?
If you paint them black theyr'e black right?

Fastbackl48

I used a product called Satin Gloss. It is not sold in stores. The stuff is used for Harley Davidsons, but it turned my dull weathered aluminum wheels into mirrors without much polishing.

rihwoods

I removed my clear coat two years ago with 400 wet/dry.Then I polished the wheels and since then,only have to re-polish once/month...I could not believe the difference in shine..I will not ever consider clear coat again,and have not had any issues with oxidation...these are stock aluminum wheels from 78...

mowens16

I wonder if the carb cleaner would work on the 82 Collector wheels or if it would hurt the paint between the fins?

gator79

I dont think I would try it on the collector wheels.

ruby76

depends on how good and careful you are. But your right, if it got on ANY paint it would strip it off.

bozzman3

What brand of carb cleanner did you use? Did you dismount the tires from the rims??