Refinishing Wheels
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 190
Likes: 0
Refinishing Wheels
Thanks to all for the help on cleaning up the brake dust on my wheels. I'm sending them off to get refinished this weekend. They are the stock 16" Enkei wheels from my '85. I want to get the stock, "machined" look, not polished. I'm wondering if I should get the clear powder coat applied or not. Seems like the factory finish has turned chaulky over the years. The wheels actually look better now that they are stripped, and may be easier to keep looking good without the clearcoat. Any thoughts?
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 6,362
Likes: 30
From: Oak Harbor WA
Re: Refinishing Wheels (darkcarn85)
The clear coat is what allows you to NOT to have to polish them every weekend. Your wheels are over 15 years old and you want to not put clear on them now :rolleyes: to make cleaning easier?? Uh, I would add the clear IMO. Just make sure it is of high quality so it doesn't turn color.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 190
Likes: 0
Re: Refinishing Wheels (Goody)
Spare me the sarcasm. I want to keep the machined look. It seems the clear coat chips and allows moisture under it, and the finish gets less "clear", or cloudy. I can polish it all I want and it won't help. Did the factory use powder coat, or solvent born finish? The newer powder coats I think would hold up much better. My old C3 wheels didn't have clear and didn't require that much upkeep.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 1,159
Likes: 73
From: Sumter, SC
Re: Refinishing Wheels (darkcarn85)
I've got a lot of friends with different wheels that they have had polished. They polish them about 2-3 times a year and they always look good. I personally think a good clear coat would make it easier to maintain. Try it without for a while, you can always have it done later. Your going to polish them anyway.
Pro
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 534
Likes: 32
From: Farmington NY
Re: Refinishing Wheels (darkcarn85)
Not true, I have an 85 and the clear coat was getting milky looking. At Carlisle I bought some WENOL Polish and have been working on my wheels. They have cleaned up beautifully!!! I'll put a picture on my site so you can see them, I can't get it into the message very well but the address is http://temp.corvetteforum.net/c4/my85vette//wheel1.jpg and http://temp.corvetteforum.net/c4/my85vette//wheel2.jpg . The pictures aren't great but you can see they have cleaned up. It is half done that is why there is a different shine. (I just started this one in the basement) The WENOL works great, just takes a little elbow grease. The ones I did during the summer stayed nice and cleaned and the brake dust came off like nothing.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,182
Likes: 0
From: Concord NC
Re: Refinishing Wheels (darkcarn85)
I stripped mine and didn't re-apply clear. About once a month, I hit them with polish, and it keeps them shiny, but I don't take it in the rain anymore. I'd probably clear them to avoid having to polish at all if I didn't enjoy polishing the car.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Feb 2000
Posts: 9,600
Likes: 88
From: Springfield PA
Philly 'Burbs Events Coordinator
Re: Refinishing Wheels (SlowJoe)
When I got my 5 spokes I went with polished no clear coat. It's been over a year and am still happy I ddn't get the clear coat. Doesn't take much more time to keep them nice :cheers:
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Burning Brakes
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 984
Likes: 154
From: Columbia MD
Re: Refinishing Wheels (darkcarn85)
<snip>
I want to get the stock, "machined" look, not polished.
<snip>
I want to get the stock, "machined" look, not polished.
<snip>
I too have the stock 16" Enkei wheels on my 85 and am pretty unenthusiastic about polishing them if it will remove the very fine radial machine marks that spice up the aluminum face of the wheels.
I've seen alot of attempts at polishing these wheels and yes they are shiny but they look like a silver serving tray afterwards. I much prefer the machine finish that the factory applied to the wheels.
Has anyone found a way to preserve the factory look?
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 190
Likes: 0
Re: Refinishing Wheels (LWesthaver)
Back in the late 70's I had a '78 L-82 with the machined aluminum wheels. They did not have clear coat, and maintenance was relatively simple with a fine scotch pad. I bought the car new, so I know that no one had stripped the clear or otherwise modified the wheels.
