Has anyone sucessfully had them protectively finished with anything other than chrome?

I'm meeting with a local company here that says they can clear powder coat them, but they will be "darker."

I've been told that a simple clearcoating will dull the shimmer, but never heard of it making it "darker".

I really want a set of SP500's but will not mount another set of bare aluminum wheels on anything I own, and really don't want to go chrome either.

Guess what I'm looking for is if anyone has had sucess with a normal paint-based clearcoat and/or powder-coat? Thanks

 

I suggest you ask John at CCW about clear coating his wheels...
I will save you the phone call.... John says...GM hasnt been able to get it right all these years, he hasnt found anyone company that could deliver something that he could put his name on....
The only thing I can say is, if you do not want the chrome look that Black chrome is very protective...and the look is unique... I have been successful with using Zaino on my wheels...about once a month, two hour investment.. Mine is not a daily driver but has 60 K on it... wheels are two years old...

 

Hi zonsolo -

Nope - have not heard of anyone doing that with CCW's......


Evil-Twin - Yours always seem to look great, mine are on a Z06 and the dust craps them up instantly, and continuously....

I just spent two hours on ONE of the rears with a polishing wheel and a bar of tripoli.....and next comes the rouge.....

I hope to get them looking better for this summer, since I have neglected them all winter.

I think I am going to put them on the wifes coupe for a while - her car has ceramic pads, so I'll see if that makes it any easier to keep 'em looking like.....well.......YOURS lol


best regards -

mqqn

 

Thank you so much for the kind words.. Being retired certainly helps////
but my tire and wheel care takes less than five minutes a day.... I have stock AC Delco pads. I never see any brake dust... I guess if a drove it everyday for a week without dusting off the wheels I would...
The car itself stays clean...lots of Zaino on the car and on the wheels.. a quick wipe with a California duster and some gloss enhancer takes a few minutes... I know all the people who try to keep their car clean can get frustrated... even when I was working, I always wiped the car down every day , wheels too, no matter what car I drive..

 

Thanks for the replies, and yea I've called John and he says the same thing. He said he is working on a "Brushed" finish that can be annodized clear, but I have a feeling it will look worse than a machined face wheel that has been cleared.

While I am not one to argue, I've had clearcoated wheels from many other vendors (SSR, American Racing, Enkei) that were polished AND clearcoated, worked just fine for as long as I had them. And I believe HRE and Fikse offer cleared options on their polished, but am not certain.

Yes, I've also had GM wheels that peal and yellow, but those got drove in the snow and salt. The above aftermarket one's were not.

The last set of aluminum (bare) wheels I had were just like described above..... 3-4 hours each with polish and two laundry baskets full of black towels, every time I washed it (2-3 times a month). Those wheels only saw about 20,000 total miles before I traded it in.

The only other bare aluminum wheels I had were the "aluminum slots" and a set of original 60's "torque-thrust" wheels. and I actually used to jack my car up, put the axle on blocks, car in drive and polish the lips. Odd enough it was faster. Then swap the fronts to rear and do all over again. Fortunately all the corners were the same and non-directional tires. Ya dangerous as hell, but 16/17 year old kids are invinceable.

 

I have the 505's and I got tired of polishing mine and had them powdercoated. I had them done in a competition grey metallic and I think they look awesome.

 

You can not make a statement like that here.. without pictures..... Go stand in the corner

 

as I am reading this thread...I am taking a break from my winter cleaning of my CCW's .. what timing.. caring for the polished aluminum is like anythign else..if you keep up with it , it's not that bad.
My car is a daily driver pretty much April-October..I wipe the wheels down at least every other day..sometimes every day.

 

Yes, I would like to see how those turned out as well please post some pics!

 

Hey Frank, I have my CCW's in the garage from Nov to March... when I get Corvette lonely, I go out in the garage and take one of my wheels and rub on it awhile.. It's like winter therepy.... Right now those wheels are so shiny is scary... Frank.. I hope you use Zaino or some long lasting polish... it has made a big difference in the effort to keep them looking good... with the Zaino on there water marks wipe right off... Ive had chrome wheels for the last 20 years... I was worried that the CCW's would be too much work.. I like the aluminum look so much better, Chrome wheels are easier to keep clean, but chrome is becoming the "boys in the hood" look.... at least around here...

 

My CCW's are chome, and cleaning them is NEVER a problem..
They sparkle & glow 100% of the time..

 

Anyone ever used this? http://www.zoops.com/zoopseal.asp

 

You still have those freekin wheels???????

 

Reports here on the forum have been , for the most part, negative... the process is expensive, very hard to do.. and it leaves the finish alittle less than desirable.. it does protect the wheels........

 

I feel for ya!!! I have the 505's also. I will say they look GREAT when cleaned up and polished. They do take a bit of looking after!!

 

Keeping my CCW clean is a real pain.... Brake dust sucks. Many times I wished I had bought the chrome ones when they were avaliable.

 

Well guys, thanks for all the input.... I might be giving up on the CCW's and just giving in to a set of SSR GT3's instead.

Anyone have a set they wanna sell ?

Thanks again guys. While I really wanted CCW's I don't feel like being the test mule for $3000 worth of scrap aluminum if I screw them up trying to get them coated.

 

5-6 months ago, there was an article in Popular Hot Rodding magazine about a clear coating that seemed to be what you're looking for. It was developed and "installed" by a shop in California. I was looking for some winter wheels for my 4x4, and the only thing that was available in the size I wanted was aluminum, and aluminum and road salt don't go together well.

I called the shop mentioned in the article, and as I recall, their pricing wasn't too bad, maybe around $75/wheel, IIRC. However, for what I was doing, $75 + shipping each, just didn't make good economic sense. However, to preserve a set of CCWs, it wouldn't be too bad.

One thing to consider, I would think that you'd want to take a multi-piece wheel apart, and have the pieces done seperately, then re-assemble and re-seal them. This would be either added work, added $$, or both.

 

Yea..
If someone wants to buy them, they'll pm..
Most guys know they're for sale..

 

Thanks ET. Guess I shouldnt believe everything on see on Powerblock TV.