Stripping wheel finish

[max]

Hey guys- I just took my winter wheels off and put on my new summer rims, and had a thought. Granted, my winter rims were cheap because obviously they're beater rims, but I thought I might experiment with them. Right now they're white which is how they came, but they're scratched, curbed, and beat up. I was thinking maybe I'd mess around with stripping them, fill in the gouges, and maybe re-coat them in white. If I want to strip them, what can I do? I've heard getting wheels blasted at a shop isn't expensive. Anyone ever done this on wheels?

[SwedeSport]

Depends how chewed up they are. I have just scuffed and painted wheels with a rattlecan before. They look half decent. You may have to clean up any major curbing with a file, sand out the deep gouges, and maybe even use a spot putty in deep ones. But you can do a nice job with 5.00 worth of paint and some sandpaper. Filler primer helps feather in the scratches. If you dont plan to take the tires off the rims, one trick is to let the air out of them, de-bead the outside (face). You can take some cardboard, and cut half circles out of the edge, and slip it under the rim.


If the original paint adhesion is failing, then strip them. I start with a chemical stripper, then have them blasted. Wheel paint is some tough stuff, as is powdercoat. If you dont have to strip it , Dont strip it.

They are winter wheels afterall!

[max]

I don't even care much about the gouges, but rather just getting a clean coat of paint on them. They've just been scuffed from before I even bought them. I don't even care about filing or filling the gouges really.

[Geoff]

If you just want them to look better then just sand down a bit with 320 or 400 grit, clean, and repaint with your choice of rattle can. The base paint will act as a good base coat. If you strip it down to bare metal you can end up with adhesion issues and it sounds like you're just looking for "nicer" rather than "perfect".

[max]

If you just want them to look better then just sand down a bit with 320 or 400 grit, clean, and repaint with your choice of rattle can. The base paint will act as a good base coat. If you strip it down to bare metal you can end up with adhesion issues and it sounds like you're just looking for "nicer" rather than "perfect".

That would be correct. Just wanted to see if I could respray them a little bit.