MustangFirstCar

Yes Pascal that is exactly what he is saying. My rims have a "polished" lip and it is clearcoated aluminum, and my dad's GT/CS rims are cleared too, but they say "polished".

Basically what you can do is have the paint stripped. Then you have a choice. You could actually polish them, have them painted, or powdercoat them. Painting should be around 100 dollars per rim for just the clearcoat. The polishing and powdercoating prices I don't know.

edcologne

i think the idea (and probably fact) is that the clear makes them last better and easier to maintain for regular every day use as a general production car is made for.

if i recall correctly my polished centerline auto drags in the good ole days (20+ years ago) on my 64 skylark were "just" polished aluminum, could really make them shine w chrome polish but needed to keep them up VERY well, much more prone to scratching, corrosion than painted surfaces, let alone salt.

jdmcbride

I had the same OEM polished rims and yes they had a clear coat finish on them. They will last as long as you just use soap and water to clean them. The finish will come off if someone tries to apply a metal polish or use a wheel cleaner that is made for non-clear coated wheels.

pascal

Thanks for correcting me guys...

I never had to repair any factory wheels yet so that's why I get confused.
The lip on my black bullits is not clear coated and I do the maintenance (minimal) with regular aluminum conditioner/polish.

Anyway, to repair your peeling clear, you'd have to pretty much strip the rest of it and re-clear...
Over reducing the clear and applying light coats will get you the semi gloss look.
And don't forget to use adhesion promoter like Bulldog, to make it stick.

Remember though, that unless you're fortunate enough to leave in the South or where you'll never be on salty roads, you're prone to encounter the same problems again.
Aluminum is very sensitive to salt.

JThor

Here's a place in Denver that refinishes wheels and their price list. http://www.woodyswheelworks.com/auto_wheels.shtml From my experience, these prices are average.

I have never used Woody's, but I hear a lot of people giving good references.

Based upon those numbers, you can decide if it's worth the hassle to refinish the rims.