devongarver

As the title says, my clear coat has begun peeling off my rims. These are aftermarket bullit style rims. 18x9s and 18x10s, anthracite with polished lip, deep dish out back. Only one wheel seems to be doing it right now, the others all seem fine. But it just started peeling off last week when i was giving her a bath and drying the rim with a micromesh cloth. SO, can i repaint them with a clear coat out of a spray can? How do i safely get the rest of the existing clear coat off without scratching the rim or damaging the anthracite color on the spokes? What type of clear coat can i use and how many coats? I'll go take a few pics and post them to make it a little easier to visualize for you. Thanks guys!

Obsequious1

Mine got eaten away by the Pennsylvania winter salt.



I spent 4 hours on each rim. Wet sanding, steel whool, and mothers aluminum polish.

devongarver

mine have never seen salt/snow. I just got these a month ago from a guy in AZ. my car is garaged in the winter as well. anyway, you didnt seal them or clear coat? just mothers aluminum polish? what grit sandpaper you use? and did you use a foam style sanding block or real sandpaper by hand or what? im afraid id damage the surface of the aluminum.

Obsequious1

I used 200 steel wool then 600 grit paper ( wet sand )and I just polish them like once every other month.

devongarver

oh ok. did you tape off the lip from the rest of the rim so that you didnt mar the painted surface? or were you just really really careful lol.

Obsequious1

The only problem with keeping them polished is that their now better looking than the factory rims up front. I tryed sanding off the clear coat on the factory front rims but the CC is much thicker and its taking forever. I gave up after sanding for 2 hours and only got about 8 inches of surface area sanded.

Obsequious1

I was being very careful. Wet sand paper conforms to your finger very well for those coved areas..