Stripping off Aluminum Wheel Clear Coat

[gt_ie]

Can anyone give me the pros and cons of stripping my aluminum wheels and going with a polished raw metal? I'm really unhappy with the factory finish on the OEM 20" polished aluminum wheels on my Lincoln MKT. It looks like the wheels were thouroughly scuffed so the clear would adhere or something. It has a very dull look.

So, I'm considering stripping off the clear coat and having a true polished aluminum. But, I'm gun-shy. This seems pretty drastic and I've never cared for wheels without a clear coat. Will I be sorry?

I assume that if I get it stripped and polished to a high shine that I won't be able to apply a new clear coat? That it wouldn't adhere??

[Detroit CC]

Re: Stripping off Aluminum Wheel Clear Coat

My thoughts, is it worth all the effort of stripping off the clear coat.
Is it not an easier option to replace the wheels? maybe with aftermarket rather than OEM wheels?
Just a thought.

[gt_ie]

Re: Stripping off Aluminum Wheel Clear Coat

I don't think stripping the clear will be that bad. I'm hoping I can do it with a wet-sand. My plan would be wet sand with 400, then 800, then 2000. Then a rubbing compound, swirl remover, and fine polish.

The wheels are mostly broad flat surfaces. I hope that I could do 1 wheel in 2 or 3 hours. So yes, 8 - 12 hours would be ok with me. I suppose I could investigate how much I can sell the OEM rims for and then what the cost of new would be.

[Dart_GTS]

Re: Stripping off Aluminum Wheel Clear Coat

Any wheel that is clearcoated these days was done with electrostatic powder coating. It is much thicker than pant and of a much tougher material. Some of it is like a nylon, or polyethelyne material. Very tough. Sorry to say the only way you'll get it off is to have them media blasted, but then of course the machined or polished finish will be lost.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Stripping off Aluminum Wheel Clear Coat

While potentially a do-it-yourself project, it's going to be a ton of work to get a uniform appearance without some specialized equipment to do it all correctly and uniformly. Plus, once you remove the clear and bring the bare metal up to a very high shine, upkeep is going to be a pain on a daily driver. Bare aluminum is pretty delicate - easy to stain, easy to dull down, easy to do all kinds of negative things to, but hard to keep looking good. You might want to do some Google searching for a wheel refinishing place near you and go talk to them about some options.

[TikiStan]

Re: Stripping off Aluminum Wheel Clear Coat

I have stripped factory Toyota wheels (Not any Lincoln yet)with aircraft stripper and a 2" brush. Then I had them polished and re powder coated clear, You will have to search for a place that will clear without a media blast of some sort. It looked alot better than original. I would not run them without re clearing them. the factory aluminum for some reason does not hold up well at all. If you for sure dont like them, Go ahead and go for it, The worst case is you run them polished. Good luck.