pimp_runner_69

I have a kind of odd question....... I need to know what I can use (if anything) to remove clearcoat on a set of wheels. My cousin owns a powder coating shop and I was going to get my girlfriends wheels powder-coated because they are old and kind of shabby looking but I need to prep them first by removing the clear coat. Let me know any ideas you have and please be creative.

Thanks, Nick.......

b_real45

Sulfuric acid is my favorite.....


















of course i'm joking.

ukroadracer

Try a lacquer thinner from Home Depot, or aircraft stripper.

TheMAN

uhh... why don't you have the shop sand blast them?

pimp_runner_69

Because he is doing the wheels as a favor to me and the shop is extremely busy. Also, his shop almost went out of business because of their book keeper stealing ever 850 thousand dollars last year so having him find the time to do much else for me would make me feel like I was troubling him.

Anyways, also if you guys have any suggestions on colors I should get them done in let me know....... My girlfriend's car is a red civic and she wants silver but I almost feel it would be better to go gunmetal while I have them in the shop and am getting it done for free.

b_real45

Do what I want to do... outer rim machined to a nice polish... the inner part of the rim (spokes, hub) gunmetal.

hihoslva

You might want to seriously consider going to a different shop and letting them sandblast the wheels first. Then go get them powdercoated as the "favor".

Nothing you can buy or do yourself will give you as good or complete a finish as a sandblasting. And unless the prep work is 100%, the wheels won't powdercoat well at all. Don't do it half-assed - the finish won't be durable.

Shouldn't be too much $$ to get the blasting done, and worth every penny.

And - gunmetal would be real nice. I'd consider a "lighter" shade though - not like a hyper-black or black-chrome look, but more a dark, bronze-ish silver

~HH

pimp_runner_69

Any idea on price of sandblasting? If it's too much then I may just look into some new wheels but if not then I could try that. I also guess you are right about the half-*** job, its just that I don't have the $ to be throwing into my girls car and if this project ends up being too much then it may just end up being put off until summer or something when I can put in more hours at work. Anyways, thanks for the advice so far everybody.

hihoslva

I a quick online search, I found a page that listed the approximate prices of sandblasting and "glass bead" sandblasting (finer process) for automotive purposes, from a company called "Eagle Auto Stripping".

They list steel wheels as $10-$15 for sandblasting, and $15-$30 for glass beading (I assume this is for each wheel).

Aluminum wheels, it seems, can only be "glass beaded" (maybe sandblasting is too harsh for aluminum?), and they list prices of $20-$35 for that.

Quick reference, I suppose - but at least it seems pretty reasonable. You could probably get a decent deal for all four wheels at a local shop - try any reputable body shop and see what they can do for ya'.

Here's the link to the webpage I found, if you want to see for yourself: http://www.eagleautostripping.com/prices.htm

~HH

b_real45

Good find hihoslva. I wished they were in FL.