Anyone here ever strip the factory powder coating off their wheels? Photos before and after. Been thinking about doing it, was wondering what was done to making it as right as possible. Just saw a VFR that had natural metal wheels, seems the metal finish under the paint is pretty darn good, all that is needed is a light clean up and polish.
Try using a heavy sand paper to get the powder coat off, then use a lite sand paper to polish it up. or If you know some one that works in a machine shop they should have a glass beeder or sand blaster that would make that a quick and easy job. I'm polishing the rear wheel of my VFR now. The paint came off fairly easily with 150 grit, it was the primer that sucked removing. I also polished the lip of the front wheel that I'll be installing with my front end swap. The paint/primer came off of that quite easily, it was fairly thin. Less paint, and single paint/primer mix is one of the ways that they're able to shed a little weight. It sucks doing it by hand, but I didn't like the way my dremel was working, not as precise. I have pics of the finished front wheel in my photo gallery. And I'll post pics of my finished rear wheel in my gallery when it's done. I would like to finish it up this weekend. I tried to add pics to this, but it said they were too large. I'll try again tomorrow perhaps.
I did it a couple of years ago to the Marchesini wheels on my M2, but I didn't take any pictures. I used aircraft stripper, wooden scrapers made from paint stirrers, and a little brass bristle brush for the nooks and crannies. I removed the tires and brakes first, of course, and set the wheels in metal washtubs. This will make a big mess. I was really surprised at how tough the powdercoat was, and how thick it was. It took two days to do. I painted the stripper on, let it bubble the powdercoat up, then scraped that layer off. It took at least 5 or 6 runs at that to actually get down to metal. Once done, I decided not to polish them - I like the bare aluminum look. I use a little Blue Magic polish on them about every 6 months or so.
I'm in the process of stripping the coating off my 85's wheels. I bought some spray on stripper at home depot and it works pretty good. just takes a few cans and some elbow grease. I'll take some pics when I do the other wheel.
Most powder coat manufactures recommend an avaition type stripper(as Ferris mentioned) to remove old coating. Eastwood ( www.eastwood.com ) has there own specific stipper called De-Kote; can't say as it would be better than avaition stripper or if it is the same stuff in a rebadged can though. Most of the stuff I have powder coated has been painted so glass bead has done the trick. Aluminum oxide abrasive media is supposed to work nicely on powder coating also; but it isn't exactly cheap.(this is the method most wheel shops w/ their own process equiptment use)
If I was going to do it - I would go with the aircraft stripper and go for the chrome finish. I have polished alum on my Valkyrie which looks sharp but after a few years have gotten a bit dull. I am thinking to just go chrome mostly for ease of maintenace and corrosion protection. I saw chrome wheels on a 5th gen and thought it looked damn sharp. MD
Speaking of Chrome Nice chromed out 03':madgrin: shiny, shiny, bling, bling. The seat & wing decal are nice touches too. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2003...ryZ50003QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
rvfr....PLEASE take my advice......go to advance auto parts purchase the aircraft auto stripper...not expensive at all....i did it in one can but it was kinda stretching it.......i sprayed the stripper on let it sit for just a few minutes then wiped it with a rag.....NO SCRAPERS, NO ABRASIVE....your wheels should have polished lips and the face of the rear wheel also.....i chose to tape off and repaint the raw cast aluminum parts like the spokes and hub of the front wheel and in between the spokes and back of the rear wheel and repaint black.....GOD IT LOOKS F(&*&*( HOT....if it doesnt for some reason all of it doesnt come off in the first attempt, dont be afraid to do it again....that stuff wont hurt the aluminum....good luck and i will post after pictures in a day or two
I wsust following this thread and wondering. Does anyone have any experience sending their wheels in to Dymag? I guess you can snd in your wheels and they'll do 'em up. I want to go with the Gold Magnesium look.
