Bird Man

iTrader: (1)

What is the best product to use to remove the clear coat from my 02 stock WS6 wheels? Do I have to take the tires off to use it?

thesoundandthefury

iTrader: (3)

Here's what I use. Works great. You can get it at any paint supply store and some hardware stores. You don't HAVE to cover the tires but it's a good idea anyway because depending on the composition of the tire there's the possibility that it will leave a chemical stain. Here you go:



http://www.autotoolmart.com/cgi-bin/...41&p_catid=295

blade0309

iTrader: (1)

can i ask what is the reason to strip these wheels and after you do what is the up keep like on the rims sorry not to thread hop

Bird Man

iTrader: (1)

Blade---the original polish job on these rims from the factory sucks. They are costing me points at shows.

TroubledWine3

iTrader: (3)

I got some AFS 18x9.5 z06 wheels cheap a few weeks ago and they seem to have clear on them, as well. I think I'll be spending my Spring Break stripping the clear and polishing them to a shine. Everybody I know has told me to use Aircraft Stripper, as thesoundandthefury recommended

blade0309

iTrader: (1)

well thank you i will def. have to do this to mine asap when i get home from iraq in a week cant wait to get the 02 ws6 wheels polished up and on the car thank you
bird man

RAIDER

iTrader: (4)

off topic...... but what are the benefits of clearcoated wheels (if its a good job) and not, i was looking at some iforged wheels and wondered if i should pay the extra to get it? thanks

TroubledWine3

iTrader: (3)

Polished wheels that aren't clearcoated take a lot of upkeep to keep shiny/looking good. With clearcoat, you can just spray wheelcleaner on them and scrub-a-dub-dub. Polished wheels w/o CC means hitting the wheels with Mothers a few times a month(if you want them to stay looking great). The downside is the clearcoat can *sometimes* dull the shininess of the wheel.

thesoundandthefury

iTrader: (3)

Is Iforged themselves offering their wheels clearcoated or were you speaking in terms of having a professional do them after you bought them?

RAIDER

iTrader: (4)

Iforged has it as an extra option for $100 a wheel for just the center and an extra $100 a wheel for the lip. Is it worth it?

thesoundandthefury

iTrader: (3)

I would be VERY interested in seeing what clearcoat they're using. Companies like Iforged stake a good deal of their reputation on the impeccable finish they're able to produce in their wheels, so I would imagine for them to consider any kind've clearcoat it would have to be top notch stuff.
As far as whether it's worth it, think of it in terms like this: forged aluminum rims are sought after because they have a distinctive finish that is difficult to reproduce. To avoid polishing, you could very easily spend that extra $200 per rim to get them chromed, but then you'd have a rim that shared something in common with how many thousands of other rims on the market? To me, the $800 is worth maintaining the "exclusivity" factor, but having it without the headaches that are associated with it. Doesn't get much better than that.

thesoundandthefury

iTrader: (3)

On a side note, if it turned out that Iforged was using this particular clearcoat on their wheels, I'd spend the money for it in a heartbeat:

http://www.alsacorp.com/products/cle...h_prodinfo.htm

It's the only clearcoat I've ever come across that was specifically formulated for polished metal surfaces.

RAIDER

iTrader: (4)

thanks for the help, i'll probably seriously consider it now, and no way i'd like chrome, just too much bling.