Wheels & Tires - anyone clear coated theire polished wheels??

I had a set of torque thrust 2s and they were a bitch to clean. im considering another set and i was wondering if anyone here has clear coated them to ease the cleaning process and eliminate the polishing need? if so, what are the pros and cons and how did you go about it?

I researched this recently though a few body shops and coating places, and they all told me they'd had nothing but trouble from trying to clear a polished wheel. Body shops said getting the clear to stick would be tough, and nearly all they'd tried came out with imperfections in the clear. I also talked to a powdercoating place to see if they had some means to do a clear finish over polish, they said they had a couple of different clears that could work, but when they're heated the finish tends to bubble and yellow. I gave up on the idea and decided to powdercoat the center of my wheels a semi gloss black instead and left the polished lip.

There is this stuff called ZoopSeal...It is not a coat of clear or anything like that. You apply it to your wheel after it has been polished. It can be applied to chrome, aluminum, and stainless steel and protects against oxidation for two to three years.

im not worried about oxidation. im worried about keeping them looking good with a simple wash and dry. i had to polish them once a week to keep them shining, and still they spotted up pretty bad

I'd just get them chrome dipped.

The upkeep is too much when you don't have a clear coat on them. And when you do have a clear coat, it fogs up the rims. But, I think it depends how much clear coat you use. You might be able to get away with a thin coat and not fog up the rim. I would just save up your money and go with chrome.

If you like the bling, I'd have them chromed as well.

how much is chroming though?

chrome just doesnt do it for me. its almost invisible sometimes. i like the solid look of polished wheels, especially on red. i dont think there is a better wheel for a red f body than polished...specifically tt2s. well, i guess i will just have to man up and get polishing every week or so again. how bout wax? i hear there isnt a real difference between wheel wax and car wax. does wax help the upkeep of them?

There is an absolutely GREAT thread that Josh did on here regarding the upkeep of his CCW 505a's on his GTO. I believe I have it bookmarked at home so I will try to find it and post it up for ya. He addresses all the wax and ZoopSeal and such things in there as well.

Well, I got bored at work and found it rather quickly haha

http://ls1tech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=667741&highlight=

That should have some good info in there as to his polishing routine and the products he uses. Hope that helps ya:chug:

Hmm...maybe my eyes aren't very good but at more than 5 feet away I personally can't tell a difference in a freshly cleaned chrome wheel and a freshly polished one; they're virtually identical, at least to me at any normal distance.

Hmm...maybe my eyes aren't very good but at more than 5 feet away I personally can't tell a difference in a freshly cleaned chrome wheel and a freshly polished one; they're virtually identical, at least to me at any normal distance.

you either don't have an eye for detail or you have an untrained eye. polished wheels are brighter and look less see-thru/mirror like. Sometimes chrome wheels look invisible. Polished has a solid look. The shape of the wheel is more defined when polished i think. Sometimes they even look white at night. Anyway, my point is, there is a definite noticeable difference in chrome and polished. Im sure Im not alone

I hope I didnt sound like an ass. I didnt mean to buddy, so if i did, my apologies.

If you clear it, it will just make the wheels look like the aren't polished properly, they will be dull and will not shine like you like. It is just part of having polished wheels, what do you clean them with currently? On my Boyd's, and now on the Fikse's a Mothers Powerball (mini or regular) and Mothers Billet polish get my wheels looking perfect and it takes about 5-10 mins per wheel.

If you clear it, it will just make the wheels look like the aren't polished properly, they will be dull and will not shine like you like. It is just part of having polished wheels, what do you clean them with currently? On my Boyd's, and now on the Fikse's a Mothers Powerball (mini or regular) and Mothers Billet polish get my wheels looking perfect and it takes about 5-10 mins per wheel.


well thats actually all i did with my last set. i dont have polished wheels right now, but i have a new set of tt2s on the way. i would spend 15-20 minutes on each wheel, and they would look really good when i was done, but they still had spots here and there that i couldnt get. maybe i just didnt spend enough time on them. how do u keep/get spots off?

I never really had a problem with spots, I would always polish them with the powerball and detail spray them after with some Zaino Z4 and they would stay in really good shape, although if it rained I did polish them up at the end of the day. I love the polished look and I wouldn't do anything to them, chrome looks like plastic to me, clearcoated polish looks hazy, and I don't like coated wheels except for the TechniPolish coating. Polished just looks good, the lines are 10x sharper because there is no coating softening them, they look more real IMO.

What I did with the power ball etc. was use my fingers to put on the polish and get in all the cracks. There was a good coat on the wheels and by the time I finish applying it with my fingers it was partially black (a good thing), then I just went over them with the power ball twice and wiped them off with microfiber then sprayed Z4 on them and wiped them over with a fresh microfiber and was done. Hope this helps!

you either don't have an eye for detail or you have an untrained eye. polished wheels are brighter and look less see-thru/mirror like. Sometimes chrome wheels look invisible. Polished has a solid look. The shape of the wheel is more defined when polished i think. Sometimes they even look white at night. Anyway, my point is, there is a definite noticeable difference in chrome and polished. Im sure Im not alone

I hope I didnt sound like an ass. I didnt mean to buddy, so if i did, my apologies.

Nah you don't, no prob. I understand your point, but I've had several finishes of wheels, and between the two I'd prefer chrome just for simplicity of keeping them clean. I guess what I mean also is most people asked me if the polished wheels were chrome and vice versa (most people don't see the difference). I see the subtle differences, but to me polished isn't worth the trouble..but to each his own :D