redbird555

iTrader: (14)

Hi guys I'm looking at buying a set of c5 magnesium wheels that have had a rough life, they were painted and the job was very poorly done its bubbling in a couple areas and is very dull. I'm looking at either wetsanding them smooth and reshooting them or using a chemical stripper to get them down bare and then reseal and primer then paint. My question for you all is can you even repaint a c5 mag wheel after its been stripped? To my knowledge magnesium likes to flake paint off because it is porous and outgasses quite a bit. However GM painted these wheels when they put them on vettes so am I missing something? If I just sand them smooth and then reprep and shoot them would anyone see a problem with that?

redbird555

iTrader: (14)

also does anyone know if the wheels were coated with a sealer like dow 7 by gm before they were painted?

abot316

iTrader: (3)

I'm somewhat in the same boat except for I'm going to polish mine. I've been doing some research on whats the best way how to strip them, I came across this thread involving MV Agusta mag wheels and resealing them:
http://www.mvagusta.net/forum/showthread.php?t=39952
I hope it helps

redbird555

iTrader: (14)

that thread pretty much confirms with what I was thinking you have to strip the wheels then recoat them, then primer and paint. If the wheels had a good enough paint job on them to begin with I suppose you could just re prime and paint because the base coating on the bare magnesium is just to prevent it from corroding.