Bare Wheels

[ruester007]

I am thinking of removing the powder coat from my wheels and wanted to know if any of you all are running with the bare aluminum. Any pics you have would be great.

[vwboomer]

I would think you'd want them clear coated anyway?

Someone on TOB had a set for sale awhile back. Maybe search there if you dont find anything here.

[CDawg]

I believe bare aluminum oxidizes.  If you are going for a polished/mirror finish then you will need to clear coat it.  I think it oxidizes into a dull, whiter finish.  If your cool with that then rock on!

[ruester007]

I am certainly not going for a blinged out shiny aluminum. I think when it oxidizes is a clear-ish film. I will have to try it. The worst that can happen is I will end up powder coating them later in a new color.

[Slide Panda]

My wheels are partly bare.  The lip was machined to remove the powder coat.  It needs some attention to keep looking fresh - and it doesn't oxidize 100% evenly. So you can get some spotting

[minnesotamonster]

Yuu, can you post a pic please? been thinking about what that might look like.

[He Man]

If you sand it without polishing it, then you should not have it blinged out shiny. Someone hooked up their wheel to a drill press, attatched a rubber wheel to the bit and used that to spin the wheel while he held sand paper to the edge of it.

[ruester007]

it might look like this. very quick photoshop.

[Monstermash]

Yuu, can you post a pic please? been thinking about what that might look like.

Here is a pic of the treatment done to Yuu's wheels. This I did to Jewcati's S2R last year but it looks the same.



Yuu,

I'm not sure if I mentioned it but just use a scotchbright pad on the machined edge to keep it looking fresh. 

[Monstermash]

Here's a few pics of Yuu's wheels right after they were done. Sorry, I forgot I still had pics. 

[ruester007]

I think that made up my mind. What product have you used to strip the powder coat?

[DucHead]

Black wheels with paint removed looks awesome!

Dave I think you need a pic with more contrast to do the Photoshop.

[ruester007]

I think you're right about the contrast. I am going to strip them when I get a chance. I might need to borrow your stands so I can take the wheels off. What stripper are you using to remove the powder coat?

[He Man]

that looks AMAZING man, is it a secret? or can you tell us how you did it?

[ruester007]

pompetta did the same to a set of wheels, it was remarkable simple, and it looks amazing.