I just picked up this set locally and figured it was clear coat failure. Fortunately(or unfortunately) the places where it's failing isn't the painted surface.

I tried polishing the clear coat and it got rid of all the oxidation. However, it looks like there's still some etching on the surface. I'm afraid that if I hit this with a more abrasive pad, I'll ruin the metal surface underneath.

Any thoughts?

 

That looks a little further gone than just a polishing pad is going to fix. I’d probably take them to a wheel repair place and see what they say. Likely need a full strip and refinish.

 

Before you spend a lot of money on refinishing your wheels take a look at AP2V1 reproduction wheels. Post 104 summarizes a few seasons with them. I paid $175 for one (1) APV2 wheel to be refinished a couple summers ago. I recall the reproduction wheels were about that price new.

-- Chuck

 

Here are mine freshly refinished. They diamond cut the face repaint the rest and clear coat all.

 

What a great job Jaymz! How much did that run you each? I would love to find someone local who can do such work!

 

Was going to say, faces look like they're diamond cut, and jaymz post just confirms that.

 

Reminds me of some pics a P car owner/colleague showed me of the after effects of wheel cleaner/car wash that actually destroyed the finish. He replaced his wheels. Ouch. He now spends about $70 on quality, safe for wheels (and other stuff) cleaners. You get what you pay for,

I wound up refinishing my wheels as the PO applied a bit of yellow to match the paint job. Terrible. I did not want to powder coat. I used Duplicolor, twice actually. I did the second one after a year or so. There is a learning curve. Apply at least 5 clear coats. I sanded down enough to remove high spots and roughen the surface for paint adhesion.

 

The OP's clearcoat has failed. Just needs to be stripped and re-coated.

They should be able to strip all the coating, clean up the faces (leave about 1500 grit marks on them) and re-spray.

You can DIY. But I don't know where you can get methyl cyanocrilate (sp) paint stripper anymore. You'll need 2K clear which you can now find in a can. And a respirator.

And a lot of time and effort.

 

The set was approx $1000 cdn. Straightened one wheel, full refinish, and ceramic coated.

 

The links to those ap2v1 wheels are dead. Seems like they're no longer available.