well.... to make a long story short... i made one HELL of a project for myself trying to paint my wheels.


i now have two rear wheels that are half paint stripped (looks like utter hell) using aircraft stripper to try to remove the stock wheel paint.

in doing this i realized that i was going to have to remove the tires and remove all the paint entirely from each wheel.

so, thats the step im at. i just got the wheels back after having the tires dismounted, and i sit with grim hope of any chance of being able to drive my s2k again.

the Mar-hyde aircraft stripper in spray can is simply NOT doing its job. im on my 3rd can now and the shit just wont take the paint off like its supposed to. sure... it works fine on valve covers. on wheels? hell no. dont even put yourself in the situation im in.

so,

I need to know where the best place to strip all the paint from my wheels at once would be. i need them completely stripped down to bare metal again.... as long as the price isnt too steep. i have no idea what kind of store or shop would offer that kind of service, so i need your guy's help BADLY and as soon as possible.

thanks in advance and take care.

 

Call metalworking/machine/painting/powdercoating shops in your area and ask if they can do bead blasting and powdercoating, sounds like that's the way you're going to have to go if they are as messed up as you say.

 

You dont strip wheels. You blast them. Cut your losses, and bring them to a shop.

 

After having stripped my own, it wasn't too bad it was just time consuming. You can buy paint stripper at a Home Depot, I did. You may be beyond that now though.

https://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=474065

 

i used aircraft stipper and paint stripper by the same company. it did not work as i had expected.


i found a powdercoating shop about an hour away, just dropped the wheels off there this morning.




the problem now is, after the 100 bucks for them to be stripped (bullshit i know but i wasnt about to make that trip for nothing) they will come out being rough.

if anyone knows the process they go under or knows what kind of rouch i am talking about, maybe you can help me as to what my next best course of action would be to smooth them out. all i can think of is hand sanding the surface untill it looks smooth like i want it.

when i get them back tomorrow morning i will take pics of what kind of 'rough" i mean, and hopefully i can get this project finished soon.

thanks guys.

 

That is why I suggested you have them powdercoated

 

i understand, and thats what i would do if they were work s1s like i wish i had.

unfortunately, they are motegi trak lites. good wheels, but not worth 500 bucks for powdercoating, when they are almost only worth that muchm and they arent in my desired offset anyways.

i did take your advise and took them to the shop to have them stripped. we will see what the outcome of tomorrow is. i will try to keep updated.

 

Don't sandblast aluminum wheels- you'll damage them and leave the entire wheel "fuzzy" looking.

The only blasting you can do is with micro-glass beads, so you'll have to make sure they use that. However, the best way to remove the previous colour from aluminum wheels is chemically. Bring them to a metal/paint/powder coat shop and they'll have them dipped. It's cheap.. not expensive at all. Check your yellowpages.

 

Shop around, there are a lot of places that can get powder coating done for much cheaper. Don't go through a wheel shop cause they'll just subcontract the job out. Check your yellowpages or the net for places that do powder coating to all sorts of things. They'll do your wheels. I've had wheels done before for $65/wheel CDN. Perfect job. You'll pay a bit more if you want to powder coat a clear coat too. Maybe $135/wheel CDN.