Wheels-Tires 10 Hole Rim Restore options?

[R82148V]

Hey Everyone,

You all have been great and super helpful with all my questions no matter how large, goofy or small. THANK YOU!

I'm about to start my winter project of restoring my 10 hole rims but I'm torn with all the reviews of different products confusing me.
The clear on these rims have that classic aged cracking, yellowing and just old.
I'm not looking to do anything drastic as in mirror polishing or painting. Just looking to strip the factory clearcoat off, clean them up and respray the clearcoat keeping the factory lathe marking and all that.

Just wanted to know a few things before I begin and show everyone here, before - during and after pics.

1. Going to use Citrastrip to get the clear off since its safe to use indoors. Is there something better or will this work fine?
2. Washing with dawn soap after the clear is off and then using Eastwood pre-painting prep.

What's stumping me mostly is, what's the best clear spray for the bare aluminum and 2k or not 2k? Internet / brand reviews have me going crazy!
High Gloss, Statin or Matte?

Thank you!!

 

[R82148V]

Nothing, huh?
No one has anything?

 

[limp]

Your plan sounds good to me...
Make sure your clear is clear and not a " yellow ' shade... I have seen lids taken off of a can of clear and it will have a yellow hue to it.. Stay away from that..
Most strippers work about the same to me.. The old Aircraft stripper, from a ways back, worked the best but I have heard its been de emasculated, like the rest of the world has....

 

[Mustang5L5]

I'm curious to see if Citristrip has enough mustard to take off clearcoat. I would think it would?

In the past with intake manifolds, i lathered the manifold in citristrip, misted it down with water and wrapped it up in a trash bag to keep it all moist for a few days. Then the paint would come off in sheets.

 

[2000xp8]

I'm curious to see if Citristrip has enough mustard to take off clearcoat. I would think it would?

In the past with intake manifolds, i lathered the manifold in citristrip, misted it down with water and wrapped it up in a trash bag to keep it all moist for a few days. Then the paint would come off in sheets.

I I wonder if that would work on my heat exchanger. It was a black version when i bought it, i gave a mild effort to remove the black paint with citistrip, but i didn't wait long to clean it off, then out of frustration i painted it silver. But i really prefer bare aluminum.

As far as the 10 holes go, personally i'd just buy the 17 or 18 inch version of them.
Or i'd send them out and have them professionally refinished (which really isn't that expensive these days).

 

[R82148V]

Your plan sounds good to me...
Make sure your clear is clear and not a " yellow ' shade... I have seen lids taken off of a can of clear and it will have a yellow hue to it.. Stay away from that..
Most strippers work about the same to me.. The old Aircraft stripper, from a ways back, worked the best but I have heard its been de emasculated, like the rest of the world has....

Are there any clears you recommend that don't have that yellow hue?
I'm also confused on what kind of spray to use once rim has been stripped down to bare Aluminum. Isnt there special paint for that?

Pertaining to the finish level, what do you all prefer? Matte, Satin, High Gloss?

 

[R82148V]

I I wonder if that would work on my heat exchanger. It was a black version when i bought it, i gave a mild effort to remove the black paint with citistrip, but i didn't wait long to clean it off, then out of frustration i painted it silver. But i really prefer bare aluminum.

As far as the 10 holes go, personally i'd just buy the 17 or 18 inch version of them.
Or i'd send them out and have them professionally refinished (which really isn't that expensive these days).

I hear yah.. I'm going to give this DIY a try before.. Funds are limited and brand new skins are all ready on them so 17 or 18" is out of the picture. At least for now

 

[limp]

Are there any clears you recommend that don't have that yellow hue?
I'm also confused on what kind of spray to use once rim has been stripped down to bare Aluminum. Isnt there special paint for that?

Pertaining to the finish level, what do you all prefer? Matte, Satin, High Gloss?

If your using rattle can, not much to be able to look at.... If your mixing a gal/qt of paint, just take off the lid and check it... Its been so long for me I am sure most of the brands I used are retired......

 

[R82148V]

So question is, once I remove all the old clear all I have to do is clean it up and re-spray with a 2k clear like Eastwood's 2K AeroSpray Matte Clear?
Do I need an adhesion promoter or something similar?

I'm just going after the factory look and not interested in painting with color.

 

[limp]

So question is, once I remove all the old clear all I have to do is clean it up and re-spray with a 2k clear like Eastwood's 2K AeroSpray Matte Clear?
Do I need an adhesion promoter or something similar?

I'm just going after the factory look and not interested in painting with color.

Have you tried to call Eastwood and see what they recommend using with their products?

 

[R82148V]

Have you tried to call Eastwood and see what they recommend using with their products?

oh man i never thought of that. I’ll definitely try this and let you know the verdict

 

[85GTStangGuy]

.... and re-spray with a 2k clear like Eastwood's 2K AeroSpray Matte Clear?

I'm just going after the factory look and not interested in painting with color.

I'm pretty sure matte is not the gloss level you want, if you're trying to get an original look to them. When my 10-holes were factory fresh, I remember them having a very shiny finish. So I don't even think they were satin.... I'd say they had a standard high gloss clear on them. Imo.

 

[R82148V]

Have you tried to call Eastwood and see what they recommend using with their products?

what a good idea. i’ll let you know the verdict.

 

[R82148V]

I'm pretty sure matte is not the gloss level you want, if you're trying to get an original look to them. When my 10-holes were factory fresh, I remember them having a very shiny finish. So I don't even think they were satin.... I'd say they had a standard high gloss clear on them. Imo.

makes sense. I only thought matte since the center caps are not clear coated and matte basically

 

[slow84lx]

Do you plan to do one wheel at a time? Or, all 4?

I recently bought a set of factory aluminum wheels for my 1992 F150 that were in sad shape. I thought that it would be so easy to remove the clear, sand to a high grit, and then polish to a nice sheen. It took much longer than expected.

I used an aircraft stripper from the local Lowes, not sure what brand, on the first 2 or 3 wheels. I don't recall that it worked all that well, perhaps I was impatient. I didn't think about bagging it for a few days, that may have worked much better. It took a lot of scraping with putty knives / razor blades and then sanding to get all of the bits of clear coating off. And time. Too much time. This was started as a manual labor project that I was going to enjoy. By the end of the project I was just ready to be done with it.

I had all 4 tires dismounted prior to starting the project. It is much easier to manage the rims this way. At the end I had 4 brand new tires mounted. They really did look great after polishing and gave the truck a much nicer look.

In the end, I probably wouldn't do this project as DIY again due to the time that it took, and I rarely take a automotive job to a shop. There are some local wheel refinishing shops that specialize it this kind of work for a very reasonable price. It would have been much faster and easier.

You are just looking to strip & re-clear. Might not be that much of a hassle.

Good luck!

 

[2000xp8]

Do you plan to do one wheel at a time? Or, all 4?

I recently bought a set of factory aluminum wheels for my 1992 F150 that were in sad shape. I thought that it would be so easy to remove the clear, sand to a high grit, and then polish to a nice sheen. It took much longer than expected.

I used an aircraft stripper from the local Lowes, not sure what brand, on the first 2 or 3 wheels. I don't recall that it worked all that well, perhaps I was impatient. I didn't think about bagging it for a few days, that may have worked much better. It took a lot of scraping with putty knives / razor blades and then sanding to get all of the bits of clear coating off. And time. Too much time. This was started as a manual labor project that I was going to enjoy. By the end of the project I was just ready to be done with it.

I had all 4 tires dismounted prior to starting the project. It is much easier to manage the rims this way. At the end I had 4 brand new tires mounted. They really did look great after polishing and gave the truck a much nicer look.

In the end, I probably wouldn't do this project as DIY again due to the time that it took, and I rarely take a automotive job to a shop. There are some local wheel refinishing shops that specialize it this kind of work for a very reasonable price. It would have been much faster and easier.

You are just looking to strip & re-clear. Might not be that much of a hassle.

Good luck!

This was kinda my point.
I have a wheel place local and they dismount tires, refinish (anything but chrome), remount and balance same day if need be for about $150 a wheel. That includes bent and curbed wheels.
You can even bring them the entire car.
Wheels are just one of those things that need to be near perfect and the finish needs to last.

I do understand everyone has a budget, but i've also been involved in why the hell am i doing this projects.
Like when i thought is be a good idea to sheetrock and spackle my entire garage. Came out decent after about 100 hours of work when it would have taken a professional 20 hours.

 

[Noobz347]

I have used this before:

Kwik-Strip™ Paint & Varnish Stripper - Klean Strip

kleanstrip.com

If you're in Cali, don't even bother. Daddy Newsom and Aunti Pelosi say, "No". You can shoot drugs in the street tho.


After that it's about how much elbow grease you put in before re-coating.

 

[85GTStangGuy]

Or, just buy some re-pops and be good to go (albeit with a lighter wallet!)...

https://lmr.com/item/LRS-149573/mustang-10-hole-wheel-15x7-79-93

Note they're also available in wider widths and/or larger diameters.

 

[limp]

$150 a wheel?? Last time I had some polished it was $50 for all 4....

 

[slow84lx]

$150 a wheel?? Last time I had some polished it was $50 for all 4....

I really miss the '80's!

I think it's $150-ish in my area.