How To Clear Coat Aluminum Wheels

Chevy Corvair License Plate
Chevy Corvair Chrome Wheel

Corvair Center Forum : Corvair Center Phorum

Corvair Center

Clear coating older Aluminum wheels?

Date: March 08, 2016 10:11PM

Polyurethane or Acrylic based?

Does one have more of a tendency to peel with age / sunlight?

What about "Prep", after polishing?

On my rears I did no prep of the bare polished aluminum and sprayed one with Poly and the other with Acrylic.

On the fronts I wiped with Lacquer Thinner completely and use Acrylic since the one with Polyurethane lacked the luster of the Acrylic.

No baking or heat lamps used..

MODERATOR
Sea Mountain, between Charleston Harbor and Coos Bay! SW Oregon Coast
Click HERE for My Website...Click HERE for My TechPages!
...............110-PG.................................................Webered-Turbo

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/08/2016 10:11PM by MattNall.

Re: Clear coating older Aluminum wheels?

Date: March 09, 2016 03:33AM

I have a fair amount of experience with this. Clear coat is not designed to stick to a polished surface. It will peel, chip, and corrode. If you sandblast them and clear them then it will stick well but you will have dull gray wheels and if you ever chip the clear, the wheel will corrode and the clear will peel. Even the factory has moved away from clear coated polished wheels in favor of painting them.

Painting and clearing them, just like the factory does is the way to go. Sandblast them, give them a light coat of acid etch primer, and then put silver basecoat followed by a urethane clear coat. This will last indefinitely. No worries about corrosion or peeling because of the etch primer and sand blasting. Even if you curb or scratch the wheel the acid etch will hold its own to prevent corrosion.

If you want polished aluminum then I suggest you leave them polished and do not use clear. If you want good looking, durable, and low maintenance then blast, etch, and paint them.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/09/2016 03:36AM by streblerm.

Re: Clear coating older Aluminum wheels?

Date: March 09, 2016 06:37AM

I wonder if the (relatively new) full-mirror chrome paint would be a good option? I saw a hood painted with it at Wyotech's hot-rod shop and it was amazing.

Craig N. Coeur d'Alene ID.
66 Black Monza 4dr, 4.2L V8 49k
61 Seamist Jade Rampside 140 PG
65 Canadian Monza 4dr 110/PG 40k
66 Sprint Corsa convt - First car! Re-purchased 43 years later
2+2 gnatsuM 5691

+17 Tons of parts

Re: Clear coating older Aluminum wheels?

Date: March 09, 2016 06:38AM

Re: Clear coating older Aluminum wheels?

Date: March 09, 2016 06:53AM

Matt, Let me do some digging, to find the name of the stuff that should work.

When I had my goldwing the wheels on them where bare aluminum. The guys had a terrible time trying to keep them clean and from corroding.

The stuff one fella used I believe was an aircraft coating, wnich was a clear spray on coating.

Never used it myself, but everyone that did swore by it. And from what I remember it would not come off and after the only maintenance was wipe with water and a rag.

I think I still have the info buried somewhere, just give me some time to look.

Lee Adkins

A Cave Man car
1960 2dr Coupe with pg
Color Tasco Turq.
With Ermine white top.

Catlettsburg,
In the Beautiful state of
North/East KY!

Not the best pic, but the only I had from then, 1997!

[

Re: Clear coating older Aluminum wheels?

Date: March 09, 2016 07:13AM

Matt sent you a pm with a link, to the coating I mentioned.

Hope this helps.

Lee Adkins

A Cave Man car
1960 2dr Coupe with pg
Color Tasco Turq.
With Ermine white top.

Catlettsburg,
In the Beautiful state of
North/East KY!

Not the best pic, but the only I had from then, 1997!

[

Re: Clear coating older Aluminum wheels?

Posted by: Jim Stukenborg ()

Date: March 09, 2016 07:20AM

Come on Lee. Share your secret with the rest of us. Jim

Re: Clear coating older Aluminum wheels?

Date: March 09, 2016 07:39AM

There is a chrome powder coating from Eastwood available. It's more of a silver and followed up with clear powder coat for outdoors durability. This is used on street rods and equipment. I have also seen aluminum motorcycle wheels coated with this.
A possible option???

Corventure Dave

Re: Clear coating older Aluminum wheels?

Date: March 09, 2016 08:13AM

OK Jim, here is a link to the coating. When I looked at buying it, many years ago, you had to buy it from the manufacture. If I'm not mistaken, and I could be, it was designed for aircraft. I learned about it while I had my gold wing. Most everyone on the wing forum eventually used this stuff and had high praise for it. It is durable and never needs anything other than wiping down with a wet rag, more or less. And applying it is easy. Either wipe it on or spray it.

[www.everbritecoatings.com]

I still have plans on using this later on, on the 60.

Lee Adkins

A Cave Man car
1960 2dr Coupe with pg
Color Tasco Turq.
With Ermine white top.

Catlettsburg,
In the Beautiful state of
North/East KY!

Not the best pic, but the only I had from then, 1997!

[

Re: Clear coating older Aluminum wheels?

Date: March 09, 2016 08:14AM

Thanks guys... but I've already done the Wheels....

Looks like I should've used the Poly on all of them...

I polished them 4 years ago and never touched them after that...

We'll see how long these coatings last here on the Ore. coast!

Re: Clear coating older Aluminum wheels?

Posted by: 4carbcorvair ()

Date: March 09, 2016 09:54AM

streblerm Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have a fair amount of experience with this.
> Clear coat is not designed to stick to a polished
> surface. It will peel, chip, and corrode. If you
> sandblast them and clear them then it will stick
> well but you will have dull gray wheels and if you
> ever chip the clear, the wheel will corrode and
> the clear will peel. Even the factory has moved
> away from clear coated polished wheels in favor of
> painting them.
>
> Painting and clearing them, just like the factory
> does is the way to go. Sandblast them, give them a
> light coat of acid etch primer, and then put
> silver basecoat followed by a urethane clear coat.
> This will last indefinitely. No worries about
> corrosion or peeling because of the etch primer
> and sand blasting. Even if you curb or scratch the
> wheel the acid etch will hold its own to prevent
> corrosion.
>
> If you want polished aluminum then I suggest you
> leave them polished and do not use clear. If you
> want good looking, durable, and low maintenance
> then blast, etch, and paint them.

This..

Although, painted wheels do not last indefinitely here, they last MUCH longer than cleared alloy wheels. Even painted wheels will chip and corrode. Factory chrome wheels peel, see a few with bead leaks due to chrome peeling there. With that said, I know you already did them Matt, paint or powder coat is the best if you insist on coating. An unfinished alloy wheel is the best way to go, although does require periodic maintenance.

--------------------------------
Ronnie
Southern Maine.
www.dirigocorvairs.net
66 Corsa Convertible, 140, 4sp.
65 Monza Convertible, 110, PG.

It doesn't leak, it's marking it's territory.

A mirror is a reflection of the miles travelled.

Re: Clear coating older Aluminum wheels?

Date: March 09, 2016 10:49AM

It will be interesting to see how these hold up I cleaned, sanded and polished them 4 years ago... left bare... car sets outside near the coast.....

This time I did the 4 wheels 3 different ways... It will be interesting to see how they hold up over the years... or months!! LOL!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/09/2016 06:51PM by MattNall.

Re: Clear coating older Aluminum wheels?

Date: March 09, 2016 12:13PM

I wish I could remember the details. About 15 years ago my son and I refinished an old set of Sendel wheels for his Fiero. I don't remember what kind of clear coat I used, but they still looked good the last time I saw them which was about two years ago. Fast forward up to about 5 years ago, I did the same process to my 2000 Chevy conversion Van. Within about 3 years they started to yellow and peel and look now look worse than before I refinished them. Bottom line is that type of clear coat matters.

J.O.

65 Corsa Turbo Vert
79 Honda XL 500S
69 Honda CL 160 D
2010 BMW F 650 GS
2003 Bounder 36D
2013 KIA Optima SX turbo-AKA ZIPPY (wife,s car)
69 Newport Holiday Sailboat
Baja 150 dune buggy cart
Coleman HS 500 UTV
2016 KIA Sorento SXL Turbo

Bethlehem,Pa

Re: Clear coating older Aluminum wheels?

Posted by: 4carbcorvair ()

Date: March 09, 2016 12:14PM

Those look good. For now. LOL

I tried polishing the E/T slot wheels on my CJ, I ended up painting them with 'aluminum' paint. Still not the finish I want. Some day I'll either strip them and polish, or have them powder coated 'chrome'.

--------------------------------
Ronnie
Southern Maine.
www.dirigocorvairs.net
66 Corsa Convertible, 140, 4sp.
65 Monza Convertible, 110, PG.

It doesn't leak, it's marking it's territory.

A mirror is a reflection of the miles travelled.

Re: Clear coating older Aluminum wheels?

Date: March 09, 2016 09:50PM

Has anyone tried this stuff yet? I heard good things!
Dave

Re: Clear coating older Aluminum wheels?

Date: March 09, 2016 09:51PM

Re: Clear coating older Aluminum wheels?

Date: March 10, 2016 03:39PM

Timely pics Matt! I am having a set of these Westerns refinished and I have been wrangling with a silver "chrome look" powder coat for the centers or "anthracite" which is similar to what you have.

Kind of decided that the bright silver center is best for a dark color car and that the grey or black centers work for lighter cars.

Either way, nice to see yours - your pics give me an idea of what anthracite would look like.

Re: Clear coating older Aluminum wheels?

Date: March 10, 2016 04:05PM

By the way, are you using centering rings?

Re: Clear coating older Aluminum wheels?

Date: March 10, 2016 06:12PM

Yes. Lots of twisty roads around here..,stock
Studs

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/10/2016 06:15PM by MattNall.

Re: Clear coating older Aluminum wheels?

Posted by: davemotohead ()

Date: March 10, 2016 06:17PM

Every one should use Hub-concentric rings if the wheel center does not fit snug on the hub center, you want the wheel to be held in place by the hub center and not the lug studs or bad things will eventually happen.

1960 4dr sedan caveman car
1961 Rampside (Chetside)
1962 Rampside (Barnside)
1962 Short Rampside (Shortside)
1962 Monza 700 Wagon
1963 Monza 900 coup (General Nader)

-----------------------------------
Rust Free Lancaster Ca

Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.