Made my new wheels look a little newer.

**Levilz** · 03-05-2008, 05:14 PM

I had a bent rim that kept letting the air out of my tires, so I ended up buying a set from wesTXwitesnake05 a few weeks ago. The wheels were in great shape for the price, but as advertised, the clear coat was hazy and had quite a few imperfections. It was warm out Monday and I got off work early, so I solved the problem.

I stopped by Auto Zone on the way home and picked up a couple bottles of Auto Strip and took the clear coat off the wheels. After that was done, I sprayed off as much of the crap as I could with the water hose then took them to the carwash and blasted them. When I got back to the house, I gave them one more light cleaning, dried them up, then went to town with the polish and Powerball. I have a couple pics, but since it was dark when I finished up and the lighting inside sucked, the after isn't showing anywhere near the shine these have now. You get the idea though

Here is what I started with:

This was after they were done.

Here is the Auto-Strip that I used.

I've heard of other people on here doing this, so I figured it was worth a try. I'm pretty happy with the result.

Since the centercaps have the bowtie on them, do you think I should remove that and try to find a small bird overlay to put on them, or just leave it alone?

**blindxeyed** · 03-08-2008, 08:38 PM

Wow, those look great. How long did that take you? I would easily mistake those for chrome if you hadn't said anything. Do you plan on reclearing them?

**Levilz** · 03-09-2008, 06:40 PM

Thanks for the compliment. It took about two hours total to strip the clear off them. I had to apply the Auto-Strip twice to get all the old clear off. After that, It was just a matter of buffing them out. I'm not going to have them recleared, because I don't drive the car everyday. It will be more work keeping them clean, but I think the shine is worth it.

**WS-6** · 03-09-2008, 07:05 PM

Looks good I like!

**Levilz** · 03-09-2008, 07:14 PM

Thanks

**Mustang Killa** · 03-14-2008, 01:02 AM

is that stuff safe to use w/the tires on?

**JoshieDoom** · 03-14-2008, 01:19 AM

My chrome is starting to chip on my stockies

**Mustang Killa** · 03-14-2008, 01:27 AM

Originally Posted by JoshieDoom

My chrome is starting to chip on my stockies

did u use the stuff he used above?

**JoshieDoom** · 03-14-2008, 11:23 AM

Negative.

**The Guz** · 03-14-2008, 11:45 AM

They came out nice. I suggest you use some type of sealer to make it easier to maintian the shine. Also makes it easier to keep the wheel clean.

**z28md** · 03-14-2008, 01:43 PM

awesome shine

**JoshieDoom** · 03-14-2008, 09:48 PM

Im thinking about going to some vette rims when money comes around. My stockies have been curbed.. hard..

**Levilz** · 03-16-2008, 10:22 AM

Originally Posted by Mustang Killa

is that stuff safe to use w/the tires on?

Yeah, you can do it with the tires on. You just have to be careful not to let it get on the tire. I'm pretty sure it would eat the rubber if it was in contact with it very long. I left the rubber stems on the wheels when I did mine. I kept the stripper cleaned off of them and it didn't hurt anything.

**Levilz** · 03-16-2008, 10:23 AM

Originally Posted by The Guz

They came out nice. I suggest you use some type of sealer to make it easier to maintian the shine. Also makes it easier to keep the wheel clean.

I thought about letting it go for a while without sealing just to see how the shine will hold up. I don't drive the car a whole lot lately, so we'll see. If it seems to be a pain, I'll probably go that route