[78w72]

factory snowflakes were cleared when new with a very thin clear. it would wear or flake off after many years on the rims ive seen. my snowflakes back in the early 90's wore the clear off to where if you polished by hand the rag would get the black residue from the bare aluminum, would shine up real nice though, you just had to keep up on them or they would oxidize & dull.

rims i have now were sent off for restoration & cut into fresh metal on a lathe, they usually clear coat them with a powder coat clear... but it comes out very orange peeled & can get lint or debris in it & not look very good. not too mention that if you get a chip in it they cant really be touched up right & possibility for yellowing after many years of use & brake dust etc. i chose to not have them cleared to avoid those issues & they look excellent. i just do a light waxing on them once a year & they have stayed looking like new for over 9 years now.

so i say no clear if its not a daily driver in harsh conditions. just a little maintnance will keep them looking great & no clear issues.

[pippintook]

I have read where the Factory did not clearcoat the snowflake wheels.

78w72 - it sounds like you are saying the Factory clearcoated the entire wheel including the center sections and the aluminum spokes and lip.

As we know, they were quite a few different snowflake wheels used by the Factory and different configurations (ie. different colors for painting center section and in some years no painting of center sections?).

I have a 78 TA with WS6 wheels. When I redid my 78 WS6 snowflake wheels (about 8-10 years ago ?), I painted the centers Argent Silver and sprayed a clearcoat over the Argent Silver. Cheap rattle can stuff I lightly sanded and polished the spokes. This caused the spokes to lose some of the machining marks that were in the spokes. The rest of the wheel (lip, area from lip to spokes) was left natural aluminum. The spokes, lip and area from lip to spokes polishes up real nice. I used Mothers alum mag polish and always looks great.

But, I drive my car quite a bit and it sees rain once in a while. My cheap rattle can clear on the Argent Silver center sections has started to yellow a bit.
- though, again this is after 8-10 years. Whenever, I polish the spokes and the rest of the rim - again, the wheel looks great. But, for me - often I don't have the time to polish and cleaning the wheels can be a bit tedious. Kind of dread cleaning the wheels - it is a pain.

I have tried some good wheel specific waxes (ie. Chemical Guys wheel guard wax) This helps - the alum spokes and wheel stay shiny a bit longer and the wheels seem to repel dirt a bit better. I can just do quick spray with hose and gets rid of much of the dirt - then a light wipe and wheels look decent.

I am going to repaint my centers this winter. I thought maybe I would try my Harbor Freight soda blaster and clean the center sections of paint/clear. I was thinking maybe give center sections a light coating of a SPI grey epoxy primer , some argent silver and then some SPI Universal Clear Centers should hold up decent and be easy to clean.

I would like to polish the spokes and the lip and area between the lip and spokes and get them nice and shiny. Then, I would love to put something on the polished aluminum to reduce my maintenance and make cleaning easier. I was thinking of clearcoating the polished aluminum or powdercoating.

Possibly, if clearcoating, use something like SPI Universal Clear with spi adhesion promoter. This thread discusses clearing polished aluminum - though this is for a grille and not wheels
http://www.spiuserforum.com/index.ph...aluminum.4080/

Some recommend Bulldog Adhesion Promoter and then clear over that others advise using Sharkhide-though might not be best if wheel is highly polished. It seems with powdercoating or clearing polished aluminum wheels there can be issues - dealing with chips, cost etc. I might just keep doing what I have been doing...and polish the spokes and rim lip (space between lip and spokes)
every once in a while. This always works and looks good.

[78w72]

Originally Posted by pippintook

I have read where the Factory did not clearcoat the snowflake wheels.

78w72 - it sounds like you are saying the Factory clearcoated the entire wheel including the center sections and the aluminum spokes and lip.

As we know, they were quite a few different snowflake wheels used by the Factory and different configurations (ie. different colors for painting center section and in some years no painting of center sections?).

from what ive seen on the 15x8 WS6 snowflakes over the years they looked to be cleared. & they would not have stayed shiny as long as they did if they were bare aluminum. it was a very thin possibly lacquer based clear, nothing like the thick stuff on more modern vehicles. when it started to wear off it would just look like a residue on the aluminum, no edge you could catch or peel up or anything like that. ive had quite a few sets of the 15x7 wheels too but never noticed anything obvious on them.

there were a few different designes of the snowflake so it's hard to say if they all were cleared or maybe they stopped using it in later years? i am also not the original owner of any of the wheels ive seen or the cars that i had so maybe someone sprayed some clear on them?

[78 TA KID]

Not to change the subject but. I have a set of the early 78 15x8 snowflakes argent rims. I'm looking to restore. Does anyone know the correct formula and color for these rims. So I can get some paint mixed up. Thanks guys

[78w72]

Originally Posted by 78 TA KID

Not to change the subject but. I have a set of the early 78 15x8 snowflakes argent rims. I'm looking to restore. Does anyone know the correct formula and color for these rims. So I can get some paint mixed up. Thanks guys

the color is just called "argent." not sure on a paint code or formula but im sure someone will chime in with that info.

[burd]

Originally Posted by 78 TA KID

Not to change the subject but. I have a set of the early 78 15x8 snowflakes argent rims. I'm looking to restore. Does anyone know the correct formula and color for these rims. So I can get some paint mixed up. Thanks guys

The paint chips I have have the blue, red and gray paint codes, the SE code I've never seen, you see body color, that's wrong.
I have a nos Kelsey Hayes 7" flake, it has the correct gray on. Could have that matched, it isn't faded either.