[78w72]

pics of powder clear. aside from the crappy paint work in the silver areas, mainly notice the orange peel look powder clears can get, & possibility of debris.

ive seen it better on say the year one 17" snowflakes but thats done by a major company with at least some quality control & its very thin. normal powder coat is thick like this & ruins the sharp edges & adds a too glossy artificial looking finish... but some guys might like that. IMO, natural aluminum looks much better & can be maintained & re-polished if needed.

[78w72]

bare aluminum... sooo much nice looking with sharp edges. in person these rims actually throw "rainbows" when the sun hits them, kind of like a prism effect.

wether you go with a smooth hand polished look or have them done by a company that can turn them on a lathe with light machine grooves like the factory original, i say no clear. save the clear for daily drivers that need the protection.

[allenga]

Originally Posted by 78w72

bare aluminum... sooo much nice looking with sharp edges. in person these rims actually throw "rainbows" when the sun hits them, kind of like a prism effect.

wether you go with a smooth hand polished look or have them done by a company that can turn them on a lathe with light machine grooves like the factory original, i say no clear. save the clear for daily drivers that need the protection.

Are these polished?

[78w72]

Originally Posted by allenga

Are these polished?

nope, these are unpolished bare aluminum. this is how they look when they are turned on a lathe into fresh aluminum & can be just as shiny if done by hand. i have never had the need to polish them at all, just keep em clean & apply a very light quick wax once every year or 2.

regardless of if you have them hand polished or done by a professional wheel restoration company, they look much better without powder clear & wont have problems if the clear is chipped of dinged.

[allenga]

Originally Posted by 78w72

nope, these are unpolished bare aluminum. this is how they look when they are turned on a lathe into fresh aluminum & can be just as shiny if done by hand. i have never had the need to polish them at all, just keep em clean & apply a very light quick wax once every year or 2.

regardless of if you have them hand polished or done by a professional wheel restoration company, they look much better without powder clear & wont have problems if the clear is chipped of dinged.

But if I am painting gold, you would clear the gold just not the aluminum.

[TAKerry]

Thanks. I will give that stuff a shot. My entire engine bay has been restored and I pretty much just wipe things down, but it always seems to be lacking that extra pop.

[TAKerry]

BWB, your car looks great, sorry to hijack, but how do you get the black in the engine compartment to look so good? Mine is pretty clean by most standards but the black parts just look blah.

[Bentwheelbob]

Well, speaking of OCD, I might just suffer from a small dose of that as well.....

I did a full restoration under the hood a few years back, but stopped short of removing the sheetmetal. The inner fenders, brackets, air cleaner, et cetera were powder coated, while the cowl, firewall, and core support were painted. The original engine was replaced with a stroked XX block with all correct W72 pieces including heads, carb, intake, and exhaust manifolds to retain stock appearance. Since then I keep it clean by wiping it down with Simple Green and using Aerospace 303 on the rubber and plastic bits.

Here's a link to the thread on the car.

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...d.php?t=755425

[allenga]

Guys, need your advice. The rim shop I have is the best in my area. They cannot get my snowflakes right and are about to wash their hands of my issue. They have redone my wheels twice. They paint gold, powder clear, then machine off powder from spokes. They cannot stop chipping and delaminating the clear from the pockets during machining. I am in $780.

I was to pick up rims today and they look like crap. Owner was not there. I left the wheels there for owner in morning. I expect him to tell me to get them, its all they can do. Not sure if he will refund my money.

In the photo, its hard to tell, but its clear delaminated, forced off the surface of the wheel by a millimeter, by the blade. Looks awful. I really wanted the look of a factory 15x7 on my car. :-(

[TAKerry]

That's a shame they turned out that way. I said before that mine were cleared, but it was sprayed on not powder coat and they came out quite good. Hope your luck is better the second time around and good luck with the grills. The guys also painted the back of my wheels gold, I wasn't too keen on it but you need to be lying on your back under the car to see them so I dont mind that much (besides they are not the correct wheel for my car!).