[allenga]

Originally Posted by 78w72

also if they havent done them yet, i would call first thing monday & tell them to only machine off the bare minimum to remove the clear, not a full depth pass as if they were doing them the 1st time. otherwise, you may run into another major issue i had with the 1st set i had done, they machined them too deep & it caused the outside edge of the wheels to be so thin it was almost razor sharp & my tire guy said he wouldnt run them like that for safety issues with the metal being too thin in the area where the tire beads up. it also made the lug nut circles protrude into the center cap hole area & looked like crap! these wheels really only have 1 full pass of material before other issues can show up like pitting & what i mention above. heres pics of that to show what im describing... hopefully that doesnt happen to yours.

Thanks for the info. I will do that.

[Bentwheelbob]

Do that, but buy used ones and start over. You’ll never be happy with those. Maybe you aren’t OCD, but you like things right and sweat the details just like an OCD person.

Where are you located? It always makes me wonder when someone doesn’t include at least some reference to their geographic location.

[allenga]

Originally Posted by Bentwheelbob

Do that, but buy used ones and start over. You’ll never be happy with those. Maybe you aren’t OCD, but you like things right and sweat the details just like an OCD person.

Where are you located? It always makes me wonder when someone doesn’t include at least some reference to their geographic location.

They are coming off Monday for re-maching. These rims will stay with the car. On to the grill restoration next...

[78 TA KID]

I had my 15 X 8 snowflakes professionally restored two years ago. I think they came out good....

[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!).

[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. :-(

[Aus78Formula]

Expected that was going to happen, the clear is far too thick and bonds to itself more than previous surfaces. Shame, they look good, although every machine job makes the spokes wider and wider, which in itself still looks good but less from original.

Not sure there is any 'easy fix' for this beyond stripping the paint by soda blasting and masking up the machined surfaces, which is of course, not the way to do these either, but you can't keep machining either. Perhaps you can get a special deal on another set, but clear coat them after machining or at least not with powdercoat prior to machining. I'm not sure if another powdercoated clear coat now would actually help hold the current clear in place or not to prevent further peeling. Perhaps approach a few powdercoat guys for ideas.

Sell the current set which won't cover much of the outlay. The machining was always going to cost twice the value of the rims. Luckily they are still fairly cheap as not a particularly sought after rim, but that's still spending more money in order to get slightly more back than now.

[TAKerry]

I would question the shops integrity if they keep doing it wrong and charging you. You should be paying for a finished job, not a learning curve. I would not let them keep machining the surface. I dont understand why they are clear coating before they do the machine work to begin with. If these were mine, rather than continuing with a problem, I think I would take them as is, put them on the car (they are not right, but dont look bad) until I got another set that could be finished correctly. Then switch them out.

[Aus78Formula]

They weren't originally, but he wasn't happy with the clear over the machined surfaces so attempted to machine it off again.

[TAKerry]

I know this clear coat thing has about been beat to death, BUT, my experience with polishing wheels, going back to about 1979, is that the aluminum, magnesium, chrome is the hardest part to polish. IF I were going to omit the clear coat on that surface I surely would not worry about putting clear on the painted areas. IMO, I would simply use a single stage paint that did not need to be cleared over. All that is needed to clean that surface is a quick wipe with a microfibre.

[allenga]

Originally Posted by TAKerry

I would question the shops integrity if they keep doing it wrong and charging you. You should be paying for a finished job, not a learning curve. I would not let them keep machining the surface. I dont understand why they are clear coating before they do the machine work to begin with. If these were mine, rather than continuing with a problem, I think I would take them as is, put them on the car (they are not right, but dont look bad) until I got another set that could be finished correctly. Then switch them out.

They clear the whole rim then machine off the fins as the clear looks like crap on the fins. They can't just clear the pockets.

[78w72]

that is how mine were done too.. they did the color & clear on the whole rim, then machined it off since i said i wanted no clear after the nightmare with the first set.

[allenga]

Originally Posted by 78w72

that is how mine were done too.. they did the color & clear on the whole rim, then machined it off since i said i wanted no clear after the nightmare with the first set.

Did you have issues with the clear peeling off the pockets after machining?

[78w72]

Originally Posted by allenga

Did you have issues with the clear peeling off the pockets after machining?

no, no issues at all. pefectly sharp edges on all the fins. & to clarify, the silver pockets on mine were powder color & clear, they color & clear the entire rim then machined off the aluminum faces i wanted no clear on. that is how these companies do the rims, you cant really do a sharp edge like on these wheels with powders, too many edges & countours to mask them off & powder isnt applied like a paint to allow for that type of masking. the place that did mine had no issues with doing no clear, in fact i recall it was a standard option to have clear or no clear.

personally, i would be asking that place to make them right for the quoted price, or just cut your losses & walk away. use them as is since it doesnt look that bad, or sell them on ebay & mention the minor issue with the clear... then find a new/used set & use a different company. or step up to 15x8's & buy the new repro ones, they are fully cleared but as i mentioned earlier, they look very nice & dont cost much more than what you pay to restore originals.

[Firedup6975]

Ok now that you kids are done with your OCD malarkey has anyone used the gold paint from Summit called Placer Gold? I need a picture please. I like the fact it al ready in the spray can ready to use, instead of having to set up a spray gun and mixing etc. Wheels are about to get prepped for paint as soon as I find one wheel I need as one of the ones I was gonna use has a chunk out of the edge. Here’s a couple pics you guys might like, Mike loves to fabricate stuff, and made a tool to spin and polish the wheels. I will post pics of done wheels when done. These pics are just of the wheel being fitted to this dohicky thingy lol.

[Aus78Formula]

Machining after clear coat is asking for troubles also, it leaves a sharp edge of paint only at each spoke which will chip and peel more easily than it should. Each cut will need to be deburred upwards to taper the paint edge.

Plenty have used the Placer Gold paint. It's based on the same paint code as Firebird used but every company wanted their own name. Will it match your current restored, 40 year old original or repro rims, possibly not but as close as you'll get without custom mixing.

[burd]

Mask your rims with elec tape. Use an a Xacto knife to trim each opening, lightly bead blast, not in the cabinet type, paint done. This way you don’t ruin the cut marks in. The face. I then put never dull on the face. It seals for oxidation ., or Johnson’s paste wax, I did mine in the 80’s, still nice.
Then stack them, get a pc of plexi cur and polished, now their a nice stand up table. Lol. Like I said before, me, I’m tired of the Disco wheel.

[Poncho Dave]

Love the wheel doohickey! Need to make one for myself. Got over three sets of wheels to do. One set will probably end up as a table like Burd’s as I run the 8” rather than the 7”.

[Formulabruce]

Originally Posted by Firedup6975

Ok now that you kids are done with your OCD malarkey has anyone used the gold paint from Summit called Placer Gold? I need a picture please. I like the fact it al ready in the spray can ready to use, instead of having to set up a spray gun and mixing etc. Wheels are about to get prepped for paint as soon as I find one wheel I need as one of the ones I was gonna use has a chunk out of the edge. Here’s a couple pics you guys might like, Mike loves to fabricate stuff, and made a tool to spin and polish the wheels. I will post pics of done wheels when done. These pics are just of the wheel being fitted to this dohicky thingy lol.

Things I have learned, and I have refinished a few.
1. The Aluminum where you paint CANNOT be perfectly smooth.
2. You do NOT want to use a " non catalyzed " paint ( one stage from a paint spray bomb) 2 stage paint with a catalyst bonds to activator to the color AND to the substrate being painted IF it has a good " tooth" surface.
This information is for cars being driven. Obviously a show only car gets pampering.
3. Spray clear coating. You want to use a catalyzed 2 part clear for spot repair, med dry time. This is thinner than your finish clear or high solids clear on a restoration. Eastwood has a 2k spray can clear I have used and it works well, no mixing, just shaking up the can.
4. I have taped off the spokes with high heat tape and powder coated the color before with good results.
5. You Cannot powder coat clear over a spray bomb paint, even if it is high heat, or catalyzed, with good results.

[Firedup6975]

Originally Posted by Formulabruce

Things I have learned, and I have refinished a few.
1. The Aluminum where you paint CANNOT be perfectly smooth.
2. You do NOT want to use a " non catalyzed " paint ( one stage from a paint spray bomb) 2 stage paint with a catalyst bonds to activator to the color AND to the substrate being painted IF it has a good " tooth" surface.
This information is for cars being driven. Obviously a show only car gets pampering.
3. Spray clear coating. You want to use a catalyzed 2 part clear for spot repair, med dry time. This is thinner than your finish clear or high solids clear on a restoration. Eastwood has a 2k spray can clear I have used and it works well, no mixing, just shaking up the can.
4. I have taped off the spokes with high heat tape and powder coated the color before with good results.
5. You Cannot powder coat clear over a spray bomb paint, even if it is high heat, or catalyzed, with good results.

Thank you I will share this with Mike