I have a nice set of 5-lug steelies...... would like to strip them myself. Looking for your advice on how to go about stipping the wheels in my garage.

1. I am DIY skills, so just need to know the best way to accomplish the task without having a sand-blaster.

2. Would prefer an "eco-friendly" option, as my wife tends to support my hobbies until she she's/smells fumes and chemicals.

3. Also, the wheels I have were pulled from a running car, so they have the rubber air nubs attached. Are these rare? Easy to replace? Should I attempt to keep them in place during the stripping/painting??? Or just remove and replace? Can I remove them without damage? Or are they ruined when removing?

Thank you for your suggestions.

Cheers!

ps - someone recommended "aircraft paint remover". I have seen it for sale at my local hardware store. Is this a good option??

Take them to your local blaster/powder coater. Glass bead blast. Prime and paint. If the paint is in good condition, scuff and paint. You will probably not be a happy camper after you remove the paint yourself from the first wheel.

wire brush.
sand paper
paint them up....

Aircraft stripper will smell up the house for a week.

The correct color is hard(er) to find. They should be a dull silver to look right.

hose them down with brake clean, some over paints might just "wash off " with that.

Using paint stripper is tricky. If it get's in a seam you can not get it out and it will slowly decide to ooze out over the next couple of years. This means that it will continue to eat your new paint away for the next couple of years. You can generally get the blasted for $25 a wheel or cheaper. For that money why deal with the mess? Pay it and find another project to take up your time....

The seam is tricky for sure. The sandblasting doesn't go in there well. May have to carve it out with a knife to get it clean. Do not powder coat, when it gets in the seam it will not come out, don't ask me how I know!

Paul

I can imagine paint stripper living in there and coming out slowly like previous post said...

John Paterek used a Boxster silver on my wheels, call him and ask him, it's a perfect color.

Paul

Thank you all for the advice!

1. I will look around for a good stripper (ha ha!) to blast the wheels... if I can get a good price.

2. I might try spraying myself..... I have a great automotive paint supplier in my area.

3. I have researched, and the paint seems to be calls "light argent"??? I would prefer to go a little darker silver.... not going for the restoration look. (just a little lighter, BTW)

The wheels are in GREAT shape. No visible rust, stored in-doors, etc.

Thank you all for the advice.... kept me from using a liquid paint stripper that would have been a mess.

Cheers!

Good plan. Leave the mess somewhere else. I've already done all the stuff that pisses off the wife so you'll know what not to do.

This is probably the best way unless your budget prohibits it or you just have to do it yourself. In that case there are some good ideas and suggestions in this thread.

I took mine to Les Schwab, for $30 a wheel they blasted and re powder coated in a metallic silver. Not stock but for the price. The silver is not stock, but they do look good.
-Mark

Mark - I was considering that route. Question.... what's involved in "stripping" powdercoat in the future were I not happy with the powdercoating???

I like the idea of PC for the durability. I have painted whells myself in the past..... looks great for a while, then I scratch them up with basic handling....

Let me know what you know about the Powder Coat removal process.

Cheers!

Robert

I've removed powder coat. It can be a bitch x 10. But the up side is its durability.

Plastic dip for a quick solution. They now mix colors

Mikey -

Can you email me a pic of your "Metallic Silver" wheel that you had done at Les Schwab? I called my local shop and they indeed charge $25 per wheel for shipping, stripping, powder coating and boxing up..... WOW!!!

Now I am curious to see the Metallic Silver on a wheel.....

If you can, please email to me at: robert@northbayofficefurniture.com

Cheers!

Wow - my local shop charges $100/wheel. I just bought a set of fuchs instead of paying to refinish. For $25, i would have done it.

I found that the industrial purple degreaser from Home Depot strips paint if used undiluted.
It took my engine tins down to bare metal with almost zero scraping.

The problem is finding a big enough tub to soak them in.

the les schwab wheel plant in bend oregon, that's where they're done, RUINED a set of my steelies by not clearing the inner/outer section recess of blast media and p coated right over it. all 4 wheels to different degrees. if i had it to do over, i'd have them blasted, clean them to my satisfaction, get the correct wurth(?) rattle can, and be done with it. btw, i didn't pay for the wheel work, pointed out the nightmare, told them the work was unacceptable, put them in my car and drove all the way home at a low boil.

Update: I stopped in to the local Les Schwab and they have a new program - THEYU WILL MATCH ANY COLOR IN POWDERCOAT!!!!!

Ok... so it's not all that great.

First of all, you can give them a color to match, but the price will be considerably higher tan the $30/wheel. Still, it seems like a good resource for non-concour wheels painting.

Second, they are ordering powder coat samples for me of stock ($30/wheel) silver colors (their current Metallic Silver is a bot too glittery for my taste. Nice, just not what I have in mind). If the sample silver colors actually arrive, I will be impressed at the service, considering they offered to order free samples of silver. Right?

I will keep you all posted.

And thank you for all of your experiences - especially the bad experiences. I did consider your experience, and decided to try my local shop anyway. I will accept any mess-ups, but expect to be impressed based on my experience so far.

I should see samples next week.....