Removing Clearcoat From Wheels?

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Apr 9, 2008
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Central NY
Went to the junkyard over the weekend to get some winter wheels for my Grand Marquis. Being a 2000, it has the "RWD Offset" style wheels - low backspace. Even my 16'' factory Jeep wheels won't work because they have too much backspace!

The only matching set of wheels I could find was from two Rangers and an Explorer Sport Trac. This style wheel:clicky The only difference between the Ranger and Sport Trac wheels are the Ranger wheels have some gray paint on the spokes.

The Ranger wheels are corroded around the stud holes, but the finish on the sport trac wheel is done. That turned out to be the easiest, with the clearcoat almost completely gone, I was ableto sand it and get it looking pretty good with some 140 grit sand paper! This one is almost ready for paint.

How should I remove the clear coat from the Ranger wheels? They're corroded some and I'll get a little off, but I won't be able to remove all of the clear easily. I'm okay with sanding to scratch it up enough to take a primer, but worried about peeling in the future.
 
I'm going to have to take the clear coat off my Accord's wheels pretty soon. I'd prefer to do it one wheel at a time with the tires still on.

I've been thinking of using a heat gun. But I don't know if you can get something with that much mass hot enough and whether the tires would like it.

Paint stripper might work, but once again, possibly hard on the tires. And there might be a gummy residue left along the edge of the tire.

I'm going to need new tires pretty soon. The best option may be to take all the wheels off, have them bead blasted and then have new tires put on. All in all a bit of a logistical nightmare.
 
I'm going to have to take the clear coat off my Accord's wheels pretty soon. I'd prefer to do it one wheel at a time with the tires still on.

I've been thinking of using a heat gun. But I don't know if you can get something with that much mass hot enough and whether the tires would like it.

Paint stripper might work, but once again, possibly hard on the tires. And there might be a gummy residue left along the edge of the tire.

I'm going to need new tires pretty soon. The best option may be to take all the wheels off, have them bead blasted and then have new tires put on. All in all a bit of a logistical nightmare.

These are junkyard wheels with junk tires on them. I'll be pulling the tires off soon anyway.
 
I'm going to have to take the clear coat off my Accord's wheels pretty soon. I'd prefer to do it one wheel at a time with the tires still on.

I've been thinking of using a heat gun. But I don't know if you can get something with that much mass hot enough and whether the tires would like it.

Paint stripper might work, but once again, possibly hard on the tires. And there might be a gummy residue left along the edge of the tire.

I'm going to need new tires pretty soon. The best option may be to take all the wheels off, have them bead blasted and then have new tires put on. All in all a bit of a logistical nightmare.
You can't properly refinish wheels without removing the tires, so just come to terms with it
 
Why not just buy brand new steel wheels for the police car p71 style? Ive bought them for $50 online. They were made up to 17" diameter and will obviosly fit your car correctly.

 
Why not just buy brand new steel wheels for the police car p71 style? Ive bought them for $50 online. They were made up to 17" diameter and will obviosly fit your car correctly.


It's easy to find cheap steelies for the 03+ panther cars.

Steel wheels for a 98-02 (low backspace) are about $100 / each online.

Plus part of the fun is doing the DIY restore
 
I would assume he doesn't want the cop car look for a Mercury, and then there is the expense of buying all four.

I love steel wheels. If I was able to get steel wheels for under $400 I would have gone that route. My avatar is a steel wheel for a reason 😎
 
Those are the wheels I was looking for. They're also the regular steel wheels on these cars that came with hubcaps, and spare tire on the explorer sport trac and 16'' ranger spare wheel.

But that's 10% of the purchase price of the car to get those shipped in. This is a budget friendly vehicle. The $150 at the junkyard for all 4 works out pretty well.

Even if I do need to take extra time to strip them. Will be a nice winter project!
 
Then Check Craigslist and FB MP. Had a set of steels with tires from a Cruze. Only got $80. Few people want steel wheels so they should be cheap.

The problem is these cars are so old that they've been cycled through. They have all been scrapped due to rust. So no one really has wheels kicking around. 2003+ cars on this platform used more traditional wheels.

The worst part is ... up until about 2 years ago I had a set of 2000 CPVI steel wheels and 1999 Towncar wheels . Would have worked perfect. Figured I'd never need them so I got rid of them.
 
You could always pick up the whole car at a salvage auction for less than the cost of wheels.

Hmmm. I like the seats in that too! Good parts car! HPP suspension and 3.27 rear - nice upgrade!
 
@Miller88, I’ve repainted 2 sets of oem takeoffs with damaged clear coat. Have a set on my f150 now. I use whatever is the quickest to get the peeling stuff off. 220 grit, fingernails, whatever. There’s a lot of electo-applied “black chrome” finishes and such out there which comes off fast, with dealers replacing these newish wheels due to poor paint. For an AL wheel, 220 grit over a sponge has worked well for me, and then 400 and then XXX steel wool. Soap and water to wash, air to blow ever clean, then a few coats or VHT or duplicolor rim and wheel paint, followed by a couple of coats of matching clear. Duplicolor lays down easier for me, but VHT sprays more consistently. Both shoot better in cooler temps; VHT likes to show orange peel.

7-10 days to harden, for real, then mount and balance. It won’t be as solid as good oem coatings, but by no means have these been shabby.
 
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