Clear coat aluminum wheels

[Will12785]

I recently picked up a set of factory Ford Alcoa wheels to put on my truck. The wheels lived a hard ife of NY winters and had flaked off a lot of their original coating. Because of this, I decided to have them sandblasted. Now I'm not sure what direction to go with them.

What are the benefits or drawbacks of having them clearcoated? What should be considered before making my decision?

[glen e]

Use 2k clearcoat—-tough stuff….

[evo77]

Assuming after sandblasting you'll finish them out to polished aluminum again...

Pros: Clearcoat will keep the finish protected just like the paint on your car. And you can wash them and wax them just like the paint on your car.

Cons: Will dull and stain really quickly when exposed to water. You will have to constantly polish them by hand often to make them look nice.

[Sizzle Chest]

Get them powder coated

[Bobby B.]

I always enjoy seeing a set of polished aluminum wheels on trucks. Once they've been sandblasted get them professionally polished to a mirror like finish and either ceramic coat them or clear coat them. If you take care of them with a ceramic coating you can easily re-polish them with a quality metal polish by hand and reapply the coating. If you decide to clear coat them there's always a chance that the aluminum with corrode underneath the clear coat and the only way to fix that is to strip the clear coat back off. Clear coated aluminum wheels are much easier to maintain, but nothing looks nicer than a set of polished aluminum wheels with no clear coat.

You could also get them powder coated. Lots of color options to choose from when going this route.

Good luck with the Alcoa wheels.

[Will12785]

I always enjoy seeing a set of polished aluminum wheels on trucks. Once they've been sandblasted get them professionally polished to a mirror like finish and either ceramic coat them or clear coat them. If you take care of them with a ceramic coating you can easily re-polish them with a quality metal polish by hand and reapply the coating. If you decide to clear coat them there's always a chance that the aluminum with corrode underneath the clear coat and the only way to fix that is to strip the clear coat back off. Clear coated aluminum wheels are much easier to maintain, but nothing looks nicer than a set of polished aluminum wheels with no clear coat.

You could also get them powder coated. Lots of color options to choose from when going this route.

Good luck with the Alcoa wheels.

This is the route I'm going to go with. I'm looking for that polished aluminum look and hadn't considered ceramic before. Thanks for the recommendation!

[Matador]

For me, the beneift of staying non polished is the SHINE you'll get from them when polished. BUUUT because tehy're non polished, the draw back then is maintenance, pittting, etc.

[Will12785]

So here's the plan, now that the wheels are back from sandblasting.

I'm going to wet sand them 600, 800, then 1000 grit.

After that I'll use Wolfgang MetallWerk Aluminum Polishing Kit. Ill apply it with Lake Country 6.5 FLAT Pads starting with yellow, then white, then blue.

Once it's fully polished I'll finish the job with Wolfgang Uber Ceramic Coating Complete Kit.

[Sizzle Chest]

Pics before during and after!!! Have fun!

[Desertnate]

Get them powder coated

This would be my advice too.

I've owned four vehicles with wheels which were totally polished/brushed metal and clear coat or with a mixed brushed/painted areas. In all four cases the clear coat has failed despite my best attempts at maintaining them. Never again. They look good, but the clear coat layer never seems very durable when applied to a brushed metal surface. I think a nice hyper silver powder coated finish with a gloss top layer would look just as good and be far more durable.