ScatchX before McKee's Wheel Coating?

[xantonin]

I have some nice wheels I got 2nd hand that I wanted to clean up and remove light scratches and scuffs from, and I had some ScratchX laying around, so I clayed and used it on the wheels, then I applied some McKee's Wheel Coating.

But then I started doing some research on Wheel Glaze VS Wheel Coating and some people said Wheel Coating needs a well prepped surface. Does ScratchX contain any oils that may prevent the wheel coating from adhering? Should I take any extra steps? I still have the wheels off the car still - waiting on new lug nuts to apply them.

[acuRAS82]

I believe ScratchX does contain oils. Not sure if the coating will adhere or not. I imagine there’s a decent chance longevity will be impacted, but that may be a debated topic.

[xantonin]

Yes, that was my thought as well. Hope I can get more insight on this.

Since I still have the wheels off, I'm wondering if it's worth re-coating them and if yes what that process would be.... On the other hand the coating is expensive too so is it worth it then, too? Hope to get more opinions here.

[acuRAS82]

The process to re-coat would be to polish again, then use a paint prep to remove the oils. Depending on how intricate the wheels are, you may want to consider seeing how long a wheel coating lasts on top of polishing oils. Worst case, it fails and you will lose the current coat. The drawback will be having to remove and replace the wheels again.

[acuRAS82]

Hopefully there are others who will chime in. Some have tested coatings on top of polishes without having done paint prep, but I don’t know what the results were.

[FUNX650]

Hopefully there are others who will
chime in. Some have tested coatings
on top of polishes without having done
paint prep, but I don’t know what the
results were.

Although (and except for making sure the
wheels are clean) McKee’s 37 Wheel Coating
instructions doesn’t call for any “special prep”
before it is applied.

•However:
Hasn’t it usually been the Coatings’ manu-
facturers advice that, in order for Coatings
to achieve the best results, they should be
applied to squeaky-clean surfaces?


•If it’s any consolation:
After the removal/buffing-off of its residue(s)...
I personally have never worried about leaving
behind any of ScratchX’s “polishing oils”; or,
even if they have any specific (harmful) affect
on LSPs of any designation/category.



Bob

[gspam1]

Hopefully there are others who will chime in. Some have tested coatings on top of polishes without having done paint prep, but I don’t know what the results were.

Paint prep to remove the polishing oils is simply a thorough wipe down of the wheels with a prep product or IPA. Why not spend another 10 minutes a wheel?

Sent from my SM-N950U using Autogeekonline mobile app

[acuRAS82]

Paint prep to remove the polishing oils is simply a thorough wipe down of the wheels with a prep product or IPA. Why not spend another 10 minutes a wheel?

Sent from my SM-N950U using Autogeekonline mobile app

The coating was put on without paint prep. Now the question is whether to redo or see how long it lasts as is.

[xantonin]

Paint prep to remove the polishing oils is simply a thorough wipe down of the wheels with a prep product or IPA. Why not spend another 10 minutes a wheel?

Sent from my SM-N950U using Autogeekonline mobile app

I'm somewhat new to coatings. I had originally bought the Wheel Glaze but went with the Wheel Coating instead. As FUNX650 mentioned, the directions don't specifically state anything extra is required to prep the wheels so I didn't think to do an IPA wipe. However, from the scent of the Wheel Coating, I would guess that it already has some alcohol in it so I feel it is maybe a dual function product (prep/coat?). It's interesting to apply because I couldn't tell how much was going on so I may have used too much but I've no reference point. I used about 4-5 sprays per wheel.

The wheels were pretty squeeky clean from the ScratchX though!

This question only came up because I started researching if I could use the Glaze first and then Coating and found a ton of threads saying "no! the coating won't adhere!" which got me concerned about how I used ScratchX first..

[acuRAS82]

I still think you may be OK, and maybe if the coating is compromised a little bit, who’s to say it won’t last 9 months rather than a year? To me, that’s worth a try, to put the wheels back on and live with it. They’re your wheels though so I fully support you in whatever direction you go.