Wheel Re-finishing dilemma

[maniacmatt]

So I had new tires mounted on the weekend and the tire shop damaged the clearcoat on 3 of my Ronal LS's.

I talked to a wheel re-finishing shop in town and they said I have two options. Option 1 is to remove the clearcoat on the outer lip and re-clear the outer lip. Option 2 is to remove the clear on the outer lip and high polish the aluminum on the outer lip and not re-clear it.

Now the tire shop has agreed to pay for 3 of the wheels and the wheel shop has recommended I have all 4 done no matter what as they cannot gaurantee the finish will match 100%. So I am going to have to pay out of pocket for the 4th wheel no matter what.

I am leaning toward the high polish no clear option right now for a couple of reasons. It is 25$ per wheel cheaper so I save myself 25 bucks on that fourth wheel, there would be no clear-coat to be damaged in the future and I think it might look a little better.

So what I am wondering is what would you recommend? How difficult will it be to care for high polish aluminum without clear-coat?

[silversleeper]

High polish lips/Nogaro centers

[z31maniac]

How difficult will it be to care for high polish aluminum without clear-coat?

Had polished aluminum wheels on my old Z, HUGE pain in the ass to keep looking nice.

I'd go for fresh clearcoat. Is $25 really that much money?

[Madhatter]

If you dont clear coat them you will have to keep up regular polishing and waxing to remove the grime and tarnish (basically corrosion) that builds up on them. If you at all want to keep them looking nice, clean and bright, plan on spending nearly a couple hours cleaning and polishing them. You really should wash and polish them every weekend otherwise the shine will start to dull. The other problem is brake dust from certain pads can be a little corrosive, so again it contributes to the problem.

However, if you really want that highly polished shine, this is only possible with high grit polishing.

A clear coated surface basically protects the metal below, it starves off dirt and grit, moisture and corrision, so it generally takes less maintenance to keep them looking clean. A quality clear coat will take years to yellow or cloud over and will be very robust against contaminants.

The downside is, you cant grit polish a metal surface then clear coat it, the clear has problems bonding to the surface so the best you can hope for is a machined finish bringing a lustre. Its not as bright as a polished metal, but it still has a shine to it and it looks clean.

Personally, for long term use, I go with a clear coat. If i was building a car and was committed to looking after them every week, scrubbing, cleaning and polishing, then getting some wax in to them, nothing looks better than a polished metal gleaming in the sun.

Had polished aluminum wheels on my old Z, HUGE pain in the ass to keep looking nice.

I'd go for fresh clearcoat. Is $25 really that much money?

:pimp:

[z31maniac]

^Your post would be FTW, but 2+2 = weak sauce!

I'll eventually get another Z31, when I can afford to do an s14 or z32 rear subframe swap.

[Madhatter]

what about a 2+2 50th AE? ;)