I have a fairly cheap set of rims, but i like very much..

the lip is clear coated and throughout the years ive curbed them and the clearcoat cracks off in some areas.

i wasnt sure exacltly how to repair it...

can I sand it down to the metal with 1500 grit w/a palm sander and then spray rattle can clear coat on top?

i find that when trying to polish an area of the polished lip, it just stands out compared to the clear coated part.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by spray2020 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I have a fairly cheap set of rims, but i like very much..

the lip is clear coated and throughout the years ive curbed them and the clearcoat cracks off in some areas.

i wasnt sure exacltly how to repair it...

can I sand it down to the metal with 1500 grit w/a palm sander and then spray rattle can clear coat on top?

i find that when trying to polish an area of the polished lip, it just stands out compared to the clear coated part.</TD></TR></TABLE>

It'll be hard for clear coat to stick to bare metal, but if you're careful, you can get it to work right for you.

 

well then how did the clear coat get on the lip in the first place?

i hope that if i sand the areas that are bad to 1500 grit, then the clearcoat will stick.

 

pics or model of particular rim, please?


most wheels are sprayed w/ clear powder coat or anodize from the factory.. look into zoopseal or pelucid by POR-15...u need some type of self etching type surface for the clear to hang onto like matt said above.

if the curb rash is on the very edge of the wheel (on the bead) then i would just carefully sand down w/ 220 grit and then skip up a couple hundred grits while wet sanding.. until u finally get up to 2000 grit or more and then use compound and metal polish

 

^as you can kind of see- the cracking clear coat goes from the outer rim of the lip and around to the inner part as well- so its very noticable.

One the one puic I had tried to sand the edges of the clear coat to feather it, but it just looked worse.

and in the other pic shows there are some deeper scratches around the outer lip

i was going to use this sander:



and a guy on clubrsx told me this

"Sand it smooth using the least agressive sand paper that you can and then switch to water sanding. Keep going to finer and finer grits until you get a nice smooth surface.

Then you will need to metal polish it. Once you are done with the polish, clean it up with brake cleaner then hit it with the clear coat.

You are probably going to have to do the whole lip if you really don't want an area to stand out."

 

for reference, clearcoated wheels use powdercoating not paint.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by nikolai. &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">for reference, clearcoated wheels use powdercoating not paint. </TD></TR></TABLE>
thank u but that was already covered in my first post, sir
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by spray2020 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

"Sand it smooth using the least aggressive sand paper that you can and then switch to water sanding. Keep going to finer and finer grits until you get a nice smooth surface.

Then you will need to metal polish it. Once you are done with the polish, clean it up with brake cleaner then hit it with the clear coat.

You are probably going to have to do the whole lip if you really don't want an area to stand out."</TD></TR></TABLE>

well..does the rash have any dips in it? if it does then u will need to use a lower grit to manipulate the metal to be smooth again....

the key to spraying clear on bare metal is to get the least amount of air under the clear before you do it and u will need to use a special type of clear coat.

 

should I get rid of the clear coat around the whole lip?

or should I just get the damaged areas smooth, and spray the clear over the whole lip- including the existing clear that wasnt damaged?

what type of clear might you be talking about?

do you think repairing the lip is possible?

 

so after getting the metal sanded with 2000 grit.... i polish it with mothers, and then use zoopseal?

there are some rashes that have dips.

 

bump

anyone else have any advice?