JKelly

I bought some cup I wheels awhile back and would like to completely strip the paint off of them, repair the imperfections, and repaint.
Any ideas what products or techniques to use?

tomcat

Sand paper.

JKelly

no way!

I would have them sand blasted or something if it came down to that.

Mike Simard

If you have a local outdoor sandblaster and their prices are reasonable, that would be great. If you have to strip some paint, slop on the paint remover and seal it up with some Saran Wrap or a garbage bag, that will keep it from evaporating and you can leave it on a longer time, don't let it sit in the sun.

Mike Frye

Hey John,

I'm in the process of refurbing some phone dials that were donated by another 'lister. I tried some kind of 'green' stripper but it wasn't working very well (took off one coat at a time, but still lots of work).

Then I got 'Aircraft Remover' (made by Klean Strip?). It's a gel and when you put it on you can actually hear it bubbling the paint off. So far it's taken my two or three applications and I'm down to primer and bare paint using just that, a wire brush and some steel wool. It really takes most of the work out of it, but man, you don't want this stuff on you. It burns like a sonofabitch. Also, nitrile gloves only last a few seconds with a direct application, just long enough to swap them out with a new pair before they start to come apart. Strong stuff.

No affiliation.

tomcat

Hey now, I was serious.

I finished my rear wheels this summer. You can use sand paper to go down to the primer - pretty quickly. Some spots will go down to the aluminum. Then use build-up primer, finish sand, and paint. The only mistake I made was not finish sanding properly in some spots. If you look really closely, you can see where I left small sanding grooves in the primer.

chaadster

I had the factory paint on a set of Cup IIs media blasted with what were, if I recall rightly, walnut shells. I paid $20/per wheel to be cleaned down to the metal. I then powdercoated.

JHowell37

For paint stripper, use rubber gloves. Not latex, not nitrile. Some of the really heavy duty dish washing gloves will work fine.

JKelly

Alright gentlemen, I found THE STUFF. Got it a walmart.

Klean-Strip KS-3 Premium Stripper.
http://www.kleanstrip.com/removers.htm

I got it in a gel form and tried a little. It bubbles the paint and white primer layer off in less than a minute. It seems like there is three (maybe four) different layers of paint.
The glossy clear coat
The silver paint
The white primer layer
and a thick gray primer-like layer.

The KS-3 will easily take the paint off down to the thick gray primer stuff, then the gel needs to sit on it for a couple of minutes. I'm not sure whether to take the thick primer layer off and begin from the metal, or leave the layer on and buff it smooth, then prime over it.

Mike Frye

John,

That's the same company that makes the Aircraft Remover I was talking about. I took it down to the primer and now I'm sanding that smooth which cuts through to the bare metal in many places. I don't think it has to go all the way down to bare metal because you're just going to prime it again anyway.

I've got some spots I have to bondo, but now that I'm through the grey metallic paint and down to metal and primer, I'm going to start building up again.

Maybe someone who's not doing this for the first time can chime in? I'll post pics of the process if I'm successful.

JKelly

x2

Mike,

I was looking through the Klean Strip products, but didn't see the Aircraft Remover. The KS-3 looked like the most powerful stuff in the isle. I tried a few other chemicals yesterday, but none of them even took the gloss off the wheels.

What kind/brand of build-up primer are you using?
What color are you painting your wheels?

Mike Frye

John,

Looks like it's just you and me here.

The primer I got was Brite-Touch by Dupli-color? It's a general purpose instead of high-build primer. I looked for high-build, but didn't find any. I figure it's going to take at least 3-4 coats of primer with bondo and sanding in between anyway so it's going to smooth out and build up anyway.

I'm actually thinking of doing my wheels (OB phone dials) in gloss black because my car is grey and I don't think the silver would pop enough. I have stock silver manhold covers on there now and no matter what I do I can't keep them clean or make them stand out at all. I thought gloss black would really stand out, especially if I got the really nice centercaps that Nicole sells. I was planning this before I saw your poll and haven't seen them done in gloss black so I hope they come out OK.

I figure once I do that I'll be able to paint the calipers and actually see them through the wheel, so I'll have to figure out a color for that too. Red? Yellow with Red lettering? I dunno. Then the dark window tint and I'll be stylin'!

JHowell37

Once you use the stripper, you should go down to metal because you'll never know what the condition of the remaining paint will be after being exposed to the stripper.

3000teeth

Finished my phone-dials last week.

I used two small cans of Jasco I bought at OSH and medium grade (#1) steel wool. First application removed most of paint, second removed it all. Filled in any dings with JB weld and sanded that down with 220, then 400 grit sandpaper. Used extra fine grade (#000) steel wool and cleaned with alcohol between coats of paint and clear.

Here's a pic. I'm not entirely happy with the job I did, but I've gotten more than a few compliments from my neighbors, for what that's worth.

PS: New lugs are in the mail.

Fabio421

Laquer thinner on a rag will take the paint off very quickly and without damaging the aluminum. Most of those paint strippers are acids and could damage the aluminum. I discovered the laquer thinner while trying to find something that would take the brake dust off quickly. For a second I was amazed at how well it worked until I realized that the paint had come off too.