OEM 16/17 refinish

[bruckner]

I recently purchased a nice set of 97-01 wheels in the machined finish. While they are in good shape with no damage, the clear coat is peeling off at some places. Is it possible to have those refurbished without losing the machined finish? I see that some sophisticated methods put the wheels through a CNC machine, but seems like a lot of work for basically just a clear coat issue. Thoughts?

If a full CNC cut job is the only possible alternative, anyone here has done so with their OEM machined wheels with satisfactory results? Like I said I'm not looking at some technique that results in a smooth finish, anything that involves polishing is definitely not an option.

Thanks!

 

[The King]

I've had Dent Wizard refinish two wheels for me. I let one of my S2000 wheels flop on it's face on a cement floor years ago. It dimpled up the machined face enough that I bought a new rim. A few years ago I had Dent Wizard have a go at the damaged rim. They did a great job. Looks like a new rim. A year ago I gouged up a 19" rim lip on my Accord coupe against a curb. It left a 6" long, fairly deep mark. Dent Wizard did their magic again with perfect results. I'm not sure all Dent Wizard locations have the gear to refinish rims, but there should be one in your area. Mine were done in Halifax.

 

[shingli2k]

They would just need to strip the clear coat and refinish it with a new clear coat. You should not have to machine the face again.

 

[bruckner]

They would just need to strip the clear coat and refinish it with a new clear coat. You should not have to machine the face again.

Yes that's what I thought. So far I spoke to one wheel refinisher over the phone, and met with another with one of the wheels for reference, and both say that the only way to strip the remaining clear coat is to put the wheel through a CNC machine. What's more, the guy who inspected the one wheel I brought along says it's been machined previously, he thought the machine finish wasn't perfect and wouldn't have come out of the Asahi factory that way (he saw the cutting line as being uneven).

Not sure what to think of this now...

 

[Old Guy]

You can chemically strip the clear finish off. I stripped the alloy wheels on my 2003 Pilot because after several years of winter use, the clear finish had lifted in a number of spots and I had some significant corrosion. Where the clear finish had not detached from the wheel, it took forever with multiple applications of the stripper to get the clear coat off. Ultimately it did require the use of one of the Scotch abrasive pads (like they use for scuffing paint) to get the residual clear off. Unless you are going to do the stripping yourself, I expect that it will be cheaper to machine the surface to remove the clear finish rather than pay somebody to chemically strip the finish.

 

[bruckner]

Upon further inspection only one of the wheels shows about 1-2mm less aluminum thickness at the hub than other 3. I also noticed that most clear is off on front wheels and I can literally peel off entire sections. I'll try some manual labor before putting these through a machine, but if nothing else restores original look I will bite the bullet and have them turned on a CNC.

Am I wrong thinking any 94-97 16/17 wheels could be made to have the same finish by simply having them machined?

Also, what would be considered excessive material removed before the wheel would be considered unsafe? 2, 3, 4mm?