How To: Strip Stock wheels of Clear Coat

[01B3000]

I NOR FORDRANGERFORUM.COM TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANYTHING YOU DECIDE TO DO TO YOUR RIMS/WHEELS.

As we all know, Ford loves to go heavy on the clear coat for their rims. Because of the set I bought starting to pit and get tarnished, I decided to remove the Ford Clear coat and wet sand, polish and possibly reclear.

Now to do this, you really need to remove the tires.

Materials Needed:
Kean-Strip Aircraft Stripper
A Metal Can
Some Cheap brushes
A hard, yet still flexible plastic scraper.
Pressure Washer (Garden hose works as well, but pressure washer is better)
De-Greaser
Brush
Some sort of tarp you can put under the wheels when you strip them
Time, and quite a bit of it.

Before I start, I want to thank terryduanemiller, he told me what stripper was best to use, and he sure was right.

Also TAKE YOUR TIME, dont be impatient like me, It can lead to having to re do the steps more times than you may have to.
Take your time and do it correct, you'll be rewarded for your patience

Now the stripper you want to use comes in a jug that looks like this

I only got the Quart which was 15 bucks, but i recommend getting the Gallon one, its only 30 bucks, and i still have 2 wheels to do and also have to touch up the other ones in a few spots, and Im already a little more than half way through the quart. But still up to you, you might apply it more conservatively than I did.

To start, take your garden hose (or the pressure washer if you have access to one), the brush, and the degreaser and clean EVERY where on the wheel. This will give you a good, clean surface so you can see where the stripper is going, and not confuse dirt for paint.

Then get a nice flat surface, best place would be in a well ventilated garage, on a table, protected from wind and where you have plenty of space to have all 4 wheels ready to be done. Make sure the surface you do it on has some sort of tarp or covering on it so that whatever drips off the rim or from when you scrape it off doesnt ruin the table.

I did it outside on a piece of some old carpet my family used for camping.


Now, following the instructions on the paint stripper, it said to apply it THICK, and I did so.


I found it best to coat one wheel with the stripper, then scrape the stripper off the other wheel while the other was sitting. This is possibly the worst part as it makes the most mess and takes the most time. For most wheels youll be able to feel if youve missed any of the clear coat, and youll be able to see it when youve cleaned all the stripper off. The siver part was the easiest to see come off, as it being paint and not clear. This pic was taken when i was almost done scraping everything off.


Once your done scraping everything off, you need to get the stripper off with the hose. This is what I found the pressure washer to be best for, as it took off some of the loosened paint end clear coat that I missed.


Now you'll notice you probably didnt get everything. Thats fine, I know for mine, Im going to have to do the process over again, although now, you can just re do the areas of the wheel that have to be done.
On my rims, there were just small bits and pieces that probably didnt get enough stripper. You may have the same problem.

If you plan on doing this in one day, you can dry the wheels with an air compressor.



And thats pretty much it, I may add to this later, but thats alll for now really. I hope this helps you guys. Hope you guys like my How To:

[DiabloBlanco]

Cool write up man, cant wait to see em painted. I work on airplanes all the time and that is some ok stuff!

[STL]

Nice write up.

I need to try this on my rims so I can get the oxidation off.

[SalRanger2]

im actually going to do the same thing with my wheels, mine have paint on top of the clear...hopefully wont take too long. i got the stuff in the spray can, hopefully it covers good.

[01B3000]

Originally Posted by DiabloBlanco

Cool write up man, cant wait to see em painted. I work on airplanes all the time and that is some ok stuff!

It says on the jug not for use on airplanes. lol

Unfortunately im just polishing them, but i will eb painting my oem mazda wheels, and im going to do the same thing.
And thanks guys, this is my first how to, more to come definately

[DiabloBlanco]

You can use it on airplanes. just certain parts you need to be aware of. No control surfaces or anything like that.

[rpppaprp]

That stuff works good. Post some pics after you get them polished.

[Buddythetruck]

Is it safe to assume this would work to get the paint off of painted (rather than only clear coated) wheels also?

[01B3000]

Yes this will take any paint or clear coat off

[cacher]

Worked in a body shop using this stuff, and its great. Had a small blister on my arm, and couldnt for the life of me figure out what I touched that was hot, and then realized it was a small drop of this stuff, from earlier in the day. Be careful with it.