So I lucked into a set of four rear DSIIs to use as track wheels. The wheels themselves are fine, but were subjected to a DIY paint that was left uncleared and unwashed...basically, the paint is now flaking off, and what's left has so much brake dust embedded in the surface that it all has to go.
I remember awhile back seeing a link to Keith's site where he used paint stripper to remove paint from a Miata wheel. Is that the route I should go, or should I drop them off at a shop to have them sandblasted?
Wheels in question look like this when hotlinked. Basically, sanding four of these by hand would make me sad.:
Your thread title has me thinking of somthing compleetly different. 
How many singles is it going to take to pay those strippers? 
best title ever
i used a spray can of aircraft stripper on my trucks wheels. got most of the paint, but not the powdercoat under the 4 layers of paint, finished the stripping with an air powered zizz wheel and a medium sos pad. prep, paint.
michael
This thread has a lot of potential.
I can't wait to see GPS's response to this one.
Dusterbd13 wrote: i used a spray can of aircraft stripper on my trucks wheels. got most of the paint, but not the powdercoat under the 4 layers of paint, finished the stripping with an air powered zizz wheel and a medium sos pad. prep, paint. michael
that would do it. If you get down to the original paint (which I think was powedered on) you can get it smooth and repaint. (or leave as is, depending on they look)
You know that DS and DSII rims are heavy right?
MEK (methyl-ethyl-ketone) will remove virtually anything and does not damage metal. It stinks to high heaven, causes liver cancer (eats regular thin surgical gloves so get thick ones and double up), and is flammable but I've never used anything that will remove even epoxy based paint better, well besides purple skydrol.
Should be able to pick up a bucket of it at Home Depot for a couple bucks.
If black is in your future, I am intrigued by this idea of painting rims with Plasti-Dip.
http://www.dipyourcar.com/shop/page/4?shop_param=
jrw1621 wrote: If black is in your future, I am intrigued by this idea of painting rims with Plasti-Dip. http://www.dipyourcar.com/shop/page/4?shop_param=
Now I know what I'm going to do with my ugly track wheels this winter.
You lied.
There is supposed to be an instructional video in here.
I expect this to be rectified.
I wonder how long the dipped finish lasts?
And I am disappointed about the strippers. I envisioned you putting paint on the strippers and they used their bodies to transfer the paint to the wheels.
I read somewhere in reviewing the dipped wheels opinions of lasting 5 month with winter conditions and 1 years without winter (snow/salt.)
why not just paint the wheels with duplicolor wheel paint, or engine block enamel, had both on different sets of wheels on our track rat, both tough as hell and work and look great, no marring or burn-through from hot brake dust, easy to clean, just my .02...
Along these same lines I scored a set of wheels for cheap that had one wheel sandblasted into a dull finish but the other 3 were factory clear coat. Do I need to blast the other 3 before refinishing?
I've seen how to remove the clear coat on this thread without blasting.
Do you tip them with $1's or $2's while they're painting?
Stripper, Rim, Pole, Wheel...seems like there's a dirty joke in there somewhere.
jrw1621 wrote: If black is in your future, I am intrigued by this idea of painting rims with Plasti-Dip. http://www.dipyourcar.com/shop/page/4?shop_param=
I think this is a horrible idea, just paint them properly.
My first thought is that you need to plan on a group shower for cleaning up, don't wanna leave that overspray on bare skin too long.... 
...just don't get it on your hootus!
My first thought was of strippers painting wheels - but followed by strippers getting painted, then had a random thought come and go about getting paint off of wheels. Aluminum sands easy.
I see my experiment to increase traffic worked. Sorry for the letdown - won't be the last time I'm afraid.
As for weight, yep they're heavy. Sad to say, but I suspect that my track times on the lightest wheels vs. these would be fairly similar, and these were ~$80/wheel.
As for duplicolor, that's what's on them now. From the looks of it, whoever painted them did zero prep, and thus there is not much adhesion. They were also never washed and are a matte/textured finish, so they're unbelievably grimy. I'm looking to press re-set, prep carefully and re-shoot with a basic dark grey paint.
dean1484 wrote: Your thread title has me thinking of somthing compleetly different.
Me too, I'm pretty sure they prefer to be called exotic dancers!
Toyman01 wrote: I can't wait to see GPS's response to this one.
You probably ruined it, and he'll straightface it, if he posts at all.
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