Going to refinish my wheels

[maximus108]

Whats up guys.

I'm going to throw a bunch of Aircraft Paint Stripper on my old wheels because the clearcoat is all messed up.I have three questions that I hope you guys could answer:

1. My wheels are two piece so will I be able to remove the spokes fromthe rim or are they welded on? (they have those bolts all around the spokes)

2. Will Aircraft Paint Stripper mess up my wheel lip? (It's polished, not chrome)

3. After removing all the clearcoat from my wheels should I re-clearcoat them (comes in a spray can from the auto store) or should I leave them alone and just polish/wax all the time?

Thanks

[Ajax]

Not positive about all of this, but I'll try to answer to some extent- I'm rebuilding my 3-piece rims this winter

1) If the wheels are 2-piece, then you should be able to take it apart- probably the face and lip bolted to the inner shell.

2) Any decent paint thinner should be good to get rid of the clear coat/paint without doing anything to your polished metal (that's how I'll be getting rid of the old Loctite on my bolts)

3) It would probably be easiest to spray the clearcoat now, rather than wax it however often would be required.

[Desert Rat]

The aircraft stipper will take you down to bare aluminum. (see my thread in the trucks forum - I just did a set of wheels last weekend). Any sheen should be retained as long as it's not any sort of coating.

[maximus108]

So right after I strip the clearcoat would it be better to use wheel polish then re-clearcoat them OR should I re-clearcoat them right after removing the clearcoat?