Outer Rim Finish Chipping...

[SicMonte]

These are the wheels on my gf's 2004 Mustang Cobra. She drove this car as a daily driver for four years. The outer rim is polished with a clear coat and as you can see in the pics the clearcoat is chipping bad!! A local shop wants $175 per wheel to sand down the outer rim, re-polish it, then re clear it. The whole rim needs to be redone but we were concentrating on the outer rim. What do you all think??

I say just sand it down and repolish it but dont do the clear because this will just happen again. Any ideas...opinions??

Hers is a link to the wheel manufacturers page.

http://www.ssr-wheels.com/wheels/werfen_181920.asp

[Yelcamino]

I have no advice for you Doug. I'm kind of in the same spot, the chrome on the Elky's outer rims is chipping. It's kinda depressing considering how much they cost.

[H.O.H11]

ive repainted a few of the polished wheels that were cleared, i have no idea if there just poorly done from the factory or what but ive seen this alot. only problem is the ones ive redone the customer has wanted the lips painted with color and cleared rather than just clearing the polished part.

[SicMonte]

No one from a wheel company has any suggestions???

[astroracer]

The issue with clear coated aluminum rims is, once they are chipped, the aluminum starts to oxidize. This will then work it's way under the paint and becomes a problem because you cannot "polish" it thru the clear coat. Removing the clear coat is your only solution. Once you have the rims repolished DO NOT re-clear them. It is more work to keep a naked rim polished but at least you CAN polish it.
Chromed aluminum is a different animal. The problem with chrome plating aluminum is the two materials have different expansion rates. Aluminum expands more as it heats up. This, over time, will cause a breakdown in the bond between the chrome layer and aluminum base. Stone chips in the chrome will speed up the process as this lets air and moisture attack the aluminum which starts the oxidizing process... peeling off the chrome as it spreads under it...
There is nothing you can do to stop this from happening other than leaving the aluminum naked so you can keep it looking nice.
Mark