Strip Factory Coated Wheels to Aluminum

[superfunkomatic]

I know I've seen that the stock wheels can be stripped back to aluminum.

Just bought a second set of wheels from another member and would like to sandblast them back to the original aluminum.

Does anyone have pics of completely stripped and polished wheels? Also, how were they polished to bring out the shiny aluminum?

Many thanx,

mike

[Veefer800Canuck]

Don't sandblast unless you are going to powdercoat afterwards.

Use aircraft paint stripper to take the finish off the wheels, then you can just polish the lips or do the entire wheel.

Alternatively, take the wheel to a chroming shop and have them dip the wheel in caustic soda to remove the paint.

[enzed_viffer]

I stripped the (white) wheels on my 1990 VFR750 using paint stripper and a wooden scraper, then polished just the machined parts up with Autosol. It took me an afternoon to do both, and made the wheels much easier to keep clean, as the road spooge didn't seem to stick to them as much. They just need a quick wash every other month, then a polish a couple of times a year at most.

VFR750 Shows stripped'n'polished rear wheel, with Avon Azaro tyre.

Sometime in the near future, I'm thinking I'll repeat the process with the VFR800's wheels, as the silver paint / powdercoat? is kinda scratched, in places down to the metal. Next time, I'm not sure if I'll do it myself, or take them to a mag wheel polisher.

[The mailman]

A++ on the Airplane Stripper! I spent a cold February weekend in my garage with some tunes and a few beers and came out black-free. I gooped up one wheel, stuck it in a black plastic yard bag to help quell the fumes in my closed and UNVENTILLATED garage. I waited one beer, gooped up the other wheel, put it in another bag and then began scraping on the first wheel. I simply repeated the alternating process with very little trouble. The flat surface on your spokes WILL polish up shiney. The spokes on the 4th gens are very rough and can be polished but it takes an boatload of elbow grease for that job. I just left my spokes rough and polished the rims.

SMART IDEA! - I put a drop cloth over an old door that I had layed across two saw horses to bring the work up to my level rather than knelling on the cement. I used eye protection, long sleeves, and gloves. Stripper is not to be messed with!

DUMB IDEA - After finishing the job, I took my drop cloth out in the street to shake off some remaining paint bits. After shaking the drop cloth out, I felt a burning sensation on my neck and knew immediately that I had thrown a big ol' glob of stripper onto my neck. I had what appeared to be a GIANT HICKEY next to my Adam's apple for two weeks before the burned skin finally peeled off. Did I mention stripper is not to be messed with? uh... have another beer

Colorado

[Cogswell]

I did this to my 5th gen on a bet with a friend that it wasn't possible (I'm stubborn). YYMV - but it seems people have varying experience with stripping the powder coat. For me stripping the factory finish off was a real beeotch. After 3 applications of stripper, (and hours of scrubbing with scotchbrite and other pads) I finally got them relatively clean. It's a messy job. The powder coat Honda uses is really tough stuff - it amazes me that the stuff can chip at all. If I did it again, I'd pay either the finisher or a shop to just dip the wheels and get the coating off - it's about $50 a wheel - but you'd have to press the wheel bearings out of the front. I was probably saving about a couple of bucks an hour to strip them myself so I'd just pony up the dough and do something more fun. When you get it off, you'll find that the perimeter of the rim has been factory machined and is relatively smooth and won't take a huge amount of work to polish if you have the buffs and compound. Some people just strip that and leave the spokes alone. The spokes on the other hand, are left rough cast by Honda and are a real chore (you won't be able to detect that under the powder coat). After hours of sanding the rough casting and buffing (to a lousy result), I finally decided I didn't want to make a second career out of polishing my wheels so I took them to a metal finisher. I didn't track my hours, but I had spent probably a good 30 to 40 hours by then and was getting sick of the project. If you want a good result, this project takes commitment - and honestly it's pretty boring. A pro will get a better result than anyone can in their garage in probably less time unless they invest in the equipment. I paid $400 to have both done after having stripped them. Figure 5 bills +/- if you just take them in right off the bike. If you want to check out buffs, Harbor Freight carries some, or you could go to Eastwood.com and buy one of their wheel polishing kits.

Having done it, I wouldn't do it if I rode much in the rain. Exposure of the bare metal to water will accelerate the oxidation process and you'll find yourself spending 30 minutes polishing the wheels after each ride if you want them shiny. If you think chain maintenance is no fun . . . On the other hand, if you live in a sunny clime or ride only in good WX, using something like a Mothers powerball or similar and a drill on occasion you can keep the wheels looking really sharp. You'll get lots of thumbs up. One downside is the front wheel. Metal polish on the rotors is a lousy combination, so I got some heavy cardboard and created two pieces in a crescent moon shape to match the diameter of the rotors, taped them together on the outside edge and slipped them over each rotor as I polished the front wheel. On days I was really paranoid about it I would wipe the rotors with a rag and some Brakekleen just to be sure.

Lastly, the metal finisher told me that some people like to clear coat the metal to keep the maintenance down. I never confirmed this, but he claimed that the metal would oxidize underneath the clear coat anyway (though slowly) and would dull over time. Also, a cheap clear coat can yellow and that would look lousy. At least bare metal can be brought back up to a nice shine with a little work. Once your clear coat goes sour (or chips), you're back to stripping again. Again, YYMV on that one. In the short run, clear coating cuts down on the work for sure.

I think there are some here that have had their wheels chrome plated. I have no experience with that - might be worth checking out - probably less maintenance but more $.

Here's a pic of my 5th gen shortly after they were done.

[superfunkomatic]

Thanx for all the tips.

I think I'll pay someone to dip them and strip them.

Then I'll get a bodyshop or detailer to polish them up.

I did this to my 5th gen on a bet with a friend that it wasn't possible (I'm stubborn). YYMV - but it seems people have varying experience with stripping the powder coat. For me stripping the factory finish off was a real beeotch. After 3 applications of stripper, (and hours of scrubbing with scotchbrite and other pads) I finally got them relatively clean. It's a messy job. The powder coat Honda uses is really tough stuff - it amazes me that the stuff can chip at all. If I did it again, I'd pay either the finisher or a shop to just dip the wheels and get the coating off - it's about $50 a wheel - but you'd have to press the wheel bearings out of the front. I was probably saving about a couple of bucks an hour to strip them myself so I'd just pony up the dough and do something more fun. When you get it off, you'll find that the perimeter of the rim has been factory machined and is relatively smooth and won't take a huge amount of work to polish if you have the buffs and compound. Some people just strip that and leave the spokes alone. The spokes on the other hand, are left rough cast by Honda and are a real chore (you won't be able to detect that under the powder coat). After hours of sanding the rough casting and buffing (to a lousy result), I finally decided I didn't want to make a second career out of polishing my wheels so I took them to a metal finisher. I didn't track my hours, but I had spent probably a good 30 to 40 hours by then and was getting sick of the project. If you want a good result, this project takes commitment - and honestly it's pretty boring. A pro will get a better result than anyone can in their garage in probably less time unless they invest in the equipment. I paid $400 to have both done after having stripped them. Figure 5 bills +/- if you just take them in right off the bike. If you want to check out buffs, Harbor Freight carries some, or you could go to Eastwood.com and buy one of their wheel polishing kits.

Having done it, I wouldn't do it if I rode much in the rain. Exposure of the bare metal to water will accelerate the oxidation process and you'll find yourself spending 30 minutes polishing the wheels after each ride if you want them shiny. If you think chain maintenance is no fun . . . On the other hand, if you live in a sunny clime or ride only in good WX, using something like a Mothers powerball or similar and a drill on occasion you can keep the wheels looking really sharp. You'll get lots of thumbs up. One downside is the front wheel. Metal polish on the rotors is a lousy combination, so I got some heavy cardboard and created two pieces in a crescent moon shape to match the diameter of the rotors, taped them together on the outside edge and slipped them over each rotor as I polished the front wheel. On days I was really paranoid about it I would wipe the rotors with a rag and some Brakekleen just to be sure.

Lastly, the metal finisher told me that some people like to clear coat the metal to keep the maintenance down. I never confirmed this, but he claimed that the metal would oxidize underneath the clear coat anyway (though slowly) and would dull over time. Also, a cheap clear coat can yellow and that would look lousy. At least bare metal can be brought back up to a nice shine with a little work. Once your clear coat goes sour (or chips), you're back to stripping again. Again, YYMV on that one. In the short run, clear coating cuts down on the work for sure.

I think there are some here that have had their wheels chrome plated. I have no experience with that - might be worth checking out - probably less maintenance but more $.

Here's a pic of my 5th gen shortly after they were done.

[Veefer800Canuck]

Thanx for all the tips.

I think I'll pay someone to dip them and strip them.

Then I'll get a bodyshop or detailer to polish them up.

Check with chrome shops, they not only do the dip and strip, but usually are rigged for polishing too.

You could try these guys who are local to you, I've never used them, just googled them up:

http://www.fairmontelectroplating.com/

[Guest kurupt]

not as hard as everyone makes it seem. the forth gen spokes have a rough finish but i sanded them down with a power drill and a dremel on the tighter spots

[Guest kurupt]

another pic.

[The Phantom]

Lastly, the metal finisher told me that some people like to clear coat the metal to keep the maintenance down. I never confirmed this, but he claimed that the metal would oxidize underneath the clear coat anyway (though slowly) and would dull over time. Also, a cheap clear coat can yellow and that would look lousy. At least bare metal can be brought back up to a nice shine with a little work. Once your clear coat goes sour (or chips), you're back to stripping again. Again, YYMV on that one. In the short run, clear coating cuts down on the work for sure.

Mine were done in 1998. I took the paint off myself, took a good4-5 hours with paint stripper (hardware store, not aircraft variety). Then I gave them to a metal polisher who made them look like mirrors for AUD$300. He said he wouldn't do them again for less than $600 though...

They were pretty good like that as far as maintenance went - I'd wash the bike once a week (was doing 700-1000km per week at the time) and just wash the wheels last with the soapy bikewash, and twice a year I'd give them a good rub with Kalifornia Kustom Purple Metal Polish, easiest to use of all the different ones I tried.

Eventually I coated them with Nyalic (aka Everbrite) which does everything they say it does - brush or spray on (it's self levelling), won't go yellow at all, and when you scratch it you just clean up the scratch and paint more Nyalic on - it's self-blending.

The expensive alternative is nickel plating. I wouldn't go with chroming, partly because chrome looks arse on sportsbike but mostly because with chroming alloys there is a risk of reducing the strength of the wheel.

[Veefer800Canuck]

The expensive alternative is nickel plating. I wouldn't go with chroming, partly because chrome looks arse on sportsbike but mostly because with chroming alloys there is a risk of reducing the strength of the wheel.

Nickel is usually the second step in the chroming process.

1-copper

2-nickel

3-chromium

You don't have to polish the nickel to a mirror finish either, you can stop partway for a brushed effect, witness your kitchen and bathroom fixtures with a brushed nickel finish.

I had the Yoshimura pipes on my '86 VFR nickel-plated after a prior treatment with a "black chrome" process that didn't hold up over time.

[AB-Oz]

The 5th gen onwards all have an etching primer under the factory black wheels, thats why they are a bitch to strip.

I did mine in one weekend, but its messy and you need to wear lots of protection as stated above. The I had to do another front wheel when I changed front ends, the SP2 wheel was a breeze compared to the VFR, thinner paint and no etching...

But I'd never do it again, too much hassle !