I've been thinking about getting some new wheels for the Z and I've been wondering about the care involved.

I've always had painted wheels on cars so I've treated them just like the paint on the car. Wash, dry, a little wax every so often.

I want to get polished wheels to replace the stockers. I'm wondering what kind of special care are polished wheels going to require?

I'm assuming that even the polished bare metal is clearcoated and I guess I would treat them like my painted wheels, right?

Thanks,
Dave

 

I was also thinking about getting some wheels with a polished lip. However my boyfriend owns a detail shop and I see him working on those kind of wheels. After seeing his procedure, it looked like a pain to take care of them. He had to polish each lip because the shine was gone and the lip looked hazy. I noticed that polished lips also can get scratches very easily. Now, I am reconsidering what wheels to get. Well, if you do get them, good luck with taking care of them

 

Thanks baby_z. You confirmed what I suspected all along. Wheels get notoriously dirty and I was afraid that the constant cleaning of brake dust and road grime would marr the finish.

Some of the wheels I've been looking at come in a satin finish which I believe would be less likely to show problems like polished. I guess if my Z was a weekend only car or a real show car, then the polished might be more appropriate.

 

most wheels nowadays come clearcoated (whether they are polished painted or powdercoated)...so you would treat them like normal paint. some people like their polished lips UNclearcoated so they can polish them up to a high shine (clearcoated lips are MUCH easier to maintain but you will never be able to polish them because it isnt bare metal)

needless to say, there are a ton of people with aftermarket wheels and its basically up to the owner how much they want to take care of them

if you would rather not be on your knees polishing your lips every week then get wheels that are clearcoated

good luck