How are the lips holding up after you had them repolished? Did you have them cleared after you had em polished? I've been thinking of black spokes, and having my lips repolished, then cleared, so I'm not out there polishing every weekend

 

Wheels are stilling sitting, so the maintenance nightmare hasn't begun. Most places places should tell you that a "high" polished lip can be sprayed with clear coat but will quickly flake. This will always occur on a "smooth" surface - the clear requires something to adhere to for example a brushed lip. You can still shoot a coat of clear, but depending on how often your wheels sees the road/various outside elements will determine how often they need to be stripped and re-sprayed (which can get very expensive). There are options to do a "clear-coat" powder coat which will give you a slightly "dull look" but will provide a great barrier. NOW - I initially chose those option a had my wheels powder coated twice and was not happy. A couple different factors:

1.) I have step side lips w/ a "channeled" edge - a bit hard to get the powder to lay correctly/evenly.
2.) Once baked and cured all the defects are very prominent...espicalially any and all dirt that was not wiped prior to spray.

I chose to keep the polished lips "raw" and will have to put some elbow grease into them. I recommend using Simichrome polish (Eastwood.com) for maintenance.

Last note - not ALL powder coat shops will guarantee the work on a clear coat - some powders over time will turn a slight yellow.

......this was strictly my results and my experiences with these particular wheels - I'm sure you may find different reasons and or results.

Good luck bro,

Karl

 

Yes, that was me.
I sold my volk sf challengers last nov 07 and just got brand new WORK wheels. but one on my s2k got anodized from the WORK. but my new WORKS for 350z got just polished lips with clear coats on.(I didn't know there were polished with clear coat finish) i had my volk sf challengers got repolished from Ye Old Wheels also but didn't like it much. If i can't find any good place to get anodize then I'm thinking of sell my WORKS.
Thanks for your help tho.

 

just make sure you completely commit to the anodizing cause you cant go back once you do it. good luck bro

Karl

 

did anyone find/know a place around md/va/dc or even pa taht anodizes wheels?

 

I am about to have Ye Old wheel shop paint the stock wheels for me. Were you satisfied with their quality of work overall? The painter showed me some of there work and it looked pretty good but there weren't any good examples for me to make a good judgement to compare to my own wheels.

 

Ye Old is great!! talk to Dan he will take care of you he is on the forums his screenname is DYI01 they just got done fixing a wheel that I bent on a pothole on 495. I also have seen stock track wheels that were done by him for Alberto and they looked money.

 

how long do you guys think painting the lips would last?

 

Thats good to know, I will definitely talk with him.

 

What color / look are you going for? I have been thinking about powder coating or painting. Anodizing is very interesting but there does not appear to be any local shops doing it. My stock GT wheels need a new look!

 

I think I am gonna do a pearl black. Something that will pop a little bit up close but look like regular gloss black at a glance. I dont know much about the powdercoating process or anyone local that does it or else I might explore that option.

 

Here are a couple of shops around my parts. I am checking into whether they can do my Rays.

http://www.diversifiedcoatings.biz/
http://www.performancepowdercoatingoffrederick.com/

I am looking for a durable long lasting finish. The GT/Track Rays are nice enough to keep. I like them to be Anthracite like the SSR wheel below, yummmm.