MIBPreacher Posted February 10, 2006 Share Posted February 10, 2006 My 87 came with 16" rims in a bronze color and I was wondering if this was factory paint over the standard polished aluminum? I was wondering if it was worth it to take the layer of color off? From what I see, most people have the polished and I have found only one other pic of the bronze color wheels. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nienberg.11 Posted February 10, 2006 Share Posted February 10, 2006 My 280z has wheels from a later year Z, and they also had a bronze coating on them. Just a fair warning, no paint thinner will even touch the stuff. My friend's sandblaster didn't do it either. I had to take them to a shop and have them professionally sandblasted to get it off. It ran me about $80 to have all the wheels done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
260ZRED Posted February 10, 2006 Share Posted February 10, 2006 You have to use a good paint stripper. The best are usually called "aircraft" paint strippers... I buy mine @ Walmart. It works well for getting the factory paint off the wheels. You still have to scrub them with a brush or coarse steel wool (GLOVES for paint stripper you dont want to touch that stuff!) but it can save money if youre willing to do the work yourself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nienberg.11 Posted February 10, 2006 Share Posted February 10, 2006 The stuff I used was a powerful paint stripper. I had to wear gloves, like you said, and it was actually like a paste that could be painted on and would stay in place. The problem is that what was on my rims was not even paint. It's was a thick epoxy coating. The stripper took off the gold coloring, but the black rubbery layer underneath that wasn't going anywhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MIBPreacher Posted February 10, 2006 Author Share Posted February 10, 2006 I had to take them to a shop and have them professionally sandblasted to get it off. It ran me about $80 to have all the wheels done. Can you post a pic of the wheels now that they are done? I would like to see the finished product. Thanks, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nienberg.11 Posted February 10, 2006 Share Posted February 10, 2006 MIB, Here are some pics of the car. I'm at school now and don't have any real good pics of the wheels, and the one pic was taken w/ a camera phone, so I apologize. If you want, I can get some good closeups of the wheels the next time I'm home. I also don't have any before pictures of the wheels, but the whole wheel was bronze with the exception of the shiny outer rim. This didn't match my paint at all, and the epoxy was starting to peel/bubble, so having them blasted was a big improvement in my case. It wasn't a perfect solution, though. Some of the sand reached the shiny outer rim and dulled parts of it from inadequate masking. Also, as you can see in the pictures, the front wheels now collect brake dust pretty quickly as the inner part of the wheel is now pitted. I've thought about cleaning the wheels up and painting them clear to alleviate this, but I don't know for sure how well that would work. Anyways, here are the pics: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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