OEM aluminum wheel refinishing

[scottm]

My wife's 80 needs it's wheels refinished, preferrably to original look. The clearcoat is looking great, the colored cutouts between the spokes are corroding under the color paint. Would a body shop be able to do a nice job of this? I know there are specialty shops that do aluminum wheels, but none near me and I don't want the truck down too long. Under the clearcoat is a nice, machined surface. I like that finish, don't want to touch it with a sander, can it just be stripped and clear-coated again?

My cheapskate, DIY self is leaning toward carefully sanding the painted area with a scotch disk on a die grinder, masking off the clearcoat area, rattle-can prime and paint. Maybe follow up with an overall clearcoat. Is there a paintcode for the wheels? It's a lighter grey than my former 40th had on it's wheels. Anything to look out for if I clearcoat over the old clearcoat? I'm wondering about paint compatibilty, latex over oil-based type stuff.

 

[elmariachi]

My wife's 80 needs it's wheels refinished, preferrably to original look. The clearcoat is looking great, the colored cutouts between the spokes are corroding under the color paint. Would a body shop be able to do a nice job of this? I know there are specialty shops that do aluminum wheels, but none near me and I don't want the truck down too long. Under the clearcoat is a nice, machined surface.

I'll let the paint experts reply on that subject. If you go with having them redone, there is a Wheels America in Chicago that will do them for $129 each back to OEM spec. For that you'll get a wheel that looks brand new in every respect. www.fixrim.com.