Know Your Wheels: Finishes and Cosmetics

At the April Tech Session at Rim and Wheel Works, a number of members had questions about wheel finishes. It's important to understand the finishes of your wheels for many reasons, including how to care for them, thus avoiding the potential for spending money needlessly. After reviewing the majority of finishes or coatings, I was asked to write an article for the membership at large. Below is a review of the major types of wheel cosmetics. I wouldn't say it's complete - the truth be told, they're inventing new ones as I write.

Painted Wheels

Most wheels are painted with a clear coat finish. If your wheel is smooth and glossy, but not necessarily shiny, you probably have painted wheels. Painting wheels is a process that consists of prepping the wheels, priming them, painting them and clear coating them. Once wheels are painted, it takes a lot of skill to properly mount and balance the tires. Once tires are mounted on freshly painted wheels, they shouldn't be removed for about 30 days as it takes about a month for fresh paint to fully cure. Use great care when cleaning them for the first month.

How do you protect your painted wheels? Most importantly, do not clean them with an acid wheel cleaner. Your wheel cleaner must be non-corrosive. The reason is simple. Corrosive cleaners eat the clear coat on your wheel – the one thing protecting your wheel from oxidization. A primer/sealer allows the paint to adhere to the wheel and seals the metal from oxidization. Paint colors the wheel. The clear coat is what protects the wheel.

What do we recommend for wheel cleaning? We recommend a number of products. After years of being badgered by our customers, we offer a brand used by shops called AutoMagic Magnificence. It removed brake dust fabulously and without a whole lot of effort. If your wheels are fairly clean, you can maintain them by using a mild soap.

If you must "shine" your tires, make sure that you cover and protect your wheels. Many brands are corrosive to your clear coat. We once had the interesting experience of having a wheel that was being straightened flame up. There was a buildup of tire cleaner on the wheel.

Wheels can be painted almost any color your heart desires. We recently painted a set of wheels Ferrari yellow for a Hunter Green colored VW Jetta. I wouldn't have recommended it, but I would have been wrong! It looked fabulous and distinct.

If you don't want to have the wheels redone and painted immediately, you can apply clear fingernail polish to the damaged area to help prevent oxidization. But make sure that the area is clean before applying it. This is, at best, a temporary solution.

Machined Wheels

If you can see little "CNC lathe" lines on your wheel, like on old records, it's machined. The wheel is finished by having a CNC lathe run over the face of the wheel. Occasionally, some wheels like Lorinsers or MK Motorsports have the outer lip machined and the inside of the face of the wheel painted. The wheel is always finished with a clear coat.

Care of machined wheels is similar to painted wheels. You need to be a little more cautious, however. Absolutely the only thing separating your wheel from oxidization is the clear coat.

Powder Coated Wheels

Powder coating is a process whereby a powder is sprayed on the wheels and then baked at 375 degrees for about 10 minutes. It gives the same effect as painted and/or clear coated wheels, but is a much stronger finish. The biggest disadvantage of powder coating is that if the finish is damaged, you have to go through the whole process again. This includes re-machining the wheel's surface, which canonly be done a limited number of times. Also, sunlight can cause them to whiten after several years.

Polished Wheels

Wheels that are polished are shiny, almost as shiny as chrome. This is a labor intensive process when done correctly. Wheels that are polished and not clear coated must be waxed/polished at least once a month. However, oxidization may still occur (usually looks like white splotches, like spotted glasses from the dishwasher). There are products you can use to bring back the shine with a lot of elbow grease and diligence.

We suggest having polished wheels finished with a powder coating clear coat. That way you don't need to go through the bother of monthly waxing and won't risk the wheel blotching.

If you're buying a polished wheel, inquire into what type of finish it has. If it's a standard clear coat, the finish may not last very long because polished wheels have the hardest surface for clear coat adherence.

Anodized Wheels

If you plan on using low profile tires or have a habit of kissing curbs, do not buy anodized wheels. There are people throughout the country who can re-anodize most wheels. However, there is never any guarantee that the color will be the same! Also, be cautious. There are some Japanese anodizing processes that cannot be replicated in the United States. I'm personally not that crazy about the visual effect of an anodized wheel. If you are, plan to have to re-anodize all four if you damage one.

Chrome Plated Wheels

The basic premise of chrome plating wheels is a triple plating process that ends with the last plating being chrome. Chromium is the most toxic metal known to man. At the moment, in order to get a license to chrome plate in the United Stated, you will need to give the EPA a $250,000 deposit to go on a wait list. Once your license is granted, your $250,000 deposit goes towards a filtration system. As of yet, you have no plant, no equipment, and no employees. So, the next time someone mutters as to why chrome plating is so expensive, you'll be able to explain.

Chrome plated wheels do not like New England winters. All chrome plated wheels should be taken off cars from frost to frost and stored in a dry environment. Do not buy chrome plated wheels if you don't have a second set of wheels for winter. Chrome plated wheels should be used with polishes specifically designed for them. The most important secret is this: if the can says that it can be applied with a fine steel wool, you need to buy "0000" steel wool available at hardware stores and stores like Home Depot. Otherwise, a soft Turkish towel will do nicely. Again, don't use anything corrosive on your chrome wheels or you'll be looking at an expensive bill!

Summary

These are the basic types of cosmetic finishes for automotive wheels. As said before, they're inventing new finishes as I write. At the moment, there is testing going on in a plant in California to use a process similar to powder coating to apply a chrome-like finish. It was supposed to be in production this fall, but isn't likely right now.

If you have questions about your wheels and/or their finishes, please feel free to call me at Rim & Wheel Works at (617) 964-0226.

September 2000 Bimmer

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