my friend just got a z-28 and he wants to do something with the wheels, so i told him he should just paint them black. im not worried about taping them off or anything i just dont know where to start with preping the wheel. should i use aircraft stripper and get the clear coat off or just start sanding away(that will suck), anyways what should i do to, so that i can get a good surface to paint on?thanks

 

Here you go.

(Just for your future reference there is a section just for wheels and such where you might find questions for help like this more in place - that's where that write up could have been found).

 

isorry i had to leave for school this mornin and didnt have time to search so i just posted a new thread real quick. do you recomend i get rid of the clear coat first then sand, or just sand the clear coat? i was told the paint might stick better if the clear coat is still on there.

 

A) I definitely wouldn't sand the clear coat.
B) I probably wouldn't paint over the clear coat.

The clear coat on the salad shooters isn't great. It was wearing off on my set long ago, and I know it has done it too others as well.

Sanding the clear coat you are just going to thin it down, and possibly just get to the bare metal. Then you are going to have a slick, metal surface with no prep basically to stick to, which will also be on a different level than the clear coat (maybe not visually right off, but physically it will be).

I have heard of painters painting over clear coat before, so that isn't a long shot, but you definitely wouldn't want to do it without sanding first though.

You're best bet is going to be go ahead and strip the wheels, then sand them. I would suggest working from a very fine grit sandpaper toward the heavier grits until you reach the right spot. You don't want grooves in your wheel, just a nice mating surface for the paint.