I picked up an extra wheel to replace a bent one on my GSL-SE. My goal with this car is to have a clean reliable auto-x and weekend car for my woman.. in looking at the wheels. They are original, and the factory clear has become "scuffed" or is flaking off.

My original plan was to remove the factory clear, polish the aluminum with some nice mothers polish and then reclear w/ duplicolor wheel clear coat.

But now, thinking about it... maybe just removing the clear and respraying them silver or graphite might be an alternative. Has anybody painted GSL-SE wheels before... how'd it turn out, pics?

Aftermarket wheels are nice - but i like to keep some things original for now...

To repaint or refinish..that is the question!

 

Good questions, I wonder how they'd look painted pewter, gunmetal, or graphite. Anything is better than the tarnished aluminum/flaking clear coat look.

 

see what the old bent wheel looks like when you completely strip it with aircraft paint stripper and hit it with the powerball/aluminum polish. A lot of times, honda wheels (gsr, si, or fat 5) look VERY nice when you just strip them, polish them, and keep the aluminum clean.

 

^^ thats true. you could easily take the clear off and leave them as so. theyd look better but require more work. you could strip them and have them powder coated. ive seen sets of SE wheels that have been painted black but left the small outter lip silver and they were sharp! ive seen gunmetal SE wheels that were nice also.

with using the air plane stripped itd be very easy to strip the wheels. after doing so you could easily just reclear them.

this isnt the route you want to go probably, but i also have a set of gret condition SE wheels. i was wanting to hold onto them, but i dont see me using them any time soon. you could have two sets for your woman. one nice and one race.

 

If you end up doing that please let us know how it turns out, my wheels are the same way and I'd like them to look a little nicer.

 

I will absolutely make a write-up, etc of whatever i decide to do.

I already have the track wheels. My FC was 4 lug too Its nice to keep the cars the same bolt pattern, that way I can swap things around if needed.

 

Hello,

When I had my SE I used aircraft paint remover to remove the clear cote. That stuff is wicked. If you look closely at your SE wheels it has tiny ridges. I sanded them all off until it was smooth. I then used blue magic to polish them up. It was alot of work, but it looked great.

 

Thats all I'm looking for.. a nice clean finish for a stock wheel.

 

do that then reseal them with clear coat. that is unless you dont mind having to repolish them every so often

 

Thats the only thing w/ polished parts.. the upkeep. I'm going to clear them..

 

the centers are gunmetal. still working on polishing the lip.

 

^ DAMN! I like those rims, what year Mazda are those off of? What size bolt pattern do those have?

 

83 LE, they are 4x110... I have a set that I plan to refinish then sell.

 

I love the LE wheels too - I've got an SE now so those wont work for me!

 

ahh i miss my LE wheels

 

Once you clean them up and polish them, paint the rough inside part black and then clear them.

 

Thats not a bad look - I'm going to start on this probably friday. I have a ton of rx8 stuff I need to box up and ship out tonight.

I'll keep you all posted.

 

I painted my'80 SA wheels with duplicolor and clear coat which is a really tough finish. I painted the rim and the hub silver and the "spokes" black. It looks really sharp and really updates the stock look.

 

Have any pictures for us?

 

Here's a picture of the wheel as well as one of the car. We are in the process now of doing the interior. Graphite coloured carpet and cream coloured leather seats.

 

here's a better one of the wheel

 

By any chane do you know who makes or made those mud flaps on your car?

 

By any chane do you know who makes or made those mud flaps on your car?[/QUOTE]

Nope, they were on the car. Painting the dark portion inside the wheel really made a difference! At night with light shining on the they used to look like one bigs disc (or worse yet a hubcap). With the paint they looked more modern and defined.

 

Here's my update.

Call me nuts, but there doesnt appear to be any clear coat on these wheels? If there is, it was really thin... I hit a little spot with mag polish and it polished right up..

I played with it for about an hour while doing some body work on my header panel and so far this is what I'm thinking:

1. Using rough (200-300 grit) sandpaper, sand down the entire flat surface. Getting in between the spokes isn't worth it IMHO for amount of time that'll take.
2. Keep moving up until about 600 grit and all the small ridges will be gone. I think getting it smooth definitely makes the wheel look more modern.
3. Moving onto higher grits until as much of the sandpaper marks are gone.
4. Polish w/ aluminum or mag polish.

I only had a LITTLE bit of 220 grit left, 400 autobody paper and 1000 autobody paper so I didnt get quite the turn out I wanted but I'm confident they'll look good when I redo them.

Here are some shots of what it looks like. In order, before, during after (the after i didnt do the outer ring or the finish the spokes)

BTW, I dont think i'm going to clear them, I bought the wheel clear coat, but I think it might look better if I just keep 'em polished from time to time.