refinishing GLHS wheels

[Badger]

anyone else having a hard time finding a shop that will refinish GLHS wheels? Im having a hell of a time! Best price Ive been able to find was $125 per wheels for "machine" finish (stock) and clearcoat. Maybe it's just me, but that seems a little on the high side. Thought I had a lead on another place but went down to get more info today only to find out the guy doesn't do any "machine" finishes anymore because its a pain and because the clear never turns out that good (yellows) so the guy just plain gave up finishing wheels that way all together. He suggested I get them fully polished for about $75 per wheel. The thought they look better polished anyway. I really would like the wheels looking factory which means finding a place that will machine finish them and do the clear correctly. Whats the going rate for something like this and does anyone in the OC/LA area know of a place they would recommend?

thanks,
Badger.....

[csx516]

Hello i can get you a number for a local shop the dose chrome in Athens TN , He dose a lot of out of state work. I have a set crabs going Black chrome for slicks My stock RIMS just use them sometimes street tire . I May black CHrome them also.

[Shadowv4l]

I work for a quiksilver franchise in Warminster PA. We are currently working on getting a lathe (a month or two out), $125 each isn't that bad of a price for a re-machined wheel. Our current price is $135 each since we have to send our machine wheels out so i'm sure it would be much cheaper if we could finally do them in-house.

---------- Post added at 09:17 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:15 PM ----------

and I believe the clear they use is a "powder-clear" and it is yellowing because they leave them in the oven for too long.

---------- Post added at 09:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:17 PM ----------


Hello i can get you a number for a local shop the dose chrome in Athens TN , He dose a lot of out of state work. I have a set crabs going Black chrome for slicks My stock RIMS just use them sometimes street tire . I May black CHrome them also.

Is it "black chrome"? or is it a "Hyper" paint? Chroming is a entirely different process but the Hyper paint is a black basecoat with a hyper silver painted overtop to give it that dark chrome look.

[glhs571]

Well....if you decide to go with the polished look....

I had mine professionally polished nearly 3 years ago at a place called valley chrome here in Santa Clara. $80 per wheel and I believe it took close to two weeks to complete.

I bought aircraft paint stripper as suggested and removed the clear coat off of each wheel. That was the hardest and most time consuming part.

Don't even think of polishing them without first removing the clear coat, they will not get the same result! Anyways here's some pics of mine when I first had them back in my possession. They still look good to this day!


http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f393/matt1104/photo.jpg (http://s51.photobucket.com/user/matt1104/media/photo.jpg.html)
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f393/matt1104/photo-2.png (http://s51.photobucket.com/user/matt1104/media/photo-2.png.html)
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f393/matt1104/photo-1.jpg (http://s51.photobucket.com/user/matt1104/media/photo-1.jpg.html)

[4 l-bodies]

Going rate in MPLS, MN is $160 wheel. They charge this price whether they have damage or not. ie bent or curb rash. They don't do centercaps, no matter what. (WTF)? Find out whether they are spraying or powdercoating clearcoat. Other questions to ask are inside and backside refinished. Is centercap area remachined so cap fits correctly? I've seen pretty poor and pretty good jobs of restoring wheels.
Todd

[contraption22]

$125 each seems pretty reasonable to get the OE finish. Realistically anybody with basic power tools and enough time can just sand and polish them to a high shine, But that machined finish is hard to reproduce in your garage.

[amoparx]

I was going to say, $125 sounds like a good price. They're way more around here. But Todd beat me to saying that. I'd get mine done for that price, (125) but I'll have to wait 'til I get rich at our local price. Mine didn't look all that great. (Centurion II's) I used the aircraft paint remover and a high pressure sprayer. My rims looked way better after that. The clear came off fast. About 99.9% after the first 15 minutes of the remover. Just stray the stuff on, wait about 15minutes and high pressure it off. No scraping. The clearcoat itself really hampers the looks of the rims when it gets old. They shined really nice after "just" removing the clear. I tried it on some pizzas. Two blasted clean and shiny right away. The other two never did. Pizzas were made by 3 different manufacturers if I remember right. They must clear differently. "Edit" I just noticed after posting this, the red Shelby Charger below, is wearing those rims. This was taken maybe 3 years after removing the clear. (never recleared them. Just try to keep a bit of wax on them. And I don't fuss much at all)

[ajakeski]

$125 is the going rate.

[glhs727]

A local guy down here had his 89 shelby dakota rims straightened and restored, look better than new! and it cost $450 for the set of 4. But that's here in Houston, and labor rates seem a little lower here than most major cities.

[Badger]

thank you everyone for replying to this. Im probably gonna have to bite the bullit sometime and just pay the going rate. Dont feel quite as bad about it now though.

[contraption22]

You can get a decent set of wider, lighter wheels for that money. Just something to chew on.

[Turbo'd guy]

Did he buy that Shelby Dakota from a man in missouri a few years back?