clear coat on wheels

[wanabe]

i know that my s2000 stock wheels (and my ssr gt-3s) are clear coated on the outside, but do not know about the insides-

are insides of modern wheels clear coated?

[wanabe]

answer i got by email (wow, that was fast!) :





"They are not. In fact, the back side of most wheels are lucky to get anything more than just grey primer.



db"

[Accumulator]

Yeah, most aren`t finished *nearly* as well on the back sides. Makes it even more important (IMO) to keep them cleaned and protected. Once [stuff] builds up on the poorly finished surface, it`s a real paint to get it off.

[wanabe]

thx-

product of choice p21s wheel cleaner?




Originally posted by Accumulator

Yeah, most aren`t finished *nearly* as well on the back sides. Makes it even more important (IMO) to keep them cleaned and protected. Once [stuff] builds up on the poorly finished surface, it`s a real paint to get it off.

[Accumulator]

Depends on how dirty they get and what you have on there protecting them. I put more LSP on mine fairly recently, so I can just use a sorta-strong mix of regular car wash shampoo. But if that won`t cut it, then your choice of wheel cleaners should work fine. But note that the wheel cleaners are really hard on waxes/sealants. Once the car wash won`t work, I`ll use diluted wheel cleaner (P21S is good, Griot`s is *very* similar but cheaper, and TOL`s most gentle one is good and cheaper still). When that doesn`t work, full/regular-strength wheel cleaner. After a few times with that, I`ll pull them and redo them with cleaners and a sealant. I try to make the protection last as long as I can and I never let them get too nasty. Trying to keep them decent with a once-a-year cleanup didn`t work for me.