Hey guys,

So Ive decided to remove the paint off my Axis Penta Rims for the LS430. Ive gone ahead and used Aircraft Remover to remove all the paint. My question comes down to finishing.

The wheels look to be painted after they were purchased. I removed all the black paint down to the lip and the lip seems to come polished from factory. The face on the other hand had a grey paint underneath which i am assuming is factory from Axis.

The lip (6") looks to be pre polished, as it is machine groved (Tinny ridges) and is shinny. The face on the other hand is now down to bare metal.

My next move is to sand the faces starting with a 600 grit and moving to a 3000 eventually.

Heres my question. Will i need to clear cost the rim and/or face... of can I just leave it as is after polishing. I am assuming this is aluminum aloy which wont rust? I only assume this due to there being paint chips in the rims in the past with no rust to the surface metal.

Thanks in advance for the help!

 

You can leave it raw, but the main down side will be the maintenance. You'll have to periodically re-polish to the lips to keep that mirror shine. On the flip side, if you do a clear coat you'll be able to just wash them up and they should hold that shine for years.

 

I'd clear it just to keep the maintenance down to the minimum.

 

^^^^I agree. Clear coat them and be done. No need to have to polish them every few months to keep them shining. The clear will last for many years and your back will thank you.

 

I figured it would be ok to leave bare. I would like to get it cleared down the road... I just want to make sure should i choose to roll with em for a few months before clearing them that I wouldnt have a rust problem.

This is my first time actually bringing a wheel down to the bare metal so I wanted to make sure Im not making any newb mistakes.

Thanks for the input guys!

 

That would be ok to do just keep an eye on them once in while to see any changes in the metal, just so you won't have any surprises down the road if you forget to check them.