How to best remove a wheel coating??

Whacky

Whacky

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Hey all,
Just a quick question to see what people may recommend.

What would be a safe and effective way to remove a coating that was applied to a wheel?

Reason why I ask:
I have a 911 GTS with centerlock wheels. When I had the car professionally paint corrected, wrapped, and coated a few months ago, I asked them to perform the standard "wheels off" service, and coat the inside and outside of the wheels as well as the calipers etc.

Well the detailer, who came highly reviewed and recommended, didn't feel comfortable taking off the Porsche centerlock wheels. I guess there was a recent issue in the shop? or his new wheel guy wasn't comfortable with it, or didnt have the right torque wrench? I am not entirely sure. But I was just told they couldn't take the wheels off.

So he coated the visible outside of the wheels only, leaving the inner rim and calipers uncoated.
FYI, he coated the external car with Gtechniq Crystal Serum Ultra followed by EXO. I am not sure what he coated the external wheels with, but I can find out pretty easily.

Which leads us to now.
The 911 GTS Non-PCCB rotors make tons and tons of brake dust, and it looks pretty weird having external surface appear coated (albeit not even that great a a job I feel), and the inner part with no coating or protection at all.

SO I went ahead and bought the right torque wrench, and the right jack stands, and have prepared myself to put my 911 up on all four jacks and take the centerlock wheels off myself.

This way, I can pick which product I want to coat the wheels with, and I can take my time, decontaminate, clean, and prepare the wheel thoroughly and be as meticulous about the process as I want in order to provide the best protection to these awesome wheels given the amount of dust they will encounter in their lifetime.


So that leads me to the question.

Is there a good, safe, and effective way to remove the current external coating applied to the wheels so I can prepare the surface for the full wheel coating? Ideally without having to pull out any form of polisher, compounding, etc given they are the matte black Porsche GTS wheels and I feel machine polishing/compounding them is a bad idea.

Dish soaps? Car soaps? Alkaline products? Other car products? etc.



Any suggestions would be kindly appreciated.

Thanks all
W
 
I don’t mean to get off topic, but until just recently you weren’t able to remove your own wheels on a Porsche? What would happen if you got a flat tire? I’m guessing these are aftermarket wheels?
 
A special Porsche $$$ tool is needed to take the wheels off or at least a 42" breaker bar and split torque wrench. Either way, significant $$

My friend w/ a GT3 has the same but his car came w/ the tool.
 
howardm4 said:
A special Porsche $$$ tool is needed to take the wheels off or at least a 42" breaker bar and split torque wrench. Either way, significant $$

My friend w/ a GT3 has the same but his car came w/ the tool.
Click to expand...

Most Porsche’s don’t use centerlocks and, in general, owners of Porsche’s with centerlocks don’t DIY stuff or invest hundreds for the removal tool and very high duty torque wrench. If you get a flat, you normally get a flat bed tow.

That said, the best way to remove the coating is to give the wheels a good wash and then use a mild abrasive polish on the entire wheel. By hand should be fine. After, wipe the wheels down with diluted IPA, CarPro Eraser, or like product.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Hummm..If it were me---I'll get the wheels off.

Do a deep cleaning, the outer rims and inner barrels.

Clay barrels off, wipe everything with paint prep.

Then coat...

I wouldn't worry too much about getting old coating off. Just get it really clean and paint prep it. Then coat.

Don't get too stressed or overthink the process...Just clean and coat---you'll be fine.

Tom
 
So just pray you never get a flat because even AAA can’t change it. Lol. Man that sucks.
 
So the wheels are standard Porsche 911 GTS wheels. Matte black. Centerlocks. Personally, I love the look.
However, its definitely a pain in rear for Porsche gearheads due to the ~$400 torque wrench/breaker bar combo usually recommended to get off the wheels. Let alone any cost that goes into making sure you have adequate jackstands that will actually work to jack up the low profile, difficult jack-up 991.2
So yes, costs build up for the DIY job, but I want to be able to take off my own wheels in the future, perform my own service, install my own modifications....etc.



That being said, getting the wheels off isnt the issue.
Removing the coating is.
is it even necessary to worry about? I dont want to try to add a coating ontop of another coating of different manufacturers and not get good results.

From my understanding, preperation is everything. And if I am going to the additional cost and time to remove my own centerlock wheels, I definitely want to make sure I do it right.

So couple questions
1. I heard doing claybar on external surface to matt/flatte rims could be a bad idea, introduce more problems than it stolves? Just wanted to confirm this.
I do plan on claybaring the inner barrell, but the outside surface is where the coating is applied, and I don't want to cause any issues. ANy one have experience with this? Any difference between claybar and autoscrub?

2. Anyone care to recommend a mild abrasive polish that wont mare the external matte surface? And/Or actually ruin or change the matte look of the wheels?
I only have jescar compounding agent and sonax perfect finish on hand for my paint.


My initial plan was to remove all wheels, thoroughly foam wash, then APC/wheel cleaner/Iron X multiple times, then claybar inner drum, then Eraser and allow to dry, then coat, cure, coat, cure, reinstall.
 
Whacky said:
So that leads me to the question.

Is there a good, safe, and effective way
to remove the current external coating
applied to the wheels so I can prepare
the surface for the full wheel coating?

Ideally without having to pull out any form
of polisher, compounding, etc given they are
the matte black Porsche GTS wheels
and I feel machine polishing/compounding
them is a bad idea.

Any suggestions would be kindly appreciated.
Click to expand...
IMO:
You definitely don’t want to use any type
of abrasives/abrasive processes on matte
black vehicle components.

With that in mind, I’ll suggest that the
following product may be one of the best
bets for safely accomplishing your above
listed task:
Dr. Beasley's Matte Paint Cleanser


•Additionally:
-Since Dr. Beasley’s is represented on AGO’s
forum, I’ll also suggest to contact them for
further instructions/recommendations (send
them a copy of your OP) via AGO’s PM system:
https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/private.php?do=newpm&u=92953


Bob
 
This definitely seems like a viable option.
I've never used the product before.

Thanks for the advice, I reached out to Dr. Beasleys to see if that matte paint cleaner would be safe/effective for the wheels.
 
FUNX650 said:
IMO:
You definitely don’t want to use any type
of abrasives/abrasive processes on matte
black vehicle components.

With that in mind, I’ll suggest that the
following product may be one of the best
bets for safely accomplishing your above
listed task:
Dr. Beasley's Matte Paint Cleanser


•Additionally:
-Since Dr. Beasley’s is represented on AGO’s
forum, I’ll also suggest to contact them for
further instructions/recommendations (send
them a copy of your OP) via AGO’s PM system:
https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/private.php?do=newpm&u=92953


Bob
Click to expand...

Bingo..That's it.

Do what FunX650 says.

Use matte cleaner by Dr Beasley's. Or use this---https://www.autogeek.net/matte-finish-cleaner-protectant.html.

Clean wheels first---use iron remover to remove brake dust, wash and use matte cleaner and then do paint prep to remove protectant from matte cleaners...

Then coat it...

I did not realized your wheels were matte. I would not use clay on those.

Tom
 
Since Crystal Serum Ultra supposedly needs to be sanded off with 1500 grit paper I would leave it. Clean the barrels of the wheels good, coat them and call it done. No point removing a good high quality coating.
 
DaveT435 said:
Since Crystal Serum Ultra supposedly needs to be sanded off with 1500 grit paper I would leave it. Clean the barrels of the wheels good, coat them and call it done. No point removing a good high quality coating.
Click to expand...

Agree with what Dave said.

Clean and coat...be done with it.

Who is going to get down on their knees and stick their nose close to the wheels to see if it beads?? Grin...

Tom
 
If I am going to all this trouble and expense to take the wheels off and coat it myself, I will definitely care of the coating beads/protects and washes the dust off. I have no idea how the existening coating will interact with a new coating applied directly on top of it if it isnt removed.

No point in spending money on all these tools, and then expensive coating products only to not get the most out of your coating because you couldnt prep the surface enough.


Either way, I will prolly roll with the advice and just clean the crap out of the wheels without using any further products at this point.
I do have some original chemical guys citrus wash that I can use as a foaming/strip wash.
Hopefully it will strip the surface as much as possible prior to the remainder of the decon.


I'll post updates
 
If they’re coated with anything decent you’d want to remove that first. Find out what exactly was used on the wheel faces.
 
With the wheels being matte, your best bet is to let the coating wear off. Polishing will remove the coating but alter the matte appearance.
 
As said above and find out what kind of coating was used. Cause if it's the gtechnic coating used on the paint I think you are stuck with it. If it's another coating or only exo applyied you may have the possibility to get it of. I know that the Youtuber Car Craft Auto Detailing Chanel did a video about stripping wax and sealants and coatings.

YouTube

As for prep the wheels for a coating I would use chemicals only on matte finish. An APC and a tar remover and ironx to do so and then eraser to prep it for the coating.
I would consider to use the same coating that where applyied on the front of the wheels. To get out of the hassle to remove it. And ad it to the rest of the wheels.

The DR Beasley option seems to be worth to look into. And they have options that are suited for matte surfaces too. That's something to consider too with your choice of the coating that it's suitable to matte finishes.
 
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