HEADPHONES Posted April 4, 2021 Share Posted April 4, 2021 (edited) My rims have diamond cut lips and centres. On one of the rims, as the years have passed, the rim has lost it's mirror finish and started looking cloudy. I imported these new in 2007 and have used them daily. No removal to fit winter wheels just enjoy them all year round. Since day 1 they have been cleaned weekly with just shampoo and no harsh chemicals. For the first few years they were treated to Chemical Guys Wheel Gaurd monthly. Then around 2012 I started doing a yearly decon and Gtechniq C5 coating. Today I gave the cloudy area a scrape with my fingernail and very fine dusty flecks come away revealing a perfectly untarnished machined finish below. The cloudy layer is still steadfast in certain areas so scraping with my nail to do the whole lip in one sitting is highly unlikely. Do you think this could be layer upon layer of old C5 or just the 14yr old lacquer giving up the ghost. Strange thing is the other 3 rims look fine. Edited April 4, 2021 by HEADPHONES Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack94 Posted April 4, 2021 Share Posted April 4, 2021 (edited) Looks like lacquer peel to me. The fact that this tends to happen much quicker on diamond cut rims is part of the reason why I chose to get my LMGT4's completely powder coated. Guess it'll require a refurb to fix, seeing as they're standard silver it should be easy for someone to match against the other 3 if the others don't need doing? Unless you can just get the lacquer removed and re-done, but I'm not sure if that's a thing Edited April 4, 2021 by Jack94 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pintopete58 Posted April 4, 2021 Share Posted April 4, 2021 That looks like the lacquer peeling 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilogikal1 Posted April 4, 2021 Share Posted April 4, 2021 Agreed, that's lacquer peel. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sim Posted April 5, 2021 Share Posted April 5, 2021 Yup, sorry to agree with everyone else, but lacquer peel and will need a refurb, it does seem odd that it's only on one wheel though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HEADPHONES Posted April 5, 2021 Author Share Posted April 5, 2021 The centers are still A1 so before I go the refurb route I've ordered some paint stripper. Going to spray a little on a brush and test it on a small section of the lip. The clearcaot looks incredibly thin so hopefully not too difficult for the stripper to aid removal. When whiteworm hit the diamond cut faces of my Kia's alloys, the lacquer came off in sheets bas thick as a screen protector! Will post up pics of my progress. Nothing to lose if I can't maintain the finish with regular cleaning and polishing by hand. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HEADPHONES Posted April 5, 2021 Author Share Posted April 5, 2021 To be honest the lips haven't done badly considering they've seen daily use for 14 years! When I got them everyone said I should change them for winter wheels every year as the lips wouldn't last. No regrets from me for 14 years daily enjoyment out of them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davey_83 Posted April 5, 2021 Share Posted April 5, 2021 I'd be inclined to try and repair these yourself. The wheels aren't damaged or kerbed, only the clear coat giving up. I'd have a go at 1500, 2000 wet sand and then 2k clear lacquer the lips. Should be straight forward to do and if you mess it up, the refurb won't cost you any more and your only £20 and a few hours put of pocket. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sim Posted April 5, 2021 Share Posted April 5, 2021 4 hours ago, HEADPHONES said: The centers are still A1 so before I go the refurb route I've ordered some paint stripper. Going to spray a little on a brush and test it on a small section of the lip. The clearcaot looks incredibly thin so hopefully not too difficult for the stripper to aid removal. When whiteworm hit the diamond cut faces of my Kia's alloys, the lacquer came off in sheets bas thick as a screen protector! Will post up pics of my progress. Nothing to lose if I can't maintain the finish with regular cleaning and polishing by hand. Sounds like a good call, as @davey_83 has suggested worth a try if you're happy doing it, can't be much harder than doing a headlight refurbishment which is next on my list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HEADPHONES Posted April 12, 2021 Author Share Posted April 12, 2021 Did a test patch on the lip with paint stripper. Before..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HEADPHONES Posted April 12, 2021 Author Share Posted April 12, 2021 Stripper bubbling away Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HEADPHONES Posted April 12, 2021 Author Share Posted April 12, 2021 After Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HEADPHONES Posted April 12, 2021 Author Share Posted April 12, 2021 Put some C5 on Curing in the hallway. Back on the zed tomorrow. If the test patch holds up over time I'll strip the whole lip and just maintain with C5 and regular washing. If not I'll strip the whole lip and try to use 2k lacquer on afterwards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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