Strip top layer of paint
 

I bought a used set of TSW Nurburgring that were painted and had a meaty tire on it. Now that the tires needed replacing, I've gone back to a mild stretch on it. And now it shows the paint imperfections along the edge of the rim. The paint seems to chip easily along the edges if I just pick at it with my nail, it's a little tougher along the spokes.
I imagine it's the original gunmetal gray underneath, does anyone know if TSW paints or powder coats their wheels?
I want to remove the top layer of paint without affecting the original color underneath. How would I do that if paint stripper might affect the original coat? If it's powder coated underneath maybe it'll hold up to paint stripper?https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...b3201a324b.jpg
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Paint stripper will be too harsh if it is powder coated. You may be able to use a light solvent, but it may discolor the original coating.

I read online elsewhere that using liquid wrench or WD-40 may help but more so if it was Plasti dip. Any thoughts on that?

the concept there is that the lubricant is getting between the layers of material. paint applies differently from plastidip, so it really shouldn't work for paint.

i can't think of any process i know of that would be tough on the paint, that doesn't risk some sort of damage to the TSW wheel finish.

it looks like there was minimal prep involved in applying the white paint, which means that most of the gloss of the TSW coating would help aid your effort to remove the paint. the first option i thought of was using a plastic brillow pad scrubbie with something like acetone to dissolve the spray paint. could also try a specialized spray paint remover.

but there's a good chance that heavy scrubbing, even with a soft brillow pad could scratch the underlying coating. and there's no telling what the use of any solvent is going to do to that underlying coating. it might not do anything, it might damage it further.

It wouldn't hurt to try. We use WD to remove sticker residue, but I don't know if it will be able to cut paint that has been cured. MEK may work but I would be cautious with it. For touchup we use MEK to dissolve the powder for powder coating to brush into chips. I am not sure what it will do to cured PC. I can try some later on as I have a bunch of damaged PC parts that need to go be stripped. It will take a few tries, your first one you will end up with a smeary mess.

I like acetone for sensitive cleaning because it flashes so quickly it's easy to control the depth of disollution. I don't remember how it compares to MEK. Paint thinner is a solution of stuff which evaporates too slowly to control. It gets in there and keeps going no matter how much I wipe.

MEK is like diet acetone.

If the paint is already chipping, I'd try a high PSI pressure washer. It might take a while but shouldn't hurt the powder coat. You should know pretty quickly it its going to work.

Didn’t have any MEK but did have acetone. I left it on a soaking rag for 30min and you can see it did soften the PC. I could easily scrape it with my fingernail. You could probably get away with Acetone or MEK but I would be careful.

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I seriously think any cleaning will not work well. The original finish is probably damaged/ scuffed from some preparation prior to the white. Best bet is removal proper prep and recoat

Could be plasti dip. If so, WD-40 as previously stated. Spray, rub, repeat.

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I have tried to save a couple sets of 04 STI bbs that were spray painted with no prep work and were pealing. I had a full weekend into them using a number of chemicals, even stuff not available to the general public, and had no luck in getting the paint off and keeping the surface under it in good condition.


WD-40 on plastidip has worked with mixed results. I have ended up sand blasting parts that were dipped Poorly before.