I have an 02 996TT with the factory 18" hollow spokes in OEM silver paint/clear coat... Whoever had the car before me must have had the wheels repaired by some cheap place, because some of the paint is peeling off and/or bubbling up in several places I can also see areas that look like they were curb-rashed and hastily (and crappily) repaired

At this point, I don't want to invest in new wheels--my question then is this: Can my existing wheels be stripped and then just polished to look like polished aluminum wheels? Or is it better to have them repaired/repainted? I don't have access to a camera at the moment, but if need be I can post pics of the crap job

 

you need to talk to some local race guys and find where they take their wheels for repair...if you find the right shop they can do miracles...they are not cheap but considering the results they are not that expensive...a friend had curbed a beautiful aluminum expensive wheel and a local wheel guy here (you should have seen some of the wheels he was fixing...they looked like pretzels)...made that wheel look better than the other wheels on the car that were still new...ask around...call some race shops...

 

OK, I'll look into that. Thanks!

 

hey
yes you can have it done to polished aluminium no problem
i did this to my oem wheels on my audi

anyway

check out our sponsor, wheels of america


they will prob charge around $130/wheel ... they did a great job on my car

 

Excellent! Thanks

 

I've had several wheels repaired, polished and painted.

I had one of my sets, a 3 piece wheel, refinished several years ago. The centers were painted and the lips were stripped of the clear coat and polished. They looked fantastic, but having to keep up the shine is a lot of work.

As others mentioned...you can have the wheels fully polished and repaired. But, keep in mind that fully polished wheels, while beautiful, require frequent up-keep to maintain their shine. They'lll lose it after several rainfalls. They can be polished and clear coated, but the shine will be dulled a bit.

IMO...a better option for a daily driver would be a painted or powder coated finish. It's much easier wash and quickly wax the wheels than it is to shine. Of these 2 options, powdercoating is the better of the 2. It's more durable and resistant to chipping, peeling, and scratching.

Get in contact with a good wheel repair shop. They'll help you make a decision.

Here are a few links to wheel refinishers:

http://www.wheelenhancement.com/ --- well known Porsche wheel refinisher and distributor.

http://www.fastforwardwheels.com/Contact_Us.html --- in California but does good work. Shipping might be worth it.


http://www.rimdoc.com/

http://www.wheelsamerica.com/
www.fixarim.com

http://www.wheelcollision.com/ - I used this shop in the past, but they're expensive.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Large majority of the wheels they finish are Porsche cars. Owner is a Porsche owner.

Wheel enhancement sends their wheels out from what I know, been to their shop and one of the guys there told me they did, maybe they send they to fastforward .....