Sound technical content, curated with aloha by
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Pine Beach, NJ
The authoritative public forum
for Metal Finishing since 1989
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Strip Paint/Powder from Aluminum Alloy Wheels/Rims
Q. I have a set of painted motorcycle rims that I want to polish but, it seems that the paint on the rims is very difficult to get off. I have tried airplane stripper and other such items but to no avail, I also tried to sand them which works but is a long and tedious process. Is there some sort of chemical that I can use to get this paint off.
Miles Brown- Newark, New Jersey
2001
A. I ran into the same problem with my rims and tried the same strippers, and sanding would take a life time for all of them. I tried sand blasting with sand and it left a pitting that also needed sanding out. I finally ended up sandblasting with glass bead that left the surface smooth before I polished it out.
Nathan Mortenson- Pacifica, California, USA
A. I have just stripped the outer rims on my Kawasaki and I used a 3M stripping tool that attaches to a electric drill. It removed the paint easy and did not mark the alloy.
Bernard Harrison- New Zealand
A. Try sand blasting it. It will take off all layers of the paint and also take off rust too.
Preston Tucker- Marietta, Georgia, USA
2003
A. I've done my GXSR750 and several of my friends' bikes. It's a pain but I can almost make look chrome. have to see to believe it. I'll wash a wheel off and send you a pic. So... get a large can of "Aircraft Stripper".
It's some nasty stuff so make sure to get chemical resistant rubber gloves
⇦ this on
eBay or
Amazon [affil links] b/c the stuff will burn your skin. Follow the directions and you'll have a raw rim, Only do the lip of the rim b/c the spokes have a rough finish and it looks bad. Once it's COMPLETELY rid of powder coat. Use very clean, soft cloths, Mothers Mag & Aluminum Polish
⇦ this on
eBay or
Amazon [affil links] , and a-lot of rubbing.
- Frisco, Texas
2006
Ed. update Dec. 2020: Aircraft Stripper (methylene chloride) has gradually become almost unavailable to consumers because it is so toxic. Please check for EPA updates and if you do get & use it anyway, do so only while wearing rubber gloves ⇦ this on eBay or Amazon [affil links] & goggles ⇦ this on eBay or Amazon [affil links] as a minimum, and only outside and working from upwind.
Multiple threads merged: please forgive chronology errors and repetition 🙂
Q. I have searched this site and have found several questions but no answers to a question which I also have. I want to remove the "paint" from my stock GMC wheels and polish them to a nice shine. I have had no luck searching the web and am getting discouraged, can someone please give me some advice? I greatly appreciate any help, thank you.
Todd H [surname deleted for privacy by Editor]- Santa Maria, California
2003
A. Todd:
I will try to give you some insight into your request but got to ask a couple of questions first. Are your wheels steel or an alloy? If they are steel, they won't polish up and stay nice very long unless you clear coat them after the paint removal and polishing process. If they are an alloy then they can be polished to a very high luster but they still should be protected with a clear coat to prevent tarnishing. There are several companies that supply products for removal of paint/clear coat but I would advise you to make sure what your wheels are made of before starting any paint/clear coat removal. Some paint removers can do some serious damage to Aluminum and alloy wheels. Paint or clear coat remover is available in liquid or aerosol. If the wheels are of an alloy construction then tools and supplies are available to polish and buff your wheels to whatever level of shine you desire. There are also aerosol clear coats to protect the newly created shine on your wheels.
Hope this helps.
- Shinnston, West Virginia
Multiple threads merged: please forgive chronology errors and repetition 🙂
Q. My questions are:
1. How do I remove the powder coating from my aluminum wheels without taking the tires off the wheels?
2. Will it damage my wheels?
3. About how much will it cost ?
Porter Engineered Systems - Noblesville, Indiana, U.S.A.
2004
A. Hi Thomas. There are several methods available but some are suitable for subsequent polishing, others only if you are repainting. Are they OEM wheels, do you know what kind of powder coating?
Probably the best way to get the powder coating off with the tires still on is to sandblast the wheels, but that leaves the aluminum a bit of a mess for future polishing or refinishing. But the right way is to remove the tires, have them professionally chemically stripped, and polished. Good luck.
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
Q. I am repainting and refinishing a set of aluminum Eagle Alloy wheels. should I use paint thinner to remove ALL clearcoat, silver paint and primer fully? Or can I sand the clearcoat and silver paint off and leave the primer then just reprimer them. What would be the best low cost method? (I purchased these wheels used and damaged so I am not looking to spend a lot.)
Thank you for your reply.
HansenLegacy - Vancouver, BC
2006
Q. Hi, I was wondering what is the easiest and fastest way to remove the paint off of my motorcycle rims. I read paint stripper, and airplane stripper, and that there are 3 different types of strippers. liquid, paste and gel. So which should I try.
ZACH CHAUDHRYSTUDENT - TUCSON, Arizona
2006
Q. Hi, I was wondering what is the easiest and fastest way to remove the paint off of my motorcycle rims. I read paint stripper, and airplane stripper, and that there are 3 different types of strippers. liquid, paste and gel. So which should I try.
ZACH CHAUDHRYSTUDENT - TUCSON, Arizona
Tip: Readers often just skip abstract questions;
they want to learn from your actual situation.
Q. I just wanted to bring this one back to the top. I do wheel refinishing and find my methods unsatisfactory. Hoping for a better idea.
Tom Faustwheel refinishing - Providence, Rhode Island
2006
A. Hi Tom. Please briefly state what your methods are and in what way they are unsatisfactory. As you can see, no one is taking the time to introduce the details of their method to you because the likely response to their efforts will be: "we already tried that and found it unsatisfactory" :-)
Luck & Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
Multiple threads merged: please forgive chronology errors and repetition 🙂
Q. Hi
I am a manager of electroplating plant in Poland
I am going to introduce chrome plating of aluminum and my question is how to strip the paint from aluminum surfaces especially alloy wheels, it turned out that sandblasting is not appropriate because the surface is not smooth enough
I wonder if there are some chemical or thermal methods
I will be grateful for help.
manager - Bydgoszcz, Poland
2007
A. Dear Mr Kunde,
Sandblasting is indeed too aggressive for aluminum wheels paint removal.
Did you try thermal cleaning by means of fluidized bed?
Best regards,
- Deurle, Belgium
March 2, 2010
Multiple threads merged: please forgive chronology errors and repetition 🙂
Q. I have a set of rather extinct/rare BMW wheels that I am trying to refurbish back to mint or better condition. I have toyed with powder coating numerous parts of my vehicle and bead blasting as usually been the answer to all of my worries! However, not with these wheels! I put them in the blasting cabinet, tried various mediums from AC bead to aluminum oxide and nothing was working very well.
I bought a rattle can of "Aircraft Remover".
and it did an AMAZING job at removing the clearcoat from the polished lips of the wheels. However, the centers and backside of the wheels are painted (I think!) silver -- it doesn't seem like its powdercoat in the way that it is coming off. However, it's BARELY coming off. Is there a trick to removing paint from aluminum wheels? Is there a chemical stripper that is stronger than Aircraft Remover? I am going to try blasting the wheel now that the surface has significantly loosened but it is still relatively there.
Hobbyist - Upper Holland, Pennsylvania
2007
A. Since this question was raised in 2007, regarding aluminum wheel stripping chemical solutions, there have been major product technology innovations/advancements and new aluminum wheel/powder coating removal chemical strip technologies.
Thickened gels for (brush-on), aluminum/powder coating removal applications, used at room temperature on aluminum substrates.
Also, heated immersion type stripping solution concentrates are utilized with the addition of up to 50% water-for economy of use.
Strippers are available to strip and remove powder coating from aluminum wheels can be used at temperatures ranging from room temperature to 150 °F.
Eco-friendly: Green Stripping Solution Concentrate utilized at 185 °F. to remove paint and strip powder coating from aluminum substrates.
Kissimmee, Florida
May 10, 2009
Multiple threads merged: please forgive chronology errors and repetition 🙂
Q. Hey, I have some Cadillac CTS wheels that were painted black by the previous owner on my Buick, now my question is that these are alloy wheels and what would you recommend for me to take the paint off and give them a nice shine? thanks again.
Abdulrhman Raies- Saudi Arabia
November 4, 2008
A. How To: Strip Aluminum Alloy Wheels
Aluminum Wheels can be safely, chemical stripped at low temperatures with special chemical solutions developed for the purpose. The Aluminum Wheel can be reconditioned by removing the old coating with those solutions in approximately one hour and then re-coating the aluminum rims with durable powder coating.
* A stainless steel or polypropylene tank to immerse the aluminum wheel/s.
* An immersion heater.
* A tank mixer for agitation, never use air agitation, chemical oxidation will occur, which decreases chemical bath life.
* Aluminum Stripping Solution Concentrate.
* Water
Utilize a Polypropylene or Stainless, heated immersion strip tank.
Add 50% Stripping Solution Concentrate and 50% water. Agitate solution with mixer or circulation pump. Note: never agitate with direct-air! Oxidation, decreases chemical bath life.
Heat solution to 150 °F. and soak wheels for 1.5 hours.
Utilize a tank lid and polypropylene floating evaporation inhibitor balls to reduce solution loss and replenishment requirements.
Maintain the temperature at 150 °F. plus or minus 3°
The chemical appearance, when agitated during the stripping process:
The black flakes are paint and primer that have been lifted from the aluminum wheel surface. These coating flakes can be easily removed with a 75- mesh in-line, stainless basket strainer filter.
After rinsing with a pressure washer, the aluminum alloy wheels have a prepaint, original bright surface appearance. Appearance is that of an aluminum wheel rim prior to painting. Ready for re-process through paint or powder coating.
This coating removal process is normally implemented in Paint Finishing & Powder Coating facilities, additionally at many Industrial-Coating Removal Service Contractors worldwide.
This is an easy to implement process in an Industrial Environment, such as a Paint Finishing and Powder Coating Facility or at a Coating Removal Service Providers location. This aluminum wheel stripping process was not developed for individual consumer use.
Let me know if I can answer any questions.
Kissimmee, Florida
April 9, 2010
Q. Hey folks,
I have a 1984 Honda CB450SC (Nighthawk) that I am working on. The engine has seen better days and I am trying to make it look the part. There is a ton of grime on the engine and a decent layer of paint as well. So far, I have tried paint stripper (rattle can) with minimal success. I also tried a 3M Paint and Rust Remover wheel on my cordless drill. This seems to do a decent job getting everything off, except I can't get into the tighter areas and it does scratch the aluminum quite a bit. For the tighter areas, I tried a few different Dremel abrasive bits but the same issue with scratching the aluminum applies. Also, Dremel bits last all of about 10 mins of constant use.
What can I do to easily remove all the paint and grime from this engine without going mental in the process? It is all apart so media blasting is an option. I just want to make sure I use the right media if blasting is the best thing to do.
- Truro, NS, Canada
November 19, 2012
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