1978 Pace Car wheels

[CharlieM]

I am interested in removing the clear coat on my 1978 Pace Car wheels and have them polished to a chrome like finish and then replace the red pin stripe on the rims. Has anyone else done this and what problems developed? How do you put the pin stripe back on? Is it hand painted or rolled on?

Charlie

[srs244]

if you are really intent on doing it yourself, it will take a bit of time, and a load of patience. i am about to do the same thing over this "winter" (i live in the tropics, so winter really isn't an issue, putting the car up for any time is, lol). the best way to do it is to use wet sandpaper starting at about 600 or so and eventually winding up with 1200. this will provide you with removal of the clear coat and removal of all the slight scratches, etc on the wheels. they can then be buffer out with one of the many polishing compounds made specifically for that purpose. check places like eastwood or griot's garage. they both carry what you need.

unless you have done brush pin stripping in the past, i would suggest you purchase one of the pin stripping tools available from places like eastwood's or your local auto body paint supply house. the unit will provide you with the proper width stripe wheel and uses a guide that can be rested right against the outer bead (rim) of the wheel for proper placement. then clear over it again to preserve it. BTW the proper width of the wheel strip is the same as that of the body strip.

the other alternative if you aren't NCRS would be to sell your current wheels on ebay after you do a quick clean up, and buy a new set of pace car wheels from wilcox for about $770. if you get $350 (or more) for your wheels, and factor in the cost/wheel of getting them professionaly redone (polished), and then re-stripped, you are probably just about even with no hassles, (maybe even ahead) lol!!

[CharlieM]

Thanks for the Information. I would like to keep the wheels highly polished so I may not recoat with clear coat after pin striping. I was not aware of Wilcox and I found their price for wheels to be the same as Ecklers, about $1000. I will let you know how I come out on the pin striping.

Charlie

[srs244]

actually as i mentioned in my first post, wilcox is selling a complete set of 4 pace car wheels for under 800.00 currently. you might want to check with them to be certain in your own mind, and weigh that against you time and $$ to restore the ones you have. obviously, they are originals that have been restored, but if your car isn't NCRS, it still might be to your advantage to consider them.

steve

[CharlieM]

Steve,

Thanks for the info. I contacted Willcox and got a quote of $770.90 for a set of Pace Car wheels. I will explore this . Also I looked at the pin striping tool at Eastwood and it only goes to 7/64" wide. I think the present stripe is 1/4" wide. I am going to contact them and see if they have a wider wheel.


Charlie