Re: Stag Alloys

[ggrunwald@domain.elided]

Kevin

Following are my experiences with removing the varnish and cleaning Stag
wheels.  I wrote this in response to a previous list query so I am only
pasting in this previous response.

Guy Grunwald

>>>Peter

I had the same problem as you and I found there were two choices

1. I could send the wheels away to a shop which strips them, paints all the
correct parts black again, skims them on a lathe, polishes them and treats
them with a clear coat which will not discolour.  Cost approx. A$120+ per
wheel and I have seen the results and it looks terrific, probably better
than new.

2. Do something myself.

Finances being under a little pressure of late I chose option 2.  I used a
gel paint stripper called Polystrip and I did the wheels on the car using a
small brush.  The clear (yellowed) lacquer came off with two applications
of the stripper and by being very careful I did not significantly affect
the blacked out sections.  What I did find is that once the lacquer is off
there were still some tarnish marks on the wheels which were very hard to
remove.  I have been using a tube of metal polish and slowly but surely
getting results.

While the results I have achieved are not as good as if I had used option
1, my wheels do look ten thousand million percent better than they did
before and at a total cost of only about A$20 and a number of hours of
time.  Eventually I will get the job done professionally but until then I
am very happy with the results.

If you intend to use a paint stripper, first test it on a small area of the
wheel to check that it does not damage the metal and that it does lift the
paint off.  I used the spare as a test wheel for this and I also talked to
the stripper manufacturer before deciding to use the one I did.  I can get
you the name of the metal polish I am using if you like, though as I
mentioned it is a lot of work to remove the slight tarnish marks with it
and someone else may be able to recommend something better.  If so I would
be interested to hear as well.

It is a fair bit of work to do the job this way and option 1 is preferable
if finances permit.  Irrespective I believe the results I have achieve have
been worth the effort.


Guy Grunwald<<<