Clear coat steel wheels...?

[rulle7]

I'm in the process of repainting my Rostyle wheels,
and when removing the old paint, noticed what a fantastic shine can be had from the bare metal.
This rather begs the question;
Can you just clear coat a polished bare metal wheel?
Will the shine hold up?
Anyone done this?

 

[Trevor Jessie]

Sorry, the shine will not hold, and rust pockets will form under the clearcoat since it can not properly bond with such a smooth surface.

 

[fabmandan]

You can get the powder coated in clear. A guy picked up a bracket I made for his race car last night and showed me some stuff he had powder coated. He had a set of aluminum wheels that he polished and had powder coated and they were gorgeous.

 

[rulle7]

Food for thought...
Thanks for the quick replies, a simple respray might be the most straightforward option.

 

[RickB]

I have a (sorta) related question.

The chrome trim rings on my Rostyles get little rusty spots that can easily be rubbed out with a chrome cleaner, but then the rust comes back.

Is there something I should be putting on them if I want to protect them from this rust? What's recommended?

 

[fabmandan]

Wax. Wax the chrome when you wax the car.

 

[RickB]

Thanks Dan, I will try that.