Do the welds need clearcoating?

[Sully008]

Hey all,

This may be a dumb question, but I just want to be sure about this. I got my wheels back from Weldcraft today and I was wondering if the welds need to be clearcoated? I'll be dropping them off to get the tires mounted next week.

TIA,
:burnout:

[fastblackmerc]

Good question.:P

[musclemerc]

What could it hurt???

[J-MAN]

You should cover any raw aluminum with something or it will corrode. I spray painted mine with silver wheel paint and clear coat. Looks good, easy to keep clean. Not the face, just the barrel.

[Brian H]

Yes, you do. when you heat something up hot enuff to melt,i.e. weld, you create a type of premature oxidation. So, yes make SURE you get some type of coating on them!!

[Sully008]

I'm glad I asked this question, because I honestly didn't know, and nobody ever said anything about coating the welds after getting the wheels back. I will be painting and clearcoating them this weekend.

[4play]

you could just put a thick coat of good quality spray clear coat.. do like 3 coats just on the inside of the rim.. the surface should be rough enogh that it will stick.

[magindat]

Better sand blast or at least stainless steel wire brush first or else you're locking in that oxidation. The oxidation would be surface only and serve to just dull the color from shiney to grey. My widened rims were black on the inside and I've done nothing to cover James' fine work. No problems here!

[Taemian]

Better sand blast or at least stainless steel wire brush first or else you're locking in that oxidation. The oxidation would be surface only and serve to just dull the color from shiney to grey. My widened rims were black on the inside and I've done nothing to cover James' fine work. No problems here!

Didn't any of you guys get the inside welds polished down?! I got mine done, tires came in yesterday and will be mounted by this afternoon.

[Sully008]

Didn't any of you guys get the inside welds polished down?! I got mine done, tires came in yesterday and will be mounted by this afternoon.

I didn't, you can't really see the welds when they're on the car anyways. I cleaned the welds inside and out and sprayed them with several coats of clearcoat. I'm just waiting for the city to get rid of all the sand they used in the winter before I put them on the car.

[Sully008]

Okay, so I put my widened wheels on today. They fit great, no rubbing on the shocks, took it for a spin to make sure it doesn't rub when the suspension travels. All good! Went to put the wheelcap in the hole. Doesn't fit. Damn. It sits out too far. Compared the wheel to the one I took off the car, sure enough the hole is deeper on my original wheels. Shame on me for not doing my homework. I bought these on eBay which were listed as original Marauder wheels. I had no doubt in my mind that they are Ford wheels because they have Ford part #s, but Marauder ones, they are not.

Reading past threads there has been debate on whether or not our center caps would fit properly. I can truly say they DO NOT fit these PARTICULAR wheels. Now I don't know if Ford changed the hole depth on certain years, but now I have to figure out how to get my wheelcaps to fit. Anybody else run into this problem? I have some ideas floating in my head...

[BruteForce]

If they are the same as mine, they are actually Mustang wheels and the Mustang caps will fit. That may lead to more ideas. :-)

I ended up leaving them as is. I'm the only one who notices they stick out at all unless I point it out.

[Sully008]

If they are the same as mine, they are actually Mustang wheels and the Mustang caps will fit. That may lead to more ideas. :-)

I ended up leaving them as is. I'm the only one who notices they stick out at all unless I point it out.


I thought of leaving them as is, but I don't like the look of them. What I was thinking of doing is getting a pair of Mustang caps, removing the backs off of them and attaching them to the Godshead. Another option is to remove the backs and silicone the caps into the hole.