[t_g_farrell]

Instead of all that sanding you can just hit them with the aerosol aircraft
stripper to remove all the old paint. It will do a great job and as long as you
protect the tires and the stem and rinse it good afterwords should be fine.
Then you just need to do the wire wheel at the end to make sure it all comes
off.

If you can't or don't remove the tires, I would recommend that you at least
pop them off the front side bead. Then you can pull the valve stem and
replace it when your done. Also make sure to mask the wheel with plastic
that drapes over the tire to keep any liquid from getting inside the wheel.

This whole job is a lot easier if you just pop the tires off and then remount
when you done but I know sometimes thats not an option.

When I did my waffles I used the duplicolor wheel gray then coated the
entire wheel, painted and unpainted parts, with a clear coat. Didn't use the
wheel clear coat, as it dried opaque instead of clear, just used the regular
clear coat. Its holding up well, been 2 years so far.

As far as using bondo on a wheel, that could be a problem down the road
when the tires get changed. The bondo might get bumped and chip from the
tire tools being used around the rim. JB Weld would be better or just file
down and sand away the blemishes.