First things first. If you want to strip your wheels to the metal, make sure that they are in good nick. Mine were a bit discoloured in places where the paint had chipped off and this still looked naff when they were stripped. I used paint stripper which lifted a lot of the paint off, but it still needed an awful lot of elbow grease to get the paint off of all the tricky bits. I think I used a wire brush in a drill and some wire wool. Eventually I got it done to a reasonable level, but it was a lot of work. Anyway, I then gave the wheels to Dave and he did a lovely job painting them. Mind you, the one I stripped bare came back looking the best. Unfortunately I then chipped bits of paint off here and there over the next few weeks by clumsily moving the wheels about in the garage. Numpty.