Wheels look sweet man! I love the red outline i think it'll look killer on your car. Can't wait to see the pics.

 

Now you're really going to need the SLP grille :P

 

I know you tried clear coat but clear coat looks like **** but when used on cars it has to be buffed before it looks good using a buffing compound so I would....

Wet sand lightly to help the clear coat stick
apply a good solid cleat coat
then buff it up

 

I think it'll look alright. Try to get them glossy though, it'll really help.

 

If glossy is what you want they you're going to have to spray your coats on a little bit thicker than what you did, or you'll have to colorsand between each coat. It looks to me like you did a few very light coats, that's fine and all but it just won't have the gloss and smoothness you're going for, even with clear coat as you noticed. The key here is to get the surface as smooth and glossy as you can BEFORE you clear them. You're gonna have to be patient and take your time with them if you want them coming out nice.

The problem is that the black was so textured and bumpy that the clear magnified that, he needs to get his basecoat looking good before adding clear. Don't apply clear over a horrible basecoat, it'll look like

 

do you recommend I re-tape the red and apply a few more coats of black then over the top? wont be hard... i mean, itll only take me a few minutes per rim to retape them.

 

Could the texture problem be due to using engine enamel? I know its supposed to have ceramics or something else in the paint to make it more robust and resists heat. I wondered if that would take away from the "smoothness" or "glossiness"

 

They look great.

 

i like the red stripe, thumbs up!