Polishing Rims

[BOPIII]

I have an 88 with Stock 16inch Rims that look rough from 17 years of neglect. They arent scratched but the clearcoat on them is crazed and the inner part is filthy acumilated brake dust. I would like to polish them bake to new condition if possible. Any sugestion on recomendedtechniques and products would be apprecieated. Thanks

 

[Mad-Mic]

read my cardomain site listed in my sig and click on page 8. i went thru the process of polishing stock rims out. only thing i did not discuss is stripping the clear coat as mine were already polished. autozone sells stripper in aerosol cans. spray on wait a few mins and wipe off.

hope this helps!

 

[BOPIII]

Mic, Thanks for the Tip! Great site too. Exceot for that whole Red Skin thing your all right. dont mind me im just a fustrated Giant fan. Well the whole NFC East sucked this year. Could be worse we could be Cowboy fans. Happy New Year and thanks for your help

 

[89z51l98]

Are you planning on re-clearing the wheels when you get them polished how you want? I need to go through the process... at least strip and polish. The clear on mine is shot...

read my cardomain site listed in my sig and click on page 8. i went thru the process of polishing stock rims out. only thing i did not discuss is stripping the clear coat as mine were already polished. autozone sells stripper in aerosol cans. spray on wait a few mins and wipe off.

hope this helps!

 

[Mad-Mic]

Mic, Thanks for the Tip! Great site too. Exceot for that whole Red Skin thing your all right. dont mind me im just a fustrated Giant fan. Well the whole NFC East sucked this year. Could be worse we could be Cowboy fans. Happy New Year and thanks for your help

hehe i hear that man was a crazy year glad the site helped

 

[Mad-Mic]

Are you planning on re-clearing the wheels when you get them polished how you want? I need to go through the process... at least strip and polish. The clear on mine is shot...

i do this twice a year. if not they get cruddy looking.

 

[vetteboy86]

I went through the process of stripping mine, and then polishing them. I didn't put the clear coat back on, I just polish them about once a week. Is there a benifit of putting clear back on them? Will they polish up shinnier, because my bro's are shinnier then mine and he still has the clear coat. If I want to clear them how do I handle striping them again?



BOPIII, didn't mean to jump in on your post, but hopefully these questions will give us both some answers.


Craig

 

[BOPIII]

Ill probally reclear coat after i do it. hopfully it will protect them a little longer. Im going to order the polish from Wenol and do one at a time. Nice winter project. Thanks again for the info

 

[BOPIII]

No problem at all. I would imagine this is a populat topic.

 

[nyernga]

I stripped mine 3 years ago and didn't re-clearcoat them. They stay fine with just cleaning and repolishing 2 or 3 times a year. I tried alot of strippers to remove the old clear and only found one procedure that worked well for me and that involved acetone. Each wheel takes about an hour and a half to do right, a large can of acetone and two jars of mothers wheel polish.

E-mail me for the exact steps I used if interested..

Len

 

[vetteboy86]

Len,

Do you think that we would get a better shine if we put clear on them I know I didn't and my wheels look okay, but they are far from shiny. Here is a pick, and you all let me know what you think. This wasn't right after a polish.

Craig

 

[nyernga]

Len,

Do you think that we would get a better shine if we put clear on them I know I didn't and my wheels look okay, but they are far from shiny. Here is a pick, and you all let me know what you think. This wasn't right after a polish.

Craig

Your wheels look great. The clear is more for protection then shine when it comes to the wheels. I didn't clear mine since I wasn't able to replicate the procedure GM used which was more then just a spray can of clear.
I'd leave yours just the way they are. They look very good.....

Len

 

[BOPIII]

WOW Thats how i want mine to look. I may be able to get away with not Clear coating because its not a daily driver but i am concerned that it will oxidize because i live near the Ocean. Any ideas Wax maybe?

 

[BOPIII]

Here is a picture of my wheel. Alot of work to be done.

 

[RedRagTop]

Mine are getting there, too. Maybe in the spring...

 

[Mad-Mic]

easiest way to get the best results is to use an electric drill and a polishing bonnet.


if your hand polishing good luck cause i don't think you'll ever get the shine as these.

 

[WhalePirot]

Any ideas Wax maybe?

MOTHER'S, as above. Should last for a while. I do mine once/twice a year.

 

[vetteboy86]

Len, Thanks for the compliment. I would however like them to shine a little more. I guess some more work is the only way.


Mad-Mic, can you post a pic of exactly what you use. I have been putting the polish on by hand, then taking it off with our 6 inch buffer. Do you think I could put it on with the buffer as well? The only problem I have is that because my wheel is not clear coated the black residue covers whatever I use to polish with.

Thanks

 

[wishuwerehere82]

Craig,

If you go to Sears, they have buffing balls that go on an electric drill. They also have sticks of polishing compound that come in 5 different grades from course to fine. The white stick is jewelers rouge and can be used to give a mirror finish on aluminum. After the buffing, clean the compound off with Goop hand cleaner and rinse with water. Wizards chrome polish is the best I have found to do a final hand polish with. A good wax will protect the finish from oxidising for a while but will look a little hazy compared to the polished finish.

 

[wishuwerehere82]

Here is a picture of my wheel. Alot of work to be done.

After you get the clear coat off, you are going to need to start with some 400 grit wetordry silicon carbide sandpaper to get the oxide off and down to the base aluminum. Go with the machining marks( around the wheel, not in and out) and sand until all of the surfaces are smooth again. Then start with a coarse polishing compund and rub the sanding marks out. The final finish can be achieved with Wizards polish, Mothers, Nevrdull, POL, Semichrome or similar polish.