wheel restoration

[82restored]

Almost finished with my 82, down to the wheels now. Wheels are oxidized. Purchased some wheel cleaner (paste). Works good, but it took about an hour to bring out original shine in a 2 inch area! Any info or ideas to get this process going faster?

 

[BORDERBUM]

82 restored,

I don't think your going to get a quick fix for your wheels but what i have done has made my 77s wheels look like new, and my wheels were so bad, i thought i was doomed.

ok 600 grit sandpaper first keep wet, then 1000 grit keep wet, then 2000 grit keep wet, after that take the Mother's Alluminum polish to it. now, i read it would take an hour per wheel, mine were pitted and really in bad shape and i did this exact process and I have like new wheels. I was amazed!! time will only make it look better. sorry no SHORT answer. GOOD LUCK whatever you do.


Git er Done BORDERBUM

 

[Vette/Berlina-coupe]

-what LaredoJeff (aka: borderbum) advises here is spot-on accurate for the dilligent DIY-person; --however, guess you know there in Ok that there must be a fairly local shop specializing in just buffing-up wheels (check your YellowPages) with a special articulated-pole Buffing-rig that has a very powerful-motor & interchangable buffing-wheel & compound-rouge, -and probably near $100-set of four (they can even take-out bad nicks in the rim-edge to look like new). Once done either way, you need to preserve the renewal via a couple of coats of aerosol/Polyurethane-varnish (Valspar is one brand used extensively by boat owners) or the much more costly clear/powercoating; otherwise from the moment your are done, the cast-aluminum proceeds to reoxidize, and in a couple of months you are going to be very disappointed for not having protected them... ~Bob vH
:cry

 

[400hp_76]

Scotch brite and some blue magic. Blue magic is the best wheel cleaner i have used and i have used everything out there. In my opinion it takes mothers to SCHOOL, TWO TIMES!!

 

[82X-FireVette]

I bought a wheel polishing kit at a street rod show. It contained 1 block of cutting rouge, 1 block of polishing rouge, (4) 4" dia. buffing wheels and a 1/4" mandrel. You simply take the wheel off the car and buff it using an electric drill (make sure you wear safety goggles). It took about two hours per wheel to bring it to a shiny mirror gloss. My wheels were extremely oxidized and looked yellowish. At car shows, I always get asked how I got my wheels so shiny. I did not clear coat them after. I do touch them up about every 6 months with Mothers and repolish yearly. When needed, I wash them with mild soap and water at night. The sun does cause some spotting when you wash them in daylight. Be careful not to get Bleach White whitewall cleaner on the bare aluminum or it will stain the wheels which will require a repolish.

 

[topless82vette]

82restored

try taking the car to a big truck stop if theres guys there that polish they usually charge about 25 bucks a wheel

 

[Stallion]

Do you need to remove the wheels to clean them to shine? I would like to make mine a little more shinier. Get the brake dust off and put a little shine back into the aluminum. But I'm not big into taking the wheels off.

TR

 

[JonM]

This is expencive...but what I am told, worth it

http://www.zoops.com/zoopseal.asp

 

[400hp_76]

stallion,
are you kiddin me? dont even post something that stupid. i mean seriously.

 

[Stallion]

stallion,
are you kiddin me? dont even post something that stupid. i mean seriously.

No, I'm not kidding you at all. I'm a 16 year-old kid who's never had a car and my father and I just got a Corvette 2 weeks ago and I've never had to work on a car or shine any wheels. So how on God's green earth am I supposed to know what is involved in shining and cleaning wheels? ad

TR

 

[paintdaddy]

Stallion,dont feel bad,we all had to start somewhere.My first experience with painting a car involved a wagner power painter ,a quart of lacquer mixed with enamel reducer.The paint ended up resembling cottage cheese.
Any way,depending on how bad the wheels are they may not be easily polishable.If they are pitted ,they will need some grinding.If they are good and smooth,they should polish up nice.I use Wenol.Its usually at all of the big shows.

 

[Stallion]

Thanks for the kind words, paintdaddy. I understand. I think I'm just going to do a surface shine on my wheels. I'm not too big in taking them off quite yet.

Thanks again!

 

[BORDERBUM]

STALLION,

In my post reply earlier, I did not have to remove my wheels, I spent around 10-15 bucks on the different grades of sandpaper but spent a lot of hours working on them. Every min was worth it when I finished though.

GIT R DONE __________________BORDERBUM

 

[BORDERBUM]

STALLION, OTHERS,

I don't really know how to do this but I will try to send before and after pictures of my work. The before pic is a wheel from my 77, before I replaced it. (chip) It shows how bad they were oxidized etc.

This is before.

 

[BORDERBUM]

stallion, others,

This is after, not the best pic but you can tell the difference.


GIT R DONE_________________________BORDERBUM

 

[Mciamp99]

I found the best thing to do was to send them out to be refinished. I sent them to Keystone in Taunton, MA and they came back absolutely beautiful. The are clear coated and clean up easily. Cost was $125.00 per wheel and it was 72 hour turn around. Check out their website, not sure of address, it may be www.keystone.com. I know they have shops all over the country. The also have a lifetime warranty on the finish. I already had one done again becuase it chipped.

 

[Mciamp99]

Let me correct that web address, it is http://www.keystone-auto.com/information/recyclewheels.asp

It was worth every penny to never have to polish until my fingers bled.

 

[Dave L.]

Stallion - If your wheels are not to dull(which I doubt,looking at the pictures of your car),get an 8 oz. bottle of Blue Magic and some clean cloths. Wait till the weather gets a little warmer(above 50 degrees) and just follow the easy directions on the bottle and clean them on the car. Check out my wheels,I have never used a buffer,just elbow grease!

Dave

 

[PatG]

Here is what I did for some neglected wheels:

I started with a buffing wheel mounted on my Delta lathe, followed by a hand held polisher for the centers. There was a lot of sanding out nicks and scratches in between. First I roughed them out with a tightly sewn buffing wheel and polishing rouge on the lathe setup. You have to 'comb' out the wheel often as the rouge and oxidation will cause the surface of the wheel to clog. Also, dont bother trying this with a drill, they just dont spin fast enough or have enough power to clean bad oxidation. At this point the majority of the oxidation was removed and any small nicks or scratches show up with the dark rouge. Depending on the size of the nick I would start sanding with 150 or 220 grit sandpaper until the surface was smooth. Then moved to 320, 400 and 600 grit sandpaper. Always cover a larger and larger area with the progressive grits to remove and sratches from the previous grit. Once you are at 600 you can see the aluminum waiting to shine. After the 600 grit is done it is back to the polishing wheel and if you spent enough time sanding the surface will be mirrored like new. For some areas I used a Dremmel detailing sander which has a bunch if interchangable tips for different contours. I always finished up with the 600 by hand following the normal curve of the wheel. The final polish was with Mothers by hand.

Here are the before/after pictures

http://home.houston.rr.com/notmuchhere/not polished.jpg
http://home.houston.rr.com/notmuchhere/all polished2.JPG