thinking of polishing the lip on some OEM aluminum wheels, anyone ever done this before? its currently satin finished and cleared.

1/10/2006 10:21:56 PM

yeah but if you dont re clear it or polish it every day it will tarnish in no time flat.

1/10/2006 10:59:23 PM

yeah ill re-clear it. or have zxappeal spray the whole wheel once i get the center section painted

1/10/2006 11:06:41 PM

good luck... hope you like sanding... a lot...

1/11/2006 2:21:01 AM

dremel tool

1/11/2006 10:17:35 AM

fuck a dremel just slap a 3m polishing pad on a die grinder

1/11/2006 10:30:18 AM

give a NGR $5 to do it

1/11/2006 2:55:05 PM

dead end



[Edited on January 11, 2006 at 3:35 PM. Reason : .]

1/11/2006 3:23:48 PM

aircraft stripper if they were painted

[Edited on January 11, 2006 at 3:34 PM. Reason : d]

1/11/2006 3:33:41 PM

either NOONE in here knows anything about what I am talking about at all, or what I am talking about has been grossly misunderstood

I want to take this:



and polish the lip (already fairly smooth) to something like this:



and paint the center black (that is now gold) and reclear the entire wheel.

1/11/2006 11:08:25 PM

I'd start by media blasting the whole damn thing, THEN polishing the lip.

As far as clear goes, you'll never get anything near as durable as clear powdercoating; however, the cost ain't that cheap.

I can spray 'em for you, but I really don't know how the clear will hold up on that polished lip...just how long before it separates?

1/12/2006 12:14:25 AM

mothers billet polish, and one of those little felt pads on a dremel tool works great. i started by wet sanding with 400, then 1500 grit sandpaper first to remove oxidation.

1/12/2006 8:06:21 AM

fwiw, i got wheels powdercoated for 60/wheel...

Quote :

"mothers billet polish, and one of those little felt pads on a dremel tool works great. i started by wet sanding with 400, then 1500 grit sandpaper first to remove oxidation. "

that stuff works well... but i would use a few more steps when working up to a finer grit...


[Edited on January 12, 2006 at 10:41 AM. Reason : ,]

1/12/2006 10:40:13 AM

just buy new wheels

it's probably not worth the time and trouble

1/12/2006 11:00:28 AM

buy me a set too, since they are free and all. unlike your free time spent polishing your existing ones, which costs you quite a bit.

1/12/2006 11:52:59 AM

actually the 1500 takes out the 400 scratches fairly easily, just use a lot of water

1/12/2006 12:11:31 PM

they have compounds, cloth wheels and drill arbors at lowes, wonder how that would turn out

1/12/2006 5:41:31 PM

is it possible to sand down the clear thats on my wheels now and have it recleared without hurting the machined finish? probably not huh.

3/13/2006 5:55:01 PM

No That would be damn mear impossible. The trick to polishing is that you need to keep it even. Ive found that if you can get the wheel to turn at a slow speed and use paste/creme/dremel whatever. You will have a more uniform finish and your fingers not be worn down to nubs. I used to have access to a lagre enough lathe to do that but sadly no more. I would run it about 50 rpm.

3/13/2006 6:15:25 PM

well i got my "new" set of wheels in today, as i suspected they are reman. the gold paint on 2 is good enough, but the other too were sprayed to lightly. i was just gonna install the new wheels and then play with the paint on the old set in case i didnt like the black centers... now I am not sure. i dont want to pay $60/wheel for black powdercoat that i may not like. hell i only paid $50/wheel for the new ones

dave do you have a hookup with the painter at raleigh auto body or just the frame man?

3/13/2006 7:08:57 PM

He is the jack of all trades up there but he will help ya out. Ill talk to him tonight

3/13/2006 7:10:59 PM

hey i appreciate it man.

3/13/2006 7:20:24 PM

From the pics, it looks like it will be a lot of work to make meshies into sportmax looking wheels. good luck.

3/13/2006 7:54:37 PM

"downtown collision" can refinish the edges and you have a PM

3/13/2006 7:55:18 PM