Repolishing old alum rims help

[lowlevell]

My 79' TA has the "snowflake" alum rims on it. The guy before me did me the >honor< of repainting them gold again.These originaly were gold with the facing edges polished (silver). I need to know an easy way to remove the paint from the facing edges and hopefully polish the edge at the same time. I was thinking of using a "fine" grade wire wheel in a drill. What do you guys think? Thanks.

One From None

 

[Blaze]

I'd take them somewhere and get them sandblasted if you want to remove all the paint and redo them. I'd be a little wary about using a wire wheel on Aluminum. I've had bad experiences with that.

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www4.ncsu.edu/~brschoch>http://www4.ncsu.edu/~brschoch</A>
My truck beat up your SUV

 

[kumma]

A great big no on the wire wheel. i'd strip or blast the entire wheel and the polish by hand with finer and finer paper or compund. then you can paint the parts you want after you polish the rims. check out <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.eastwoodco.com>http://www.eastwoodco.com</A>

Craig

 

[Gandolf]

Why don't you use paint remover?


'89 K5 Silverado..."You can’t have a real adventure, unless the outcome is truly uncertain".

 

[lowlevell]

The rims are completely painted gold. Painted very good too.I just read about how they used to make these and im gonna try 5 billion grit sandpaper, fine steel wool and maybe some help from some paint stripper.I only need to "clean" the front edges. Talk about elbow grease.......

One From None

 

[Eric78K5]

I believe EastWood has a kit for polishing wheels. I don't remember if it has stripper in it or not, but I think that's the way to go.

Eric78K5
K5-Because Size Matters!

 

[Emmettology 101]

If you are taking the paint off of them and want a Great polish to use on the bare aluminum go to a local truck stop and buy a bottle of the stuff I buyu, I work fenominal!!!!!

It is a small white bottle and says Magic Mix on it with a white Rabbit on it! Trust me it work wonders!!!

Mike

See <font color=green>EMMETT</font color=green> -&gt; <A target="_blank" HREF=http://emmett.coloradok5.com>http://emmett.coloradok5.com</A>

" Ah.. Hong Kong, home of shiny green suit!"

 

[Steve_Chin]

If you want them to look factory-stock, the factory did not polish those edges. They chucked the wheels up in a lathe after painting them and turned the paint off. They followed that up with the application of some REALLY tough clear coat. The original factory clear coat was so tough that it was impervious to EVERY paint stripper I tried to put on it and it was also impervious to brake fluid.

But, I digress... If you just want to polish the edges of the vanes, I would start by sanding them (use a sanding block!) with 220 grit paper until you're just starting to break through to the aluminum. Go up to 320 grit until you have just a hint of paint left. Go to 400 grit, then 600 grit. Polish using a die grinder with a rouge-laden polishing buff. Put a clear coat over the wheels to prevent oxidation and then reinstall.

BTW - are those 7" wheels or 8" ones?