Lemayilleur

I got myself a set of 4 9.5" wheels.

[ALBUM]

The back of the wheel had a whole lot of crap sticked to it. Every product I tried would't clean it well(Brake cleaner, degreaser, Acid/Water mix, high temp pressure wash). I ended up brushing it all off.

Now for the front; there's a clear coat/film on the face and there's also a gray-ish paint in the vents/middle of the wheel. I'd like to remove all of it without damaging the wheel (like brushing does). I tried using paint stripper and it works very well. The problem with paint stripper is that it need quite a lot of it and the process is slow. Should I buy enough paint stripper to be able to soak the face of the wheel in it - save a ton of time, but maybe costly?

Next up when I manage to remove the paint/coat, I'll have to sand and buff the wheel. I have to tool available to do this, but not sure how to approach the task. Looking at any info that could help a beginner do this. The 86-87 are polish-able to a high lustre, but I've heard that polished aluminium doesn't look good for long. Anything I can do to protect them once they are polished?

Last but not least, I'd be painting the vents and middle section gloss black. I never painted on aluminium and have no idea how do to this effectively.

Thanks for your help/time.

pkincy

I did that years ago and the only thing I could figure out was a lot of work and elbow grease. Google and You Tube and lots of grades of polishing sticks will eventually work.
"http://www.flickr.com/photos/pkincy/9414155908/"