Polishing Wheels?
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Racer
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 367
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Polishing Wheels?
I have an extra set of wheels off of an 84' That I would like to polish myself and put on my 87'. I have started to use sand them by hand only to learn that this is a very slow tedious process and I am afraid I won't be able to get into the tight spots on the wheels. My ?: Is there a power tool out there that would make this job easier? I have looked at palm sanders and dremel tools w/attachments but before I purchase I want to make sure I'm buying the right thing.
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Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 85
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From: Princeton NJ
Re: Polishing Wheels? (rbvette1)
Polishing your wheels will be an EXTREMELY tedious process. I Tried to do it on the LT1 sawblade wheels, and gave up, and had them re-painted as it would have taken me days to do just one wheel. For getting into the small spaces, I was using a dremmel, which was working pretty well. I would reccomend getting the most adjustable speed dremmel you can though. Mine was too fast, and was making some funny burr marks on the wheels. Best of luck!! Post pictures if you can pull it off!
Advanced
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 85
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From: Princeton NJ
Re: Polishing Wheels? (cOvette)
Aircraft stripper simply takes the clear coat/paint off the wheels.. which is the easy part. The hard part is sanding down all the casting on the cast aluminum. It would be nearly impossible to get it PERFECT, as there will be some pitting (unless you can have the wheels machined). If you are using aircraft stripper, be extremely careful. That stuff is really nasty. It can 1) cause some respitory problems if you arent properly ventilated 2) cause some NASTY chemical burns. Be sure to wear thick gloves (and it will burn through rubber, so find some good cotton work gloves).
Safety Car
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 4,635
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Re: Polishing Wheels? (rbvette1)
I worked with a friend in his motorcycle shop. he polished some GoldWing rims. Very slow and a lot of upkeep to keep them looking good. You should be able to get them done somewhere and coated so you can spend more time driving instead of polishing. :yesnod:
