refinish wheels
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 689
Likes: 12
From: huntington wv
refinish wheels
i have a set of painted sawblades ,i stripped them and i dont think these can be polished.where can factory paint be purchased or does anyone know of an alterative that is close to factory color
Drifting
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 1,565
Likes: 2
From: Sparta Mo.
If they're aluminum, they can be polished. Sand them with 320, then 400, then 600. Then take green polishing rouge and go to town. It's long, tidious, and a pain in the rear end, but they'll look like mirrors when your done. Better than factory. If you really want to paint them, any PPG store will have something called silver wheel paint. (no kidding) It's a nice middle-of-the-road silver that looks good on wheels.
Team Owner
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 24,460
Likes: 7
From: sw Ohio
they can be polished and you can do it yourself with great results if you take your time. I kept sanding all the way to 1500 grit paper and then used Mother's aluminum polish. They'll look like a million bucks afterwards and then you can clearcoat them if you wish.
Pro
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 526
Likes: 1
From: San Angelo Texas
I would be careful with the bead blasting. If you go that route I would make sure they only use plastic media when they do it. It is way to easy to get carried away using sand or glass media. Ask me how I know...
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 25,362
Likes: 2,730
Paint codes
Here's a link to a copy of the GM TSB regarding paint and wheel repair including paint codes:
http://www.theccre.com/html/wheels1.html
http://www.theccre.com/html/wheels1.html
Last edited by WVZR-1; Apr 29, 2008 at 01:42 AM.
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Team Owner
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 81,241
Likes: 3,062
From: altered state
St. Jude Donor '05
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...ed&forum_id=34
Bunch of guys here have done it. Just requires some patience, cant shortcut polishing and get a nice finish.
These guys can help
www.tarheelparts.com
Bunch of guys here have done it. Just requires some patience, cant shortcut polishing and get a nice finish.
These guys can help
www.tarheelparts.com
Pro
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 610
Likes: 2
My rims are rough where they have hit curbs and where they have been balanced, will sanding and polishing using all these procedures repair them. Then will I have to repaint and clear coat. I don't understand the process but would like to try it. These are my factory 87 rims with the gray center caps. Any more info will help.
Last edited by Whitecloud; Apr 29, 2008 at 08:02 PM.
Team Owner
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 81,241
Likes: 3,062
From: altered state
St. Jude Donor '05
My rims are rough where they have hit curbs and where they have been balanced, will sanding and polishing using all these procedures repair them. Then will I have to repaint and clear coat. I don't understand the process but would like to try it. These are my factory 87 rims with the gray center caps. Any more info will help.
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 25,362
Likes: 2,730
If your flanges are "curb-rashed" you'll need the services of a wheel restoration or repair shop. You don't need the shop to do the entire refinish or polish but you'll need them to weld, repair and turn the flanges. A quality shop will want to do all four of your wheels as a set so that when he's finished all the flanges will match. It's not required but you'll be much happier if you have all four flanges done to match.
Before you commit to the repair, polish or what ever to your wheels have them "spun" to confirm they're "true"!
Before you commit to the repair, polish or what ever to your wheels have them "spun" to confirm they're "true"!