Has anyone restored their wheels on their own? I have the A-molds and would like to restore the wheels. New paint/clearcoat. Any ideas?

Robert

 

These instructions were given to me a few weeks ago by a fellow forum member.... Sorry I cannot remember who it was, so i cant give credit to them. Maybe they'll see it and chime in


Well step by step he we go...
First I jacked the car up and had the tires dismounted.
I used Captain Lees paint stripper I know the guy that started this company and know the guy that owns it now,Its basically as good or better than aircraft remover but cold water deactivates it so using it with a water hose is great,Then I wet sanded this is time consuming..Start with 400 and work your way down,on 90 model I always stay away from the outer lip untill you get down to the 1000 grit.The outer lip will polish out very nicely without the clearcoat on it.Keep in mind that the more you sand and the nicer you can get the wheels with the sandpaper the nicer they will polish out,All the sanding I do is always with water to keep the paper clean aluminum always clogs up.After they look good with the sanding you're ready for the polishing...now I have a sidegrinder(and I have burnt a few up too) that I have adapted a cotton buff wheel onto the side grinder has the torque and the speed I like I used to have a air polisher but I burnt it up and can't locate another like it...it takes ALOT of air but it doesn't build up heat like the electric motors will...I always use WENOL to polish with its messy and a take many man hours and it will wear your arms out but the out come is great.

There is a company out there that will do this for you I emailed them and though about sending them a set but they wanted 500 for the labor on a set ,I figured Dismount the tires(20 bucks I have a buddy) the down time of the car,shipping(80bucks) and then getting the tires back on ...It'd be better off to do my own.It was hard work but I enjoy them now.After I had them back on I bought some chrome lug covers(plastic) instead of the factory grey and they help out alot.

 

 

there should be a lot in the archives on this.

 

My car lived under a cover in Germany for three years when it wasn't tearing up the autobahn. She got cancer of the clearcoat during this time and in one weekend I had them looking great again. First strip the clearcoat, I used easystrip 9+ coats. Once all that bubbled off I just rubbed them by hand with mothers mag polish. The deep cancer needed alittle fine paper wet sanding but the overall light rubbing was all it took to make um nice. Put some wax over it and your done.

 

no clear coat after?????

 

Nope, just polished rim. When it starts to dull just use the mothers again. rub it on, it turns black, rub it off with a clean rag.

 

Do they maintain the original color when doing this?

Robert

 

I think they look better, over the years all my clearcoated rims have always turned dull, yellow, or got cancer. The bare metal seems to always polish up nice. The look becomes directly related to how much effort you put into keeping them shined. For me it's just another part of the wash and wax and rims and tires and and and... The obsession continues then I drink and stare LoL