I have A 1986 vette my wheels were in bad shape so someone told me to have them sand blasted so I did WOW now what I have raw aluminum wheel can any one tell me what steps I need to take to get these shinny I have heard about wet sanding them but not shure. I have not driven my vette sence 07 I have became disabled so I thought I could start on the wheels any one please help these wheels really look sick thanks for any help.

 

If the sand blasting frosted the wheels, then you will have to sand with progressively finer abrasive until shiny. There are wheel refurbishing kits with all the abrasives and instructions included. I think they also have clear coat to keep the wheels shiny when you finish.

 

1. never sand blast aluminum. it is too soft. sand is for steel.
2. always use either soda blast or plastic media blast on aluminum.
3. throw the wheels away, I would seriously hesitate to use a wheel where the original thickness has been compromised uncontrolled. The wheels you have already have shown cracking tendencies with original thickness.
How would you like to take a corner fast and have a tire with a wheel ring go loose in the wheel well?
A. say you took them to a machine shop, and had .003 milled off them. you know that a good nick would be at least .010, and .003 would be acceptable.
B. How do you know the thickness is uniform throughout the entire wheel?
UN-uniform wheels will always have a balance problem.
C. sand blasted bead areas may or may not seal depending on how rough the bead surface is.
I saw some wheels here in Phoenix for $125 off of a 85. That is a safer route than the road you are going to travel down.
NOW,
that said, you need to sand the wheels with 320 grit till they are flat, then with 600 grit till the coarse scratches go away, and then with 1200 grit, then white polishing compound thill they gleam like chrome.
Ought to take you till Christmas............do not use any grinder or buffer, etc. until the 1200 grit, or the uniformity will be lost.
but I would relace them.

 

Hi yes they used bead blasting not sand sorry its seems long ago that I had it done I sit and dream every day what it was like driving it.

 

Sorry to hear about your disability and loss of driving ability I can't bear to not have my Corvette for one sunny weekend forever is not imaginable. The sanding should work just fine if they were glass bead blasted you will be just fine as long as the person that did had a borderline clue. I have glass beaded hundreds if not thousands of cylinder heads and never hurt the head gasket sealing area so if the rims were structurally sound then they still are. 0.010 material is meaningless in strength a factory wheel as delivered will stand up to race track use that is no doubt at least 3 to 5 times of what they will ever see on the street. Unless you insist on 100% polished how about get them down to 600 grit on the centers and 1200 to polished on the edges. I love my sawblades with silver centers and polished edges and makes keeping them nice easy and brake dust easy to clean but to each his own. I wish you well on your project and will have a cold one in the garage thinking about you fixing up you wheels.. Be well and hang in there... Dave

 

I want them shinny all over so sould I wet sand with 600 grit and then 1200 grit and then polish them up????????? I really dont know what I am doing but with A little help from you guys I can do it Thanks for the replys I will try and post some pics of my progress if I can figure out how to post pics on here thanks agian JEFF

 

Jeff,

I seem to recall reading somewhere that early wheels because of the casting process used to produce them were very "porous" and don't polish very well. I have no first hand knowledge though.

I like the idea of replacing them OR maybe consider taking them to a wheel "restoration" service to see if they can be done "back to stock" professionally. These were a machined finish originally?

I have never seen an early wheel painted but I like "colored" wheels. Maybe a "bright argent" like the '91 sawblades or who knows maybe a "body" color like the '88 35th or black. What color is your car?

They would likely be very "conversational"!

Maybe a new "thread"? Wheel restoration early C4 wheels!

 

I would just look for some used wheels in good condition and not mess with ones you have, or if your tires are in need of replacing I would look into a wheel & tire up grade.

 

Sorry I dumped on you, but you said sand.......
I polished my wheels on my 86 p to going with C5 wheeels, and 1200 with your hand or a rubber sanding block works fine. Once you get the surface flat, you can userubbing compound in the wheel polish, and it seems to geve a longer lasting compound that doesn't dry out as soon while you are working it. In the past, I have used Mother's and white rubbing compound together, or for smoothing out areas in a small space, regular toothpaste mixed with Mother's. The tooth paste has a grit in it that will mar a shiny aluminum finish, but does help to take out scratches.
For a final buff, I used Weiman metal polish found at Ace Hardware. It has something they label as "surfactants" but I think it is a light acid that cuts through any surface patina that might appear overnight in between your sessions of polishing.

 

I would go with looking for another set of early wheels rather than going through what will most likely be a lot of effort to return your wheels to a nice shiny finish.

You didn't mention the wheel width but finding a set of 9 1/2" wide wheels should be easy to find. The primary difference between the early wheels is the color of the centers and the recesses between the fins.

 

Hi thanks for all the help yes I would like to replace them but right now that is not good for me right now so time is all I have.Me and my son went out and wet sanded one wheel and then tryed a little spot on the wheel with some buffing compound and wow what A diff its like I mirror but like I said it was just A little spot so I see that this project will take A long time to carry out but right now that is all that I have is time thanks for all the help JEFF

 

Get on with it and "best of luck"! Post progress from time to time!! Determination can go a "long way"!!

 

those years had a flat surface for the most part right? just jack back of car up and run the rims at about 20mph. use a sanding block with 180/320/400/600wet and you will have all 4 shined up in about 5 hours.

The starting grit is dependent on wheel condition. I take it the clear has been removed now so maybe best to start with 240'ish grit. when you are doing the wet sanding just trickle water from a garden hose.

do it the easy way and get a stool and a couple beers and let the car do all the work. Did my trans am wheels like this just basically ran the electric fan all the time and ran trans in 4th gear at an idle. You will know when the surface is good the color of the aluminum will be uniform and when it is skip to the next grit.

after 600wet you have a choice mothers for a real nice shine or use 3 step of buffing compound for a chrome shine. Emery/tripoli/white ... No need to go beyond 600 grit emery will remove any left over sanding marks easily just using a drill and buffing pads.

 

2 jack stands, 1 stool, and a "couple" of beers. Sounds easy.

Seems to me that, you'll be polishing and buffing those wheels forever to keep them nice.


"wirenut". I like it. Maybe my next screen-name will be "stress-cone".

 

nah keeping them up afterwards aint so hard just wipe them down with mothers couple times a month no biggie. just get your stool out again and a few more beers.

 

Just remember to block the front wheels

 

Hi that sounds like a great idea but I have become disabled and cant get down on the ground like that.

 

Hi are you an electrcian

 

Hi well I have not started on the wheels yeat but I will soon then try to post some pics thanks agian

 

I sanded my 90 ZR1 wheels until they were nice and shiny. I started at 180 and finished at 2500, lots of work, but with Ipod and beer, the time flies. I made small sanding blocks from a foam kneeling pad, wet sanded with soapy water and finished off with aluminum polish.