Refinish rims help
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Re: Refinish rims help (Ray383)
I did a search but didn't find much. I'm refinishing a set of stock 85 rims and need some advice/options.
Thanks
Thanks
I am assuming you want to turn them back to original, or better. You need to strip off the clear coat, which has probably crazed and looks bad.
Autozone Aircraft stripper works great. Once the clear coat is off, sandpaper will get you a high polish finish. Start with 80 grit and then work up progressively to 1500 grit. Start wet sanding at 360 grit.
Be sure to get all the scratch marks from the previous grit out before you move up.
Plan to spend many hours per wheel if you want high polish finish
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Racer
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 307
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From: Dover Oh
Re: Refinish rims help (Ray383)
Ray383,
I have at write-up on finishing Fiero rims. The task is basically the same. On the Fiero wheels, I polished some and painted most. Still, I think you'll get some good out of it. Click the "Enter Fiero GT Wheele Restoration" link.
http://www.geocities.com/motorcity/garage/1642/
Hope that helps.
I have at write-up on finishing Fiero rims. The task is basically the same. On the Fiero wheels, I polished some and painted most. Still, I think you'll get some good out of it. Click the "Enter Fiero GT Wheele Restoration" link.
http://www.geocities.com/motorcity/garage/1642/
Hope that helps.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 491
Likes: 2
Re: Refinish rims help (bheston)
Thanks for the help. I was hoping to get some info on clear coating them. Can/should I leave the aluminum bare or should they be painted? Should the inner area be clearcoated too?
Racer
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 307
Likes: 0
From: Dover Oh
Re: Refinish rims help (Ray383)
Well, you can strip the wheels yourself and polish to save big money. Then, you can have them powder coated clear by someone with powder coating capibilities. I did a search and found a company near you that should be able to powder coat your polished wheels. The link is below.
http://www.metalproinc.com/
OR..... you can do the polishing and spary the wheels with clear poly. This may not be a durable as powder coating and sometimes looks a little cloudy.
http://www.metalproinc.com/
OR..... you can do the polishing and spary the wheels with clear poly. This may not be a durable as powder coating and sometimes looks a little cloudy.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 491
Likes: 2
Re: Refinish rims help (bheston)
Well, you can strip the wheels yourself and polish to save big money. Then, you can have them powder coated clear by someone with powder coating capibilities. I did a search and found a company near you that should be able to powder coat your polished wheels. The link is below.
http://www.metalproinc.com/
OR..... you can do the polishing and spary the wheels with clear poly. This may not be a durable as powder coating and sometimes looks a little cloudy.
http://www.metalproinc.com/
OR..... you can do the polishing and spary the wheels with clear poly. This may not be a durable as powder coating and sometimes looks a little cloudy.
