The factory wheels on my 84 are in dire need of refinishing. they are looking really dull and there's lot of oxidation on them. I've tried all sorts of metal polish such as "Mothers," "Never Dull" etc, but the dark spots still remain

Any ideas on how to refinish them myself?

Thanks!!! :rolleyes:

 

I too would be intersted to know on this. Mine is an '85. Mothers did OK for me but I'd love to hear of something better!

Shayne

 

First, welcome to the forum :hurray: Now, is all the clearcoat off your wheels? If not, it is hard to polish them clean. My suggestion is to remove the clearcoat and then try the Mother's or Neverdull.

 

Why does it have a clear coat on them? I'm sure there was a reason why they put it on there.

Second, what would be the pros and cons of taking that clear coat off?

And lastly, how do you get it off?

Thanks heaps Strick!

 

It takes a ton of work to get those suckers clean. You'll have to start by using some clear coat stripper. The clear coat was put on to make the wheels look nice for a while. But, they are wheels, and they do get dirty, get marks, and still lose their shine.

So, strip the clear coat. And start sanding. Somebody else will have some more specifics on the sanding process. I've heard that you will need to use 2 or 3 different grits to make them look really good.

After that, use Mother's aluminum polish or something similar.

All in all, you're looking at 5-15 hours of work or so per wheel.

Good luck!

:cheers:

 

If it makes them look THAT good I'm willing to put forth the effort! They are in pretty good condition as it is for an '85 but there is always room to make them SHINE. So looking forward to any information that anyone has on the sanding and stripping process. (sorry I hijacked your thread 84BlackVette! And also, welcome to the forum. These guys are awesome.)

Shayne

 

l8R on. say you don't like the outcome and you decide you would rather have the clear coat put back on, is that a possiblility?

 

:cheers: Having done all of the above and spending hundreds of hours on my 88 wheels, which turned out beautifull but required hours to maintain...I suggest you look at Ecklers. Mad or others for EXCHANGE WHEELS, you can get them chromed which look awesome and will save you lots and lots of time

:seeya

 

Here is a good way to refinish your rims.

I used Aircraft Stripper to remove the clear coat and stains.

Then I polished them with Flitz
http://www.flitz.com/metalpolish.htm

 

This may help. I have the 87 wheels, that look like your 84s(assuming you have stock wheels). They were also dull, you can see in my sig, not too bad, but not shiny.

I got some clear-coat stripper, took off each wheel, stripped everything, even the center caps. Then when at it with a foam wheel that goes on the end of a drill and some Mothers metal polish.

Every where I go I get compliments on the wheels now. Which I would never expect from what I consider rather a rather boring wheel design. I have been looking into either some "sealer" or re-clear coating, but havent yet. I go over them with some polish every 3 months and they shine up great. That may be good enough.

 

Thanks to everyone for the help. I just joined the site this week...You guys are awesome!!! Thanks for the welcome and all the feedback. I will get started on the wheels this week and will be sure to take "before" and "after" pics.

Chris :cheers:

 

I used Mothers and a Mouse sander with the scrunge type sanding pad. Works good....and saves a lot of time. :yesnod:

 

A buddy of mine with an 81 and I spent many hours cleaning and polishing his wheels. If I had an FTP client, I would post the before and after pics. Can anyone help me there? Anyway, they were in bad shape when we started. The clear was very yellow and cloudy. The wheels now look BETTER than new! So here is what we did....

First step was to use a fine grit sanding wheel that goes on to the end of a drill. It is the kind which has "scotch-bright" pad strips on it. Using that and plenty of lacquer thinner for lubricant worked well. Don't press to hard as to prevent scratching and gouging. After that it was hand work with some "scotch brite" pads and the mother's polish. After that a wash with soap and water. Look it over. If it suits your needs...it is time to hand wax them with your favorite wax. The more you work with the mother's the more of a "chrome" like shine you will get. The whole process works best if you take the wheels off the car and lay them flat.

Once removing the clear you will have to keep them waxed. Which I am sure is not going to be a problem to anyone. Yes, you can have the clear reapplied. Not sure where, but I have read that it can be done.

So, if anyone can hook me up with some pic hosting, I will forward the before and after pics to them for display.

-Rick