nebojsa_o Posted September 10, 2005 Report Share Posted September 10, 2005 True they are only 16" factory crosslaced GTP rims, but it's a nice improvement over the 15" hubcaps.... I can't take any pics of them at the moment, but I'm sure all of you already know what they look like. I got them from a J/Y for $200 canadian, with some crappy tires on them. The tires are old, and in crappy shape, so I need 4 new ones. Of the 4 rims I got 3 are pretty sweet, and one might need to get refinished, it's not horrible, but the other ones look better than this one. When I get the camera back, I'll show you a pic of them. the question: are those rims Alloy, or Alluminum?? Second question, I want to clean up the rims a bit, and the chenter is golden/tan, and outside is polished metal. How would I clean up the metal nicely. A little more shine and to get rid of some of those dirty spots. Sand paper would leave marks on it, woudln't it?? How would I polish them a bit, with what?? I know you guys have some tricks up your sleeves, so let me know how would you clean them nicely, and buff 'em up to almost like new condition. They just need more shine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
92 GP Posted September 10, 2005 Report Share Posted September 10, 2005 They're aluminum alloy as far as cleaning, NOTHING does better on these than a good ol' wrag in hand and a good cleaner. Unless you've got a dremel with a good long thing buffing bit (kinda hard to find). It's easiest when you've got the wheel off anyway. Set it upright, soak it with some kinda cleaner (simple green did the trick for me) and put the wrag through one hole at a time. Put it all the way through, so you can grab it from inside and outsite the wheel, and pull back and forth, then down, then forward, back, etc etc so you can work in the grooves Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digitaloutsider Posted September 10, 2005 Report Share Posted September 10, 2005 Try Mr. Clean Magic Erasers. Get the ones from the auto section at Wal-Mart or your local parts store though! The plain ones aren't too great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19Cutlass94 Posted September 10, 2005 Report Share Posted September 10, 2005 Has anyone tries that new mothers' polish ball? Ive heard that works really good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badassoldspower Posted September 10, 2005 Report Share Posted September 10, 2005 Um yeah my buddy has used the poish ball on his polished aluminum wheels i like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prospeeder Posted September 10, 2005 Report Share Posted September 10, 2005 u polish the lip on the wheels using sand paper, i used 220, 400, 800, 1000, and then rubbing compound then Aluminum polish, it looks great, but u have to strip off the old clear coat, use Aircraft remover, and if u dont want the gold use the aircraft remove on it, do the best u can, might have to do more than one application, and then u can repaint them, and reclear them, ill have pics wheni m done with that, just look at Cbads wheels http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/Prospeeder/100_1043.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/Prospeeder/100_1042.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nebojsa_o Posted September 11, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2005 Well I have some BlueMagic or whatever it's called, polish cream that I use for polishing my sword (I had a little Samurai segment in my life, lol) and maybe that would work. I'll keep the yellow/gold stuff in the center because I saw a Bonnie in dark green color like mine, and the rims looked pretty damn nice on it. When I get bored of yellow, I'll get it off, and then make it either black, or dark teal metalic like my car. I thought that sand paper would leave scratch marks on the lip?? :? And, if I use sand paper, would it lose that shine it has, it's not chrome, but it's got a nice shine to it. Gimme more advice if you have any, tomorrow is my first day off since I got them , so I'm washing them at the car wash, because they have so much dust and dry grass on them, it's pretty crazy. So after that I'll see how I'll attack it, thanks for the help guys, keep 'em coming.... EDIT: If I sand it down a bit, I gotta remove the original clear coat, so is something wrong with that, and do I gotta re-apply it?? Does it serve a purpose, or can I get away without it?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prospeeder Posted September 11, 2005 Report Share Posted September 11, 2005 the finer the grit u go, the smaller the sratches. and then the rubbing compound almost eliminates it, and its almost like chrome, yes, you have to clear coat it, it will oxidize and corrode, especially when winter hits. Its a BIG project if u get into it, expect at least 3-5 hours a wheel with sanding, and if u decide to do the whole wheel, u have to strip it all, it could take days, because the gold its a pain in the ass to get off, but in the end, its well worth it, mines gonna be black the reason u need to eliminate the clear coat is because the sand paper will just glide right over it. make sure if u dont wanna strip the gold, to tape off ALL the gold, just the littlest bit of that aircraft remover will bubble off that gold, and then u have a bare ugly spot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lakefxgp96 Posted September 11, 2005 Report Share Posted September 11, 2005 if it were up to me, i would sand blast them and hit them with a powder coat of your choice. If you can find a prep/powdercoat shop in your area, it would be cheaper to have them do it than to buy the tools and materials yourself. Polishing wheels is a lot of hard work, and in the end, they will just get scratched up again. A powdercoat will protect the wheels for longer and they will shine nicely, plus you can pick any color or metallic finish you want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nebojsa_o Posted September 11, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2005 Well I'm keeping the gold, and I have the whole winter to do 4 wheels. I don't think I"m putting them on until spring. So I don't damage them in winter for whatever reason, besides, I can't afford 4 new tires at the moment. So what you're saying is if I use sand paper over the clear coat, it won't do anything to the clear coat?? And if I did remove the clear coat, and do the whole fun works, how do you apply clear coat back on it? I can't recall ever seeing any clear coat spray cans for sale, and I'm not sure how good it would look... I know of 3 wheels places that do refinishing and all, but when they are opened I'm at work, so I gotta wait for a day off to ask about prices. Maybe if I sand them down, and get everything done myself they could clear coat it, and it would be cheaper. And is there clear coat on the lip only, or is there clear coat on the golden stuff too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nebojsa_o Posted September 11, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2005 Well I just came from the car wash with some bad news. All that dirt that was on the wheel came off, and together with it came some clear coat. I defenitly have to sand them down, well I'm talking about the lip. I only washed the worst wheel out of the 4, and appearently I have myself a nice winter project... I don't mind it, but appearently they aren't in as good of shape as they looked before washing. I'll wash the other rims another day. I'm going to Canadian Tire to see what kind of stuff they have for wheel cleaning as soon as they open, and I'm probably buying a fair ammount of sand paper, lol. Oh well... I'm still glad I got them, because even if all 4 looked as bad as this one, they would still look better than my current steelies with hubcaps.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prospeeder Posted September 11, 2005 Report Share Posted September 11, 2005 the sand paper will just glide over clear coat, unless its REALLY rough, and then it would mess up the Aluminum and make extremely deep scratches, so just strip it, then, starting with 220 go up to 400, 800, 1000, then Rubbing compound then Aluminum Polish then Clear coat, u can buy clear coat at walmart. Its well worth it, i just got done polishing today! Heres what my wheels looked like be4 http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/Prospeeder/Turbo%20Grand%20Prix/100_0812.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/Prospeeder/Turbo%20Grand%20Prix/100_0811.jpg Look familiar? my clear coat was wasted, coming off in chunks, 15 years +road salt does some shit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THe_DeTAiL3R Posted September 12, 2005 Report Share Posted September 12, 2005 The only way to make it look good is to do it the hard way and take off the clearcoat, and re-polish. As far as I know I have the nicest crosslace wheels (at the moment anyways). My friend PROFESSIONALLY polished them (I could never get them do look like this). I did paint them, however. http://wbodysource.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=441 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prospeeder Posted September 12, 2005 Report Share Posted September 12, 2005 heres my finished product, if it helps u decide what u wanna do http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/Prospeeder/100_1065.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/Prospeeder/100_1064.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/Prospeeder/100_1063.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nebojsa_o Posted September 12, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2005 Well, after washing the wheels I found out the only way to go was sanding it down. I started today, with a 220 and a lot of shit came off, I think my clear coat was really horrible. The clear coat is so bad that when I washed it, a little bit came off, with the high pressure water, and then when I was using the air to blow off water, I saw little chunks peeling off. So I started sanding, by hand, and got quite a bit off. The only problem I'm having is how to get down to the stuff near the golden spokes. I made a dumbass mistake and the sandpaper slipped down a couple times, and a little bit of that gold stuff came off, not down to the aluminum, but a little is off. I tried covering it up with tape, but the tape comes off easy because I was using wet sanding right off the start, and even with 220 there isn't too many scratches on it. Minor scratch here and there, and I got 400 on stand by for when I'm ready. I don't think I'll get mine as shinny as your are, your look like chrome, but we'll see... Basically all I'm going for is, getting rid of all the bad spots, that look like shit, so even if I stopped after 220 and clearcoated them, I would still be happy, but I won't. I'll do up to at least 800. Still got some more to get off with 220, but my finger tips hurt, and my wrist hurts, and my arms hurt. I might do a little more tomorrow if I feel like it after work, and then we'll see how it turns out. You did a sweet job on yours though, they look like chrome, how much time did you spend per wheel?? I just thought about that banged up wheel, it's got a few bigger scratches on the lip, that I won't be able to remove but, it will be alright. Maybe I'll find a better one some day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prospeeder Posted September 12, 2005 Report Share Posted September 12, 2005 SHIIIIT i have huge curb rashes, and one wheel has a huge dent in it, dont worry about it, just at least go up to 400, 220 will look to scratched, use some rubbing compound on ur gold scratched parts to see if it will buff out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nebojsa_o Posted September 12, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2005 Well, what's this rubbing compound supposed to do?? I don't know what it is, at all... Is it in color, or is it clear, does it fill up holes, what does it do?? Please explain that to me, because I was told to use rubbing compound on the lip after I got it all sanded down, and now I'm supposed to use it on the golden color paint too?? And does the rubbing compound go on before the polishing cream I'm gonna use, or after it's polished up?? BTW, thanks for helping me figure this out, I'm guessing I'm asking all the right n00b questions, so it might help someone who does the same in future, thanks for the help.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THe_DeTAiL3R Posted September 12, 2005 Report Share Posted September 12, 2005 Rubbing compound is like waxing, except it doesn't wax... it's more like a "liquid sandpaper" that is finer than 2000grit paper can do.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prospeeder Posted September 12, 2005 Report Share Posted September 12, 2005 Rubbing compound is like waxing, except it doesn't wax... it's more like a "liquid sandpaper" that is finer than 2000grit paper can do.. yup, its equal to 1500-2000 Grit sand paper, it will buff out minor paint and metal scratches Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nebojsa_o Posted September 12, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2005 Ahh... got it. So I'll try masking the gold stuff with duck tape, so I can sand more freely, and just give 'er. My camera should be back tomorrow, so when I'm done with the 220, maybe I'll take a picture, and then a picture after 400, whenever I get that done, because I'm not always in the mood after working 10-13 hour shifts. I'll keep you guys informed, and all the pictures, and progress in this thread. P.S. The center caps on the wheels are black plastic pieces that say ABS on them. I noticed C-BAD has some nice polished ones in there.. How do you take those off, and where can I get metal ones.. Maybe from a Bonnevile? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prospeeder Posted September 12, 2005 Report Share Posted September 12, 2005 mine are plastic w/ ABS on them too, just paint them, or somthing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GP1138 Posted September 12, 2005 Report Share Posted September 12, 2005 I gotta get some rubbing compound after I wash the lip of my wheels real good. LOL, maybe I'll just clean the lips real good and put some silver engine paint on them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dannymik Posted September 12, 2005 Report Share Posted September 12, 2005 is all rubbing compound the same or is there a well known brand that makes it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prospeeder Posted September 13, 2005 Report Share Posted September 13, 2005 i used 3M, it did well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nebojsa_o Posted September 14, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 14, 2005 So I checked out the local wheel place, and it would be around $80 dollars to refinish them. I don't think I'll do that, unless I really have to with that one horribly fucked up wheel. But sanding will be fine for the other 3. Any brands of clear coat that are better than others?? I was told today at this place that Sickens or something like that makes a really good clear coat, but most other brands will just peel off in about 6 or so months... Any true in this, what would you guys use?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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