Had some spare time on my hands..
#1
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Car: 1982 Firebird
Engine: sbc 307
Transmission: 200
Had some spare time on my hands..
Well, with snowdays and Presidents' Day, I had plenty of time to play around with the Firebird. I started looking at our newly acquired Formula parts car, and I realized how nice the wheels would look cleaned up. I started by stripping the original clear coat from the entire wheel and began to polish. After seeing a few posts on here with the black Z-R1's, I thought dude, black wheels look sweet! so I first polished the outer lip, and then finished them up by masking the polished part, and spraying the rest with some semi-gloss black paint.
There's quite a difference between what I started with, and what I have now. I'll let this wheel sit around for a while, and see if I get sick of it; if not, the other 3 will go through the same process. Let me know what you think.
BEFORE.. dirty!
AFTER..
There's quite a difference between what I started with, and what I have now. I'll let this wheel sit around for a while, and see if I get sick of it; if not, the other 3 will go through the same process. Let me know what you think.
BEFORE.. dirty!
AFTER..
#3
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Car: 87 GTA
Engine: L98
Transmission: 700R4
Looks good, but not what I was expecting. Almost like your trying to make a cheap GTA wheel. Try polishing the whole rim. You don't see alot like that. Nice work, though.
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Car: 1988 Trans Am GTA
Engine: 5.7 TPI (Now HSR)
Transmission: 700R4 by Probuilt
Axle/Gears: 3:27 9 Bolt Posi W/ Discs
so the speed limit was 45 huh? I like how they turned out though
#6
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Car: '86 TransAm WS6
Engine: 305 TPI
Transmission: Custom TH700R4
hmmm....brings a new look to the old 20-slot mags. Those were never the most attractive wheels anyway.
Lets see what they look like on a car in the sunlight.
Lets see what they look like on a car in the sunlight.
#7
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Car: 1985 Trans Am
Engine: upgrading...
Transmission: upgrading...
looks cool.. but to me, its a little too black.
i think i would have kept the centercap (if it is a cap.. ?) just polished.
nicer than before, nonetheless. gj.
i think i would have kept the centercap (if it is a cap.. ?) just polished.
nicer than before, nonetheless. gj.
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#9
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Car: 00 TA, 91 Formula, 89 RS
Engine: LS1 / 305 / 2.8, respectively
Transmission: T-56 / auto / auto
That looks pretty neat, I wanna see what it looks like on a car.
Not usually a fan of black rims but it depends on the situation, that looks pretty neat.
Not usually a fan of black rims but it depends on the situation, that looks pretty neat.
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Car: 1982 Firebird
Engine: sbc 307
Transmission: 200
I used Aircraft remover to take the clear coat off. About 2 coats will take all the clear coat off. Works very nicely.
Thanks for the complements guys; I don't have any pics of them the car yet, and won't put them on until its painted. Maybe if it warms up a little, I'll slip them on just for picture-taking sake.
Thanks for the complements guys; I don't have any pics of them the car yet, and won't put them on until its painted. Maybe if it warms up a little, I'll slip them on just for picture-taking sake.
#16
Where do you get aircraft remover and how much does it cost? So you just scrub that stuff on and it takes the clear coat right off? What is the point of the clear coat the GM put on? So after you strip it, you just polish them up an they look great? I hope taking the clear coat off won't damage them in the long run???? -89IRO
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Car: 1989 White Trans-AM
Engine: 305 TPI hopefully Upgraded Soon.
Transmission: Crappy Needs Improvment.
lets see some pics of them on the car. nice job cleaning them up though.
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Car: 2008.5 Mazdaspeed 3 GT
Engine: 2.3 DISI Turbo
Transmission: 6 speed MT
Originally posted by 89IRO
Where do you get aircraft remover and how much does it cost? So you just scrub that stuff on and it takes the clear coat right off? What is the point of the clear coat the GM put on? So after you strip it, you just polish them up an they look great? I hope taking the clear coat off won't damage them in the long run???? -89IRO
Where do you get aircraft remover and how much does it cost? So you just scrub that stuff on and it takes the clear coat right off? What is the point of the clear coat the GM put on? So after you strip it, you just polish them up an they look great? I hope taking the clear coat off won't damage them in the long run???? -89IRO
BTW, nice job on that rim 82firebird. I've seen a couple of cars do the same thing with body color (seen one red Formula with it done) and look pretty neat as well.
Last edited by bnoon; 02-25-2003 at 09:54 AM.
#19
So as long as you keep them polished, that will protect them just as good as the clear coat? Oh and where do you get aircraft remover from? What exactly is the stuff though, I mean what is the chemical called? Is the brand "aircraft?" So what do you do to strip it, just pour the stuff on a rag and wipe it down? -89IRO
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Car: 1982 Trans Am
Engine: LG4
Transmission: 200C
Axle/Gears: 3:73
Nice job on the wheels. IMO imagining those wheels on a car with that color wouldn't look the greatest though.
#21
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Car: 1989 White Trans-AM
Engine: 305 TPI hopefully Upgraded Soon.
Transmission: Crappy Needs Improvment.
yea are you gonna paint the car black too or not? i think they would look good on a black car.
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Car: 2008.5 Mazdaspeed 3 GT
Engine: 2.3 DISI Turbo
Transmission: 6 speed MT
Originally posted by 89IRO
So as long as you keep them polished, that will protect them just as good as the clear coat? Oh and where do you get aircraft remover from? What exactly is the stuff though, I mean what is the chemical called? Is the brand "aircraft?" So what do you do to strip it, just pour the stuff on a rag and wipe it down? -89IRO
So as long as you keep them polished, that will protect them just as good as the clear coat? Oh and where do you get aircraft remover from? What exactly is the stuff though, I mean what is the chemical called? Is the brand "aircraft?" So what do you do to strip it, just pour the stuff on a rag and wipe it down? -89IRO
Some of the BEST clearcoat remover that I've ever used is from Caswell Plating. Works in just a few minutes and strips it clean. Used it on a friend's '82 Mustang GT wheels (the old metric 390mm tri star ones) and had great results.
#24
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Originally posted by 87GTA Runner
Looks good, but not what I was expecting. Almost like your trying to make a cheap GTA wheel. Try polishing the whole rim. You don't see alot like that. Nice work, though.
Looks good, but not what I was expecting. Almost like your trying to make a cheap GTA wheel. Try polishing the whole rim. You don't see alot like that. Nice work, though.
Each slot took me about 2 hours. About a 1/2 hour with a dremel in the slot, then varying degrees of sandpaper. Down to like 1800 grit, or something.
After doing 3 slots, I did an estimate of how long it would take to poilsh JUST THE SLOTS, not including the wheel face, or lip.
There are 64 slots. 64 slots times 2 hours each means that I spend 128 hours ( ) on the slots alone!
I decided it wasn't worth my time, but DAMN did those 2 slots look good. So shiny and smooth.
#25
Can you guys let me know what the advatage is to stripping the wheels? I mean if they aren't getting the protection like they did with the clear coat, what's the point? I mean my IROC wheels are $800 each from GM- I don't really feel like screwing them up. The other day I polished one wheel (with clear-coat on) and man did it make a difference! I just don't see wasting the time on it, and then still not getting the protection. But if I do change my mind, where can I get this "caswel plating?" -89IRO
#27
Hey, I know it's been a while. Today I got some gel paint stripper from Home Depot. This should strip the clear-coat with no problem (and the skin off of my hands too.) Anyways, my question is if this stuff is going to strip the grey inside parts of my IROC wheels. You know what I'm talking about? I'm not sure if those grey areas are painted. If they are painted, then this stuff is going to remove it too, and I am going to have a much bigger job on my hands. Thanks for the help. -89IRO
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