91blue_fire

heres an old post about my wheels
https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...hreadid=289413

do u guys think i should get em sandblasted and recoated or take em and pay 4 times as much to get em done where theyre acid bathed and pretty much remachined....i really wanna go the cheaper way but i was wondering if uve guys have done it with any of ur rims

JB22

Id strip them and repolish them by hand. I am in the process of doing that on my Iroc wheels.

Blasting and re-clearing isnt going to have the same look as polishing.

JungleMan

Personally, I say don't bother...that design is IMO one of the ugliest stock wheel designs for F-bodies (well, maybe except for the early SCs or the hubcaps on V6 4th-gens). I had them and got rid of them.

No matter what you do with those wheels, they're never going to look good, so save your money and put it towards a decent-looking design. Not only something that looks better but one that is bigger for better handling (less sidewall) and grip (wider wheel maybe? mine are 9") Heck, you can get 15" wheels for $250/set at Sears that look better than those.

If you're really dead set though...try wetsanding them yourself first. Might make more of a difference than you think, and it's practically free (just time consuming). If that doesn't do it, do the sandblasting thing...

Orinackra

The trouble with polishing those 15s is they have little machine grooves over the surface areas. That makes them really hard to polish. Course, if it were me, I wouldnt let that stop me, I'd strip em and repolish. Some people dont like those wheels, but its your car, and if you like em, do what you gotta do. You know what would look really nice is if you chromed them.

JB22

Its a lot of work to sand out the grooves from the original machining process. If your gonna do it, read the faq's on here and do yourself a favor and get the tires dismounted.

makes it alot easier

phoenix305

What do you guys have against those wheels i think a clean set of them can look really good. And i didn't see where he asked for opinions on diffrent rims anyways.

Timz2882

iTrader: (1)

hey strip them and polish them by hand. im redoing a set of 16'' formula rims for my gf's 91 bird. the formula rims arent much differnt from the stock bird rims. besides size and the little holes.

the thing with those machined grooves is to know how to get them off with out killing your self. i got them off with a small electric orbital hand sander from sears. does the job great with 180 paper. cuts time in 1/2.

i have 2 of the 4 rims done, longest part is wet sandin with 400 and then polishing and painting.

well heres one of them done comparied to how they looked with the clear stripped/faded off. im goin to be redoin the one in the pic becuz the 2nd rim came out a bit better and now i can have that.

82knightrider

iTrader: (1)

But 1tinidian has a cool set.Hopefully he chimes in this thread

91blue_fire

yeah man i do like em. only on the mainly one the 91-92 firebirds. i like how it flows with the cars front end, kinda...and how it goes with the fender flares...so i do wanna get em done..its just how. chrome would be nice but its expensive isnt it?

LAFireboyd

iTrader: (3)

To have them chromed would be about $100/wheel, which isn't much more than having them professionally refinished.

Here's a pic of the '88-'92 16" Formula wheels in chrome. Yours are the same style, so they'd look very similar.

nick418

when you polish those wheels, they look nice! i love those wheels. seems like no one else likes em.

theMachinist

"hey strip them and polish them by hand. im redoing a set of 16'' formula rims for my gf's 91 bird. the formula rims arent much differnt from the stock bird rims. besides size and the little holes.

the thing with those machined grooves is to know how to get them off with out killing your self. i got them off with a small electric orbital hand sander from sears. does the job great with 180 paper. cuts time in 1/2.

i have 2 of the 4 rims done, longest part is wet sandin with 400 and then polishing and painting.

well heres one of them done comparied to how they looked with the clear stripped/faded off. im goin to be redoin the one in the pic becuz the 2nd rim came out a bit better and now i can have that."



i did the same thing with my formula wheels aicraft stipper, then sanded them, and then polised them they look great, but i think those chromed ones look darn good too.

fadetoblack

I think those rims look better than anything else out there! At least they don't look like any of the million or so '5-spoke' designs that every other car in the world has.

Although it may not be the cheapest way, the easiest way to restore them is to send them here:

http://transwheel.com/

Not only do they restore the finish, but they do away with any dents, curb rash, etc. Plus you can have them polished, chromed, or painted in whatever color you desire.

1tinindian

I have always liked those wheels, as well as the 16 inchers I have on my car.

I polished mine and a set of 15 inchers for my brothers 91'bird.

Just don't sandblast them, that will only create more time in smoothing them out to polish them. I did most of my prep work sanding them with 500 grit(wet).

This is my brothers 91 Firebird,



And these are close-ups of my 87 Formula wheels I have on my 83 T/A,



That's my shoe in this picture,



Leon.

91blue_fire

wow they look great chromed! i hope i can find somewhere around me where i can get that done (nj).

Difflock

Same here, but in the UK
Each one to his own, but I like the Pontiac alloys too.

Mark.

1985WS6transam

iTrader: (4)

Does any one have any pics of chrome ones on a car by any chance, for 100 a rim it seems worth it IMO

LAFireboyd

iTrader: (3)

I think they look great too, and your 15" would look just as good. There's gotta be a chrome shop in or near your area, but if not, there are wheel exchange places online. Unfortunately, most only deal in late model wheels and don't have any '80s wheels to trade anymore. So you'd likely have to have yours chromed... but those are also the places that do it.

But polished would also look very good. 1tinindian's '87 wheels do. And Tom at House of Camaro also had a set of polished '87 wheels that looked very nice. So obviously, polishing works wonders on these wheels. But still, the polished look, as nice as it was, didn't do it for me.

I've never liked my '87 wheels... but then I had them chromed, and... WOW! I love them now! I'm very happy I've kept them all these years. I was worried they'd "overpower" the car, but they've actually enhanced and "deepened" the black paint. They look awesome on the car! And I still have my "stock" look, which was very important to me. But they're so bright and reflective that the pix on the car look a little weird, lol.

But rather than take up more pic space here, you can check them out on my garage floor and on my car here: www.cardomain.com/ride/698865

Your 15" wheels would look just as great, IMO.