1982TA

iTrader: (1)

alright, I had my aluminum rims blasted and I wanted to polish the outside edge. Well, I sanded it down and it is shiny, but there are still alot of little pits. I read that sandblasting aluminum actually makes it harder. Not sure if this is true or not. I have read some posts that says not to sandblast aluminum. I don't want to paint them if I dont have to...however is there anyway to get rid of the pits, should I just keep sanding? Can I take them back to get blasted with a different/finer material to kind of polish it up a little? I just hope my rims aren't ruined!! I mean, I could paint them...but like I said, I'd rather not if I can help it. Please help or give suggestions!

Maybe I need a better tool to sand down the imperfections...sanding by hand probably wont cut it right away?? I'm using 180 grit sand paper...should I go coarser or use some kind of rotary tool? I used a wire brush attached to my drill but I need to get rid of the tiny pits.

I just found a website that says

"Many aluminum and brass items, especially motorcycle parts, contain tiny bubbles within and throughout the metal. These "pores" are a result of less-than-perfect manufacturing methods. No amount of grinding or polishing will remove these holes, which show up as pitting or a "grain" in the surface of the part, especially aluminum. As the metal's surface is ground away, new pores are exposed. Therefore, if your item shows signs of this condition, it will be visible after polishing and buffing. Your aluminum or brass part will still be amazingly bright and reflective, but very close examination will reveal these tiny defects"

so with that said, it seems there is nothing I can do then huh?

1982TA

iTrader: (1)

Anybody???

ckeene502

i am wanting to sandblast my gta and iroc wheels myself. just worried about how they would turn out..
i would find someone to blast them with a softer media like walnut shells or some kind of powder.

Poject '86

I was going to get my rims sand-blasted, but the place I called said that it would pit my rims (like what happened to 1982 TA). One place I called said that soda-blasting would work, and not pit as much, since the grain is much finer. 1982 TA, I don't have any clue what you can do sorry. But ckeene, don't sand-blast your rims. Maybe try soda-blasting, or just sand, and use scotchbrite to even it out. Just a suggestion.

1982TA

iTrader: (1)

well, I'm going to try sanding them some more with a larger grit. I have an attachment for sanding discs for my power drill and I will try it out. I did hand sand some spots on it with 180 and it took the pitting out, but doing it by hand it tedious. If it doesn't work, then screw it...I'll just paint them.

tommy z-28

iTrader: (1)

Ive polished 4 sets of wheels. Its painfully slow and painful to the hands and arms as well...

I tried to sandblast the painted inserts on rs wheels with the polished sections taped off. WEll it wastn a good idea and I pitted the crap out of what I just accomplished.

Im not sure what wheels you are doing, but using a power sander and 100grit should take out the pits. Try to use flat sander on all areas that would allow it. A rotary drum or some discs will make the surface wavy or uneven and they wont look as good when polished.

1982TA

iTrader: (1)

What kind of flat sander?? I thought about the discs possibly making the surface uneven...I don't know how else to do it. Basically at this point I have just used sandpaper by hand, and a wire wheel on my drill. I was going to try the disc on the back of the wheel, just to see what it does. I'm trying this on Daytona rims. I just want to polish the outter edge that is flat...I thought about polishing the fins also, but that will be very time consuming. The wheel I started on is getting a shine to it, but the pitting is very noticable.

Is this pitting too bad to fix by sanding??

tommy z-28

iTrader: (1)

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/auto...ml#post3028118

go there for a pic of my RS wheels polished. I dont know offhand what daytona wheels are.

Yeah, you can get that out, but get a power sander and some 100 grit. Maybe even go 80 grit, because at this point cant really mess anything up worse.... Use a flat palm sander and let it ride flat on that .75" surface by having the corners of the sander on the surface and keep working it around the circle until you get those pits out. Then just gradually strap finer grits on the sander until your get to 240. Then switch to sanding by hand with 320 and 400. Then get a cheap poliushing kit and Harbor Freight or sears (3 buffing wheels and some compounds. Use a die grinder and put the Tripoli compound on first. Buff it off with a clean towel. Then use a different wheel and put on White Rouge compound and buff it off with another clean towel. THEY WILL SHINE!

1982TA

iTrader: (1)

Thanks...I've been getting discouraged with this, so maybe I will try to find a sander.

84 1LE

iTrader: (9)

Jack the rear axle up till the tires are off the ground.Put your wheels on the rear diff.Start the engine,put the trans in nuetral.Keep a good flow of water available.Then just put your sandpaper to the wheel.Let the spinning wheel do the work.You just hold the sanpaper in place.Should cut down on time big time.

1982TA

iTrader: (1)

I think I'm just going to ditch the project...I've tried the hand sander and it doesn't really look any different. Mind you I've been doing this on and off for about 3 days now. I just don't have the time, or patience and now I'll be going back to school on Monday so I will really be busy. I'm just going to paint them. I think they will still look good painted, so It's not a total loss.

Now what color should I paint them? I thought about having a silver type color, or possibly gold. The gold might not look right, but I have a black and gold TA so it would go with that scheme.

amerikan_rhino

Glassbeading is alot better for alum. parts (we use it on intakes,plates,etc..) and it never leaves a ruff finish .. now it will pit bad if you hold the spray gun in one area for awhile

luisote

why dont you buy another better looking wheels they change a lot your car

1982TA

iTrader: (1)

I don't want "better looking" wheels. I've searched high and low for these and while not alot of people like them, I like the look of the early thirdgen Firebird wheels. I don't care for aftermarket rims anyway.

Besides that though, I tried some more sanding and used a flat sander as suggested. It's looking better but there is still some pitting. Not as bad as it was but it is noticable up close. Here are some pics...another other suggestions on what to do? If I was to take the other wheels to get glass beaded would it smooth out the finish any better so sandding would be as tedious? Would it smooth out alot of the pits? If so I might take the other wheels to get that done. Will polishing do anything to hide the pits or will they still be pretty nociable after?

Here are some pics:
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...ims/wheel2.jpg
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...ims/wheel4.jpg
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...ims/wheel5.jpg
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...ims/wheel7.jpg

This is a "before" of what the wheels look like

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...ims/wheel9.jpg

Randy82WS7

i totally agree with 1982TA these wheels are the best looking on the cars they came on from factory by far IMHO and i wish the freaking hell i could ever find any, they are impossible ot ifnd ive never seen a single one IRL, you bastards that have ever found at least one of them are some lucky ducks, i only dream of ever finding any for my 82 trans am, im not buying any other wheels for it other than these, when i ever do find any, i dont care if it is another ten years from now,

some day i will find them... hum..

but anyways back on topic, it looks/sounds like sand blasting is definitely not the way to go with cast aluminum parts, im also thinking bead blasting or something else less agressive is the way to go, for sure yeah, what amerikan said

if they were mine and i was wanting to polish them i would have done nothing but washed them with the correct cleaner and then went straight to polishing compound

would hate to see such wheels like this get ruined, damaged

sad.,,, :O

good luck hope it turns out ok

1982TA

iTrader: (1)

I wouldn't say they are ruined...I mean c'mon. It's the same wheel, they look no different, just pitted. Maybe I didn't go at it the right way, if anything it's just more work on my end to get them the way I want. I wouldn't call them ruined though. I'm still probably going to have them painted though.

No one has answered my question however...can I take these to get glass beaded to reduce some of the roughness of the wheels or not??