Podium

iTrader: (2)

Im restoring a set of iroc wheels and need ideas on how to fix some bad spots on the wheel. The original owner was to cheap to buy new tires so he picked up some RS wheels and put the irocs under his deck for years.

I have already used stripper but this stuff will not come off. Is my only option grinding?

SOLOMOTORSPORTS

What kind of stripper did you use? I used aircraft stripper and it took everything off

Podium

iTrader: (2)

I used aircraft stripper. Wont get rid of it. I tried three coats.

cavazos31

iTrader: (4)

I wouldn't use a grinder, you'll remove far too much material. Aluminum is very soft and a grinder is pretty hardcore. I'd handsand with 180 to remove all imperfections and then proceed to polish them, or have them refinished.

cavazos31

iTrader: (4)

The aluminum is corroded. You need to get to the aluminum underneath the bad spots. Nothing will remove those, short of sanding.

Podium

iTrader: (2)

I'm using 220. With some elbow grease it is coming off. I'm going to follow up with some 400. The wheels look a lot better but I'm not going to try and make these perfect because I don't plan on keeping them

91phoenix

iTrader: (5)

Just take your time sanding. You may want or need to go to 320 before 400 to help remove some of the bigger scratches from the 220.
The snowflake wheels I am very slowly working on looked worse than yours. I had to change brands of aircraft stripper and still had a bunch of paint left. Lots of sanding.
I have some pics but am waiting to post till I am nearly done with them.

Podium

iTrader: (2)

I used the can from autozone. Worked really well. The paint and clear came of just not the rust lol.I have two wheels left then I will wetsand the overspray and Polish them up. Ill post pics when I'm done

Dabesiv

iTrader: (1)

I did the same project with my Berlinetta wheels, they were by far the most annoying project with so many little groves. My best advice if aircraft isn't working is to go to a local hardware store or harbor freight store and rent a soda blaster. note that it's not a sandblaster, sandblasting is far to harsh for the soft aluminum, and you'll spend hours re sanding the wheels to a good finish. soda blasting uses baking soda which is enough to remove paint and with patience powder coat but not enough to damage aluminum, after the blasting mothers billet works great on these wheels.

cavazos31

iTrader: (4)

I agree with using 320 before 400, and would even follow with 600 before moving on to polishing compounds. If you leave scratches, and you will jumping from 220 to 400, they'll be noticable in your finish. If you sand each grit 90 degrees from the previous pass, you can better spot the scratches you need to sand out. If you only sand to 400 make sure to sand very, very well. You also might want to start with emery on a firm buffing wheel if you do so.

Dabesiv

iTrader: (1)

Does no one go over 600? when I polished mine I was going up to 1500, maybe i did too much

cavazos31

iTrader: (4)

Its just extra work to sand over 600 if you use compounds. Tripoli cuts/scratches a highly sanded finish, so it's kinda pointless to sand beyond 600. The finish is actually determined by low grit sanding and how many imperfections you sand out or smooth.

Dabesiv

iTrader: (1)

ok haha well ill have to try that then. ive spent days on end sanding one wheel from 400-1500 grits and then polishing. by compounds do you mean buffer compounds or like mothers mag where its gritty?

cavazos31

iTrader: (4)

Yeah compounds save you tons of sanding. You're nutty to hand sand berlinetta wheels, but I admire your ambition. That's a crazy amount of sanding! Give compounds a try, still take a good amount of work, but using a drill/buffer is easier than handsanding and the results are excellent.

By compounds, I'm speaking of metal polishing compounds. Tripoli, white (rogue?), and jewelers rogue. After that I use a metal polish, like a mothers, on a microfiber cloth to clear up the reflection. Harbor freight has a kit that has all the compounds and a lot of the buffing wheels you need. A few extra wheels are nice. You should only use one compound per wheel. I think they have similar kits at home depot, and I know they have all you need at ace, as well. The "polishing your wheels" sticky on these boards has all the info and links you need. The "buffing vs polishing" writeup is very useful.

Dabesiv

iTrader: (1)

well i feel like a fool now haha, after replying earlier i took an old western cyclone wheel i have, didnt want to ruin a berlinetta wheel to test out sanding low grit. I did 100,150,220,400,600 mothers mag, mothers billet and then white diamond by hand and its just as nice as my ones done with 15000 grit but with 55 min less time and there are no deeper gouges. I think i found a weekend project. thanks much!

cavazos31

iTrader: (4)

No problem, nice to see someone took my advice and tried stepping down in grit as opposed to up. The problem starting with too high a grit, is that you'll never be able to remove imperfections that need to be taken out. You can sand for hours with, say 400 (which for some reason I see many start with) and never remove imperfections that can be taken out in minutes with a lower grit. When you move to the next grit, even less of a chance of removing imperfections, since all you're doing is removing the scratches from the previous pass. If you don't sand well enough to start, it will be impossible to catch up since you'll be using finer paper with each pass. You can sand as high as you like, but you'll never sand out what you left behind in the first place.

How confident were you when you took that 100 grit to a wheel? Crazy as that sounds, I've started with 80 on an orbital sander to remove the machined grooves and thought for sure I was going to ruin the wheel. I've also used a media blaster to remove the clearcoat and partially remove the machine lines. Actually saves a good amount of time since stripper takes a while to work with varied results.

Dabesiv

iTrader: (1)

i was terrified to use 100 girt. but now i think ill be getting some new dremel bits to make this project go faster on the low grits. i did 80 on one spoke of the berlietta wheels and went up now its like a mirror so i get to spend the weekend doing the rest now. any ideas on how to keep the shine, mine lose it within a month

91phoenix

iTrader: (5)

It is amazing how many people are afraid or unwilling to follow advice just because there idea says NO. It is nice to hear that he did follow your good advice and it is working good for him.
I do not know how low I will be starting but probably 100 grit. I will be following the advice here closely when I do mine. Trying to find a find a mechanical means that I can feel good about but will probably be all sanded by hand.

cavazos31

iTrader: (4)

Careful with the dremel, those things spin way fast. Anything uneven will show up big time when it's polished, usually a wavy reflection. I've never tried it, but eastwood carries 80, 120, 220, and 320 grit compounds that can be used on buffing wheels. Its different than the polishing compounds, much more grit. Actually takes the place of sanding, to level and smooth out the surface prior to polishing, but again, I've never used it. Had I to polish a set of berlinetta wheels though, I might give it a go. Seems like a good amount of sanding. As for the shine, I really haven't gotten around to keeping them polished up, but mine haven't really dulled too much at all. I got 'em in a corner collecting dust, but I plan on using a wheel wax when i do get them on my car.

cavazos31

iTrader: (4)

Yeah, no doubt. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. If you get your info online, at least get numerous sources, cause people in general aren't all that bright. I read the sticky on these boards , but without pics was weary of the outcome. Couple that with all the people that sand to high grit and metal polish, and I wasn't sure what to do. What I did know, was that all the "mirror" finishes, were either not reflective at all (just shiny) or only spoken of, never pictured. I only saw a handful of 3rd gen wheels with a mirror finish, and they had all used buffing compounds. I was able to get results I wanted after lots and lots of trial and error. I'm not taking many pics till I get one painted up how I like, but this is the reflection I'm getting. At least on the spoke I was working on. Ha I'm actually going to sand this wheel better when I paint it. It was the second one I polished and I've gotten better finishes, my last wheel being the best. You can see waves in the reflection, so I'll need to sand better with low grit. Kinda sucks cause it looked great while I worked on it. Only near the end did I realize I needed to sand a touch better. Work slows a bit for me soon, so I'll be back on these shortly.

Not sure if there is another way to go about polishing snowflake wheels, aside from handsanding. If its only the lip, it polishes up pretty easy. On my wheels the lip and center cap polished up much easier than the spokes. I had to really work at it to match the center cap, which polishes up super easy. I used an orbital and 1/4 sheet sanded for most of my work. Then went back over with 320, 400, 600, and 600wet by hand, but my wheels are far less detailed.