Mark A Shields

check out this url. https://www.thirdgen.org/newdesign/tech/wheels.shtml

Is this a good set of directions to follow? Anyone have close up pics of a polished IROC wheel. I know chrome would look better, but right now I don't have $800 to spend on chrome ones.

Mark A Shields

I searched the archives, and it seems some people used different types of sand paper, Which kind should I go with?

87transam5.7tpi

hey mark,

have you been here yet? this is the set of directions I'm gonna use for polishing everything on my motor and engine bay. I found this site VERY helpful. hope it helps you bro


Josh


oh come on mark you can't guess it :-) sorry I'm a ****ing moron :-) here it is

http://www.gmtips.com/3rd-degree/dox/tips/tips.htm

Mark A Shields

Can you add the url?

TheWraith

those directions you posted originally suck...

these work pretty well for iroc wheels:
http://www.poorformance.net/polish.html

i would recommend using some tripoli compound after the paper and before the mothers tho...it will bring out some more shine.

Mark A Shields

Thanks. I'm at college now, car's at home, can't wait to get started on it.

The pics on that page "The Wraith" shouldn't those be shinier? I thought someone on here polished some RS wheels and they came out shiney like chrome but not as good. I would include the pic, but the pic doesn't work anymore. Can any clarify this for me, is that just a bad pic on the website.

realslow85

ill tell you what i did, first i bought some aircraft paint remover, at walmart for like 5 bucks. then i applied it let it set for like 20 minutes. then i used some 80 grit or 100 grid dry sandpaper and took off all the clear coat, next i went to a 240 grit dry and did the same thing, then i went to a 400 then to a 800, then to a 1000 wet, a 1500 wet, then a 2000 wet. then i applied some mothers alum. polish to these areas. after i was finished with that i masked off all the newly ground surfaces with masking tape and i sanded down the gray parts on my rims and painted them with some black spray paint, dont but the cheap stuff, cuz quality counts. also dony get too close, or else you'll get runs. runs are bad. lol. then remove the tape, since the mothers was put on first , if any paint got on the alum parts, you can scratch it off wit your finger nail. it took ALOT of time and patience, but it hink it payed off.

Mark A Shields

I was going to polish the whole rim. One question, what should I use to protect the tire since it will be on the rim from the Paint remover? Would several layers of duct tape around the outside of the rim suffice.

realslow85

i tried to do the whole rim, but it turned out to be WAY to much work,it is going to take forever to snad down the inner parts of you wheels, they arent even close to being smooth. it is going to be SUPER hard to do, as for the tires i think the duct tape might work, but the remover that i had was crazy, it like ate through a plastic sponge that i was using and stuff. good luck, ill put a pic on as soon as i can of my polished wheel, before and after.

Mark A Shields

Would laquer thinner work as well? It's not as strong I would think, but would it remove all of the clear coat like the air craft stuff?

realslow85

i dont know if that would work or not, but since you are going to do the whole rim you might as well you the strong stuff, cuz it doesnt matter if it gets on the painted surfaces or not. ya know. i like the aircraft remover, cuz it works really good and does take that long to work. good luck

TheWraith

bad pics.....here's another pic of the wheels


and here's a pic of one of my ss rims i did by the exact same method:


IROC rims don't look particularly amazing unless you either repaint the inserts or you polish them out, which is a *****.

MikeInAZ

Since I polished the stuff on 3rd° site I have discovered even more about buffing aluminum, so I'll give you a few tricks. Please understand everybody has different results SO I'm not slamming anyones methods here just telling you my experience.

Don't count on the aircraft stripper working. I spent $28.00 for a gallon of the best stuff made at an automotive paint supply and it didn't even phase my clear coat. You better plan on sanding it off which is an absolute pain.

Treat your wheels as 4 separate projects instead of one big one with a goal, for example, of one wheel per weekend. It pays to put on a spare and have your tire and stem dismounted then rotate your way around as you get finished.

For scratches and getting the clear coat off I recently discovered some sandpaper on a roll that is adhesive. It's really cool cuz' you can roll off a couple of inches and stick it to your fingers. I used 180 grit dry.

Take it to 320 wet when you get the clear coat removed. Then 400. Keep on sanding 400 wet until the entire area you want to buff is like satin. Any flaw will show up when you buff. The 400 wet sanding process is THE MOST IMPORTANT PART of the process and you can't sand the wheel enough during this phase.

Too many people go wild and go 800/1200/1500/2500 and this actually messes up your buffing job. You will glaze over the pores and although it will be smooth it will "lock in" what I can only describe as "dark clouding".

I go only to 500 or 600 wet. This is more than adequate let your compounds take it from there.

Start with a sisal wheel and gray compound. Basically this is a rough wheel with rough compound. This will start the metal getting shiny for you. Spend a lot of time in this process.

Change to a tripoli compound. This is a "coloring" process. Use a medium type wheel like a spiral buff.

Change to white rouge with a soft wheel for the final process. This is what makes it like a mirror. When your aluminum is done correctly you can't tell the difference between chrome and aluminum.

Be sure to wipe the part off well between changing compounds.

I coat my finished parts with carnabu wax only. Aluminum polish will actually "dull" a nicely polished piece. Aluminum polishes oxidize black and fill up the pores with black junk. The carnabu wax stays clear.

I don't spray clear because I want to touch up easily and the memory of getting the clear coat off is still fresh in my mind. I am experimenting however with clear power coating and will let you know what I find out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Red 86 T/A 5.0 TPI (LB9/WS6)
~HyperTech Cap/Coil/Rotor/AFPR
~Derale Adjustable Fan Switch ~ 170° Stat
~Flow Matched Injectors ~ K & N Air Filter
~Ported Plenum ~ Pirelli 245/50/16
~SLP TB Airfoil ~ All Else Stock

Mark A Shields

Yeah, I'm going to take it one wheel at a time. I'm going home this coming weekend so I'll at least start one and see how it turns out. If I have time I'll do another just so at least the back will be done. Then next time I go home I'll finish it up. I'll be sure to take before and after pics.

Black_Widdow

iTrader: (1)

Hey Mark,
I polished my IROC wheels a while back and it's not that hard - AS LONG AS YOU ONLY POLISH THE NON-PAINTED PARTS!
If you choose you polish the WHOLE wheel you will find casting below the paint and it is very hard to remove.
I posted this after I polished my wheels and it should help you alot. There are alot of people who dont sgree with my method, but from the pic below you can see that they look pretty dang good. If you ever want to polish where there is casting at you will have to sand forever to get it all off before you can ever think about polishing, but the unpainted parts of the IROC wheels dont have any so it's easy! Here ya go:All you people make out polishing wheels to be SO hard to do and SO time-consuming but really, it is about the quickest, easiest thing you could do to make your car look better. You can have all 4 wheels polished in the matter of a few (3-5) hours. I did my IROC wheels and the average person would bet money that they are chromed. Here's how to do it:

1. Start by removing the clearcoat from the areas you are polishing. Just used some Aircraft paint stripper from Wal-Mart.
2. Sand down the really rough SPOTS (curb rash and other gashes) with 400 grit sand paper.
3. Sand the wheel with 600 grit over the areas you just sanded with 400.
4. Sand it all with 1000 grit.
5. Sand with 1500 grit.
6. Get some SEMICHROME metal polish (this is what the Harley guys use on their motorcycles)
7. Put SMALL AMOUNTS of the Semichrome on the wheel and polish, NOT WITH A DREMEL, but with your hand and a paper towell from the kitchen.
8. Wipe off excess polish with a soft cloth.
9. Repeat as needed/wanted

HELPFUL TIPS:
1. When sanding, use 1 piece of sandpaper as long as possible. After you use a the sandpaper for a while, it will build a metallic sheen on it. THIS IS GOOD! The more of a metallic sheen you get on the sandpaper, the higher the grit will actually be! And also, dont wetsand. Wetsanding will take the metallic sheen off of the sandpaper and you wont be able to do nearly as good of a job.
2. DONT use a dremel. It will leave blemishes guarunteed! Using a paper towell and exerting moderate pressure while polishing will give it a more uniform appearance. Looks MUCH better that using a Dremel.
3. NEVER go any lower than 400 grit sandpaper. Anything lower will leave scratches that you will NEVER be able to take completely out. And only use 400 where you must!

I think that's about it. It's really not as hard and time-consuming as people make it out to be. I bought my wheels on a Friday afternoon and started polished the next day at about 10:00 and by 2:00 they were as shiny as they were going to get. I'll have pics soon.

If you want to hear what other people thought about my method do a search. But really this is all you need to know as long as you dont have casting!!

Black_Widdow

iTrader: (1)

and another....

Mark A Shields

Is this the part people refer to as the painted part?

Wouldn't it look better polishing the whole wheel? Maybe I'll just try the non painted parts at first and see how it turns out.

How do you keep the air craft paint remover from getting on the painted parts?

Mark A Shields

Black Widdow, I thought the higher the grit the more it could scratch, or am I wrong, I don't know much about sandpaper. A lot of people talk about wetsanding once getting to a certain grit, is this necessary.
One more thing, how can just putting polish on it with a paper towel stick to it, I could see a dremel maybe, but still how does the polish actually adhere to the wheel? Sorry for all questions.

Black_Widdow

iTrader: (1)

Mark,
The painted areas are just the areas that are painted by the factory.
I've seen wheels polished like I did and I've seen them with thewhole thing polished and I think it looks better my way.
The higher the grit, the less it scratches. 400 scratches more than 600 for example.
Paper towells work as good as anything else. The polish doesn't stick to the surface or the wheel. Polish is basically a chemical sandpaper with an EXTREMELY high grit, it doesn't stick like wax does.
I kept the remover from getting on the paint but it cost some skin. I just runned it on with my fingers and a paper towell. Yes, it did burn some skin but if you love your car you'll do just about anything
Any more questions just ask!

85SportCoupeto89RS

Heres what I'm working on during my little free time.

Mark A Shields

^^^^^
That's exactlyt the pic I was talking about earlier, but all the old posts it didn't work in.
What exactly are the steps for doing that. How come all the wheels I've seen don't look that good, or is it just because they all took the pics from too far away.

FastElectrics

Great Polishing Job 85SportCoupeto89RS :hail:
Thats exactly what I'm going to be starting on my rims in about a week or so. I have the same rims too, though mine have that bumpy texture, so sanding that off is gonna be a PITA. Anyone know of a way to remove silicone off the rims.. the previous owner used that to "glue" the plastic center caps on.

MikeInAZ

Mark, I think many people are confusing "polishing" and "buffing". You can squirt mothers, eagle one, autosol, or whatever you want and rub it til' you're blue in the face but you will not achieve the mirror like or chrome like surface I think you're looking for.

There is no short cut for buffing aluminum. It is hard, involves many steps and it's messy. I also feel like (opinion only) that the reason many of the post are not getting the brilliant shine is they are not "actually" getting the clear coat off.

I have used the best of strippers and it just doesn't remove the clear (on the wheels I have worked with). It will take a layer off and sometimes it will soften it.

Then you go to polish it.......... it will look better because you can actually buff or polish the clear. The clear will get shiny again, but your not really polishing the aluminum. I just went through this on a set of valve covers. They were restored to looking well again but I actually never touched the aluminum.

Look at these:

<img src=http://www.gmtips.com/3rd-degree/dox/tips/buff/misc/05.jpg>

The ones on the top aren't as shiny as you could get them but they kinda' simulate clean and polished the ones on the bottom are polished and buffed.

If you can't see yourself in your reflection clearly in your work then it ain't polished.

<img src=http://www.gmtips.com/3rd-degree/dox/tips/buff/wheels/09.jpg>

Mark A Shields

Could you go into detail on the steps you did?

85SportCoupeto89RS

Heres what I do. I use polishing wheels that I put on bench grinders and my die grinder. I use sanding rolls with my die grinder, 120 grit,320,400,500 to get all the tight spots smoothed out. Then I use a da sander with 320 grit sand paper to get the easy to reach spots. Then I use my polishing wheels to get the rest and finish it off with using my buffing wheels.

Mark A Shields

Should I wet sand with the 500 grit?

Black_Widdow

iTrader: (1)

It seems like very few people here actually know what wetsanding is for.
The only time you want to wetsand is when you are sanding a painted surface. When you sand a painted surface, the sandpaper will get loaded up with the paint you sanded off. This paint that sticks onto the sandpaper makes it useless because you will end up just rubbing paint over paint, since the paint on the sandpaper covers up the sand on the sandpaper. When you are polishing aluminum, you actually WANT to have the paper loaded up with the sanded aluminum. After you sand for a few minutes you will notice a "metallic sheen" on the sandpaper, this is the metal off of the wheel that you have sanded off. If you keep this metallic sheen sandpaper in use, the grit of the sandpaper will actually go up and you will get a better, smoother surface which will look GREAT when polished. If you wetsand you are just causing yourself more trouble than it's worth.
Going lower than 400 grit sandpaper will also cause you more problems than you need. 400 grit will really scratch up the wheel and it will cause pits or valleys, dips, whatever you want to call them, and it's almost impossible so correct later. Alot of people who polish wheels try to sand out every little gash. This will cause the wheel to have those dips or pits or unevenness or whatever and it will look worse in the end than if they had just left it alone.
I assure you that my wheels are just as shiney as any other polished wheels here. But do it however you want to. Either way, make sure you get all the clearcoat off because if you dont you are just polishing a turd.

TheWraith

mikeinaz as well as a few others in this post definitely know their stuff....but i completely disagree with mike on the aircraft stripper not working. I don't know if he had the same stuff as me, but mine is clearly marked aircraft stripper. It comes in a can like turpentine.

I bought a set of iroc rims that came with the original clearcoat and painted surfaces on them and in addition, i guess the previous owner thought fully black iroc wheels would look cool, so he sprayed a thick coat of red primer on two wheels, and "finished" one wheel in a thick coat of black gloss. All told there was a very thick coat of paint and primer on two of the wheels. One coat of the aircraft stripper brushed on, and i let it sit for a little longer than the directions asked for, and i could have blown off every bit of the primer and black paint with an air hose. A lot of clearcoat and gold came off on the first coat as well....probably 60-70%. The clearcoat and factory gold inlays took 2 or 3 more coats, and came off in big chunks, very easily. There was some leftover crud on the wheels to sand, but it was pretty minimal, and the aircraft stripper is potent stuff. it was still tiome consuming to strip them this way, but nothing compared to sanding everything off..... no way in hell i'd do that.

Although if i did another full set of rims, i'd have them media blasted to be stripped. no more manual crap.

MikeInAZ

thanks wraith for the compliment. On the disagreement....... i was careful to say "on the wheels and stuff I worked on" because i have just never had any luck with the stripper.

i bought a 12.00 can ....... didn't phase it.
then 28.00 can ......... didn't phase it.

after wasting 40 bucks i just got out the sand paper and it started coming off. i would have loved to let that stripper do the work for me.

i have heard many stories of it working for people and i have even heard of "easy off oven cleaner working"

which leads me to think maybe different years used different clear coatings AND hey........ whatever works......... go for it..........LOL

Saywhut

Mike, I got some Aircraft stripper from Western Auto that worked well, I'll get the name & maybe a pic up later today.

IROCZTWENTYGR8

iTrader: (1)

Can some1 post some pictures (closeup prefered) of stock 85-87 IROC rims in mint condition against a polished or polished and painted rim??

Mark A Shields

That's what I wanted, everyone seems to have taken pics from far away for the IROC rims.

IROCZTWENTYGR8

iTrader: (1)

Yeah. I don't know if its only me, but I think I like the aluminum look better than the chrome look on IROC rims.

You do some nice work MikeInAZ!! Great site too, been going there since I registered here.

FastElectrics

Has anyone here used this product from Meguiars. Gold Class All Metal Restorer. I was reading up on the bottle at a local store.. and it's for Aluminum Rims with clearcoat. Is it any good?