LoudmouthSS

iTrader: (6)

I decided to start this project when i picked up some 16 inch z28 wheels for my RS. They were in terrible shape, but i got them for free and i love the way they looked on my old z28, so i decided to try and tackle fixing them. Heres what they looked like after a good degreasing...still looking like crap, and here is some pics of the one thing everyone hates..curb rash.








After washing the rims best i could, i then pulled out the aircraft remover. Using ducttape (or any tape, doesnt really matter, but water will be being used, so i suggest duct tape) I taped off over the lip of the rim and tire. Then took a razor blade and cut out the excess. I used duct tape to "protect" the tire from the aircraft remover.







Proceed to do this around the entire wheel. After thats done, hit it with the aircraft remover and scrub. Wash the wheel as you do this to remove loose clear coat. Here's what mine came out looking like, much better but still not perfect.



Now it's on to the curb rash repair. For the heavy stuff, like the pictures above, i took a dremel with a sandng roll, i believe it was 80 grit. 80 grit is pretty heavy so be careful. I started by lightly going across the curb rash in attempts to level it out. Once i got it somewhat level, i hit it by hand with 320 and 1500. After that was done You will either have a pretty decent piece that feels smooth to the touch or you will have low spots. On the sever stuff, i had some low spots. So i maked the tire off and the inner rim and took bondo professional glazing putty and put it lightly across the lip of the wheel. Then proceeded to sand until it was smooth to the touch. Now since your rim is pretty much bare aluminum at this point, i suggest using a self etching primer or an adhesion promoter before you spray any filler primer on the wheel. Regardless, here is a picture of a somewhat finished product. Since i had to strip the clearcoat on my wheels and since they were i believe hertiage wheels, it had white paint in between the spokes and it's being a pain in the *** to get off. One wheel decided to let it start braking down while the other 3 did not (which will make painting them much easier to paint since all of the rim is still level). Anyway, here is a picture of a primed wheel..










That's it for my write up for now, I will try and get finished product pictures up when i have time to work on it again.