91phoenix

iTrader: (5)

I have 6-8 of the 77-81 snowflake wheels to refinish to put on my 91 Bird. I was only intending on 5 wheels but got a real good deal on them. 6 15 X 8 and 2 15 X 7. These are what I have been planning on since I got the car. Some of these wheels have the paint lifting and flaking off and on some it is very good condition except faded and the wrong color. I tried to use an aircraft paint stripper and it is laughing at me. I scrape with a wood chisel and it hardly even scratches the good paint. I am trying not to gouge it or get grooves in the metal. The flaking paint is easy to get off but not all is flaking. Should I try blasting these wheels or keep trying with the stripper or just scuff sand them and then paint. I would prefer to strip as much of the paint off as possible before repainting and polishing. If I try blasting them I can use a sheild to keep most of the blasting media directly off the area to be polished if necessary. I have a small blaster and a much more than adequate compressor.

Has anyone had experience with something like this?
What do you recommend? If I blast do I need to keep the blast media away from the areas to be polished? I only have access to regular black beauty blasting media.
Any thoughts or suggestions are welcome.

I am not expecting it to be real easy but I went through nearly a whole can of stripper last night letting it sit some after applying it and then scraping. The wheel looks almost the same as when I started. A problem I have is the Texas heat here. If the gel type stripper sits to long it will dry out. 100 plus when I get home after 6.

haps

iTrader: (4)

Blast 'em with glass bead. Even if you hit the polished areas, it shouldn't be that difficult to bring it back.

Orr89RocZ

iTrader: (20)

Thats interesting, I never had a problem with Aircraft stripper eating paint. Let it sit for a few minutes and blast it off with high pressure water from a pressure washer. Worked well when i refinished my Iroc's and GTO spares

I've used both the aerosol and the gel stuff and prefer the aerosol but it takes alot more of it to get all the stuff off. Theres another spray called Peeler that works for clear coats but also ate the paint on the rim.

91phoenix

iTrader: (5)

Is glass bead the same as the regular black Beauty. It appears to be of a glass like material but I can blast at an angle to minimize any possible pitting if need be. I do agree that with some 1500 - 200 grit paper and polish the areas to be polished should be able to be shined up relatively easily after the rest has been blasted even considering some errant blasting.
I believe only one store here locally carries any blast media. I will call and get a price and availability for the weekend.
Thanks for the input.

91phoenix

iTrader: (5)

I would have tried the aerosol but thought the gel would be better. A pressure washer is sadly one tool I do not have or have ready access to. As it is though if the chisel will not scrape it off I am wondering if a pressure washer wwould. I expected to apply several times but after 6 times and the wheels still look almost the same? I have never had a problem with the Aircraft Stripper before either. Put some on a spot on my boat trailer and the paint is nearly gone now. Tried this this morning. It sat for about 5 min. then scraped and hose and wire brush.

haps

iTrader: (4)

No problem. I'm not familiar with Black Beauty, so can't help there. IMO blasting is much easier than stripping. I purchased a blasting cabinet for blasting my wheels.

91phoenix

iTrader: (5)

I just finished making about thirty calls and as I thought I only have the Black Beauty sand bast media available to me at only one store. I will probably have to use it. It is made from boiler slag / coal slag. Has a hardness of 6-7. Glass beads are smoother and have a hardness of about 6.

haps

iTrader: (4)

You may need to ease up on your air pressure a bit. Do a test area on the back of the rim to be sure.

navy02ws6

Post pix when done....always wondered how 15x8 snowflakes would look on a third gen.

Aircraft stripper doesn't work on everything, it took the paint off my hood, but not the primer under it when I was trying to go down to bare metal to re-prime it. Ended up doing a half-assed job but sanding as much of the old primer off as I could.

Sounds like you're unfortunately going to need to media blast those wheels to get the results you're looking for. Properly done, I should have blasted my hood too.

91phoenix

iTrader: (5)

I believe you are right about media blasting. I am not expecting perfect results but I do not want them looking like I didn't care either.

There are pics on here somewhere of 17" snowflakes on a third gen bird. Most comments said that they looked good.

As it gets further along I will start a thread with pics. I need interior redone and the spoiler I want. And of course a paint job. Considering I do not make much money it is a slow process. But it is coming along. I bought a limited slip rear w/ discs for cheap so I will be putting it in when ready. The wheels will fit with the discs.
I got it running but it isn't idling properly yet.

91phoenix

iTrader: (5)

Thanks for that idea. I, unfortunately, probably would not have thought of turning the pressure down.

haps

iTrader: (4)

It's the simple things we forget. I'd love to see pics right after you blast. I haven't done my rims yet and would like to know how difficult it is to polish after you blast 'em.

91phoenix

iTrader: (5)

I will post a few pics and follow up with exactly what I do for the polishing. I plan on getting the blast media Saturday. If all goes well will blast them Sunday evening. Tuesday I will order different paint as what I have isn't a shade I like. I tried a different brand stripper and it works a little. Will still have to blast them.

19camaro83

I managed to strip all the clearcoat off of my rims with nothing more than steel wool and a whole bunch of elbow grease. Actually came off pretty easily, I got two rims done in about 3 hours. Could also try something acidic like vinegar, just a thought.

91phoenix

iTrader: (5)

I got four wheels stripped last night and this morning and will work them more tonight. They will require less blasting now. If it was feasable I would have just sanded them down. I will have a bunch of cleaning on these yet as I will sand and clean the back. The paint that I had is to bright and may be hard to get more so am looking at the matching gold for what came on the crosslace wheels original. It is easier to find and can not be considered overly bright. It should make them look more like original. The other paint I have is to much of a brown shaded gold.

91phoenix

iTrader: (5)

Thought I would give an update. As I had five wheels ready I thought I would try blasting them yesterday evening. The sandblaster worked ok but the paint is resistant to the blaster so I will have to blast as well as possible and the scrape and sand then reblast the spots. As I do not have a cabinet to blast in I need good eye protection and feel that what I had wasn't good enough. Will work on that tonight and then try again. I will start getting some pics for this process. It will be harder than I planned on but it will be done.
As Navy02ws6 said it will be necessary to get the results I want.