Well, with the help of 5siz's tech article on how to polish IROC wheels, I have finished 3 out of my 4 T/A wheels. I hope to see his article in the tech section. It is very helpful. The pics don't do the wheels justice, you have to see them in person, but here they are anyway.

 

Step 1, Aircraft Stripper in action

 

Sanded (only the parts to be painted), and ready for painting (Steps 2 and 3)

 

Step 4, black paint is applied

 

The final outcome

 

Nice. How long did each wheel take you? Took me about 3 hrs per wheel.

 

Not bad. You ever saw *****'s tech article for that? His came out awesome.

 

I don't think it's considered polishing if you just strip the clear coat.

Has anybody ever polished the painted parts of a firebird wheel? I'm working on a set of 16" Firebird rims, and I'm planning on polishing the parts that were painted black, after they're stripped.
A lot of people have told me this will look ugly, when I think it'll add to the polished look.
Anybody have any pictures?

 

Wheels look good ! I have the same kind of wheels.. I was working on polishing them out top and inside of the spokes. I started with using 150 grit on the inside of the spokes and got to 400 grit, looks very smooth. But i gave up on the wheels, it took WAY too long to do. Now im thinking of just painting em 100% black.

 

hehe someone here knows my other screen name ;-) lol

those aren't polished , they look good , but trust me , you can do MUCH better those are stripped and sanded down , but that's about it

you haven't used any polishing compound on them yet , that's ok though , you just finished the worst part , polishing is a joke , about an hour on each wheel and you'll have a real mirror finish on them

check out my site

http://smurfmobile.fbody.com

I have a tech article there on how to do exactly those rims and some before/after pics

feel free to email me @ cadek1@aol.com if you have any questions

 

you will not be able to do that , trust me... the casting isn't smooth so you would have to smooth out EVERY SINGLE inner spoke surface , most likely with a dremel and a nice big assortment of bits... go ahead and try but I wouldn't bother. you would be better off having the whole wheel chromed. It would look AWESOME , but it's not worth your time, weeks of your time

 

I just added two more "after" pics , trust me, polishing them is worth it

and don't worry , it won't do anything to your new black paint.

 

Looks good man, I still gotta paint my IROC rims. How long did that take to mask?

 

Well each wheel took maybe 1/2 hour to mask. I didn't really watch the clock, just listened to the radio, and they played maybe 5 to 8 songs.

Well you have IROC wheels, so it was a breeze for you. Mine took at least 5 hours per wheel, but that includes waiting for paint to dry, with 30 minutes between each of the four coats.

Um, I'm kinda sick of working on my wheels now, maybe next time.

Oh I did end up getting something extra. I got those brake dust shield things from Pep Boys, $15.99 a pair. Now I will never have to deal with brake dust on my nice wheels! I am thinking of getting a whole new set of lug nuts, chrome ones maybe, because I am missing a few lock nuts and caps. I saw a whole set for $30. Any opinions on how chrome lug nuts would look w/ my wheels?

 

BTT

 

Let us know how those brake dust thingies work out, I've been thinking about getting a set.
Are your center caps black? Hard to really tell in the pics, but they look black. If so, stick with the black plastic lug nut covers. If they're chrome, get chrome lug nuts. I don't think a mix-n-match black cap/chrome nuts would look very good.
Just MHO...
Rob