I just got a set of 15" z28 rims that I want to polish. Is there any inexpensive equipment I can use to speed up the sanding process or do they have to be done by hand. I have a drill, grinder, and a small woodworking tool that has bits for nearly everything. I'm sanding everything but the 'triangles' inside. I want them to look like these when I'm done:


Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance

 

I just polished my iroc rims, do a search on polished rims and a bunch of post will come up. I used a drill for stripping the clear coat off, then I hand sanded the rest. I will try to get some pics tomorrow.

 

u no the green scratch pad u get to wash pots and stuff, well theres not just green there more but anyway use one of those scratch pads it does the job fast, just try to go in the same directions. good luck!

 

Your joking right. One of those pads will not sand throught the clear coat on the wheel. You have to use sand paper to get through the clear.

 

a "wash" pad like on the back of the sponge in the kitchen wont.


put thoes 3M sanding pads that look like it and come in various colors will.

 

Well, that guy polishes aluminum parts for a living, so there is no cheap way to get your rims to look like that. He polishes with the best equipment, and polishing compounds to get a shine like that.

But, the best way to get clearcoat off is with a power sander and 80 grit. Just beg, borrow or steal some sort of power sander, slap some 80 grit on it and the clear will be gone in a matter of minutes. The rest of the polishing process is a big debate. Good Luck.

 

ya man it does, but not the green one a couple more up, i did it with my next rims worked fine and did it fast.

 

Well the clearcoat is coming off pretty easy with aircraft remover and a wire brush. I know the sanding process of 180, 320, and 400 is what takes the most time. What type of tools will work well on these Z28 wheels for this sanding process? Any equipment that I can rent fairly inexpensively or does it have to be done by hand if you don't have the expensive equipment?

 

you can just use a regular drill and a cheap buffer wheel and compounds..

if you have a drill, then totoal cost should be less then $20

 

Getting them bead blasted is very quick, and does a great job getting them ready for polish work.

 

I just finished doing a set... I'll post pics and a step-by-step when I get home from work.

BTW It's nothing like polishing a set of IROC wheels... IROC wheels have machined surfaces, where as the Z28 wheels are raw sand castings. You are in for alot of work.

 

Here's what my Z28 wheels looked like after I polished them. I used a Craftsman drill with a 3M scotchbrite pad to get the paint off, then hand sanded all the way up to 2000 grit.

Then I used buffing pads and compounds on the drill and Eagle One Aluminum polish. Here's the finished product.



Notice the difference between the fronts and the backs...PS I didn't have the hood latched...so don't tell me about it

 

Nice car, reminds me of someones Can I have your hood.:sillylol:

 

Here are my finished wheels

 

Your car looks awesome. I always wanted to ask you what color the red part is, if you know the paint codes that would be awesome. I'm going to paint it a brighter red (like yours) with slightly darker red ghost flames on the front.

PM me with the details.

 

 

Well, I bought some touch up paint from plasti-kote and here is the numbers on it. Gm 7168
Here is a pic of the can. I am sure it shouldn't be hard to find with the code.

 

the code

 

Heres one of my finished wheels. This is with sanding from 80 to 2000. Painted by myself also. Better than stock I guess.

 

What kind of paint did you use for the inserts?? How is it lasting?? Is it peeling off???

 

Alright, went to sears today to get some sandpaper for power tools but they don't have 180 grit or any wetsanding paper. In the first post, when I said I had a woodworking tool I meant a rotary tool I found a flap sanding wheel made to attach to a drill though here . Is this the right attachment for sanding these wheels? If not, what attachments from this page would be good to use?: http://www.sears.com/sr/search/featu...&bidsite=CRAFT

Thanks again everyone for the advice so far.

BTW johnyIroc, you got that guide ready yet? I'd like to see how you polished these wheels.

 

if you are going to sand it, you need to HAND sand it..... that would just tear up the wheel...

when you use the drill you use it with somthing like this: http://www.sears.com/sr/product/summ...id=00928650000

only $9.99 and it comes with compound... you just need a couple more wheels so you dont mix your compounds..

try looking here http://www.sears.com/sr/mercado/sear...vertical=SEARS

 

i agree hand sanding is always best.... i used a sanding block on my iroc rims... is started at 400 grit and worked my way up to 2000 grit... hand sanded all the curved areas and edge.... then used a mothers to polish.... then used paper towels to remove the polish to get the cloudyness out..... and did that about 3 times.... altogether i spent about 6 hours a rim.... they look great... im going to do the same to my plentem and runners... just my .02

 

I used Dupli-Color Gloss Black to paint. I can give you the exact paint number, but that will have to be tomorrow. No peeling yet. In fact, its holding up better than I thought it would. Just sand the painted parts with 240 first then 380, then spray on the paint. It is by no means professional, but worked for me.

Now, the end result could use a little wetsanding and polishing (orange peel), but I'm not going to risk scratching the polish job on mine.

Also, after sanding, be sure to clean all of the painting areas totally, before painting, however that might be. If you have never painted before, then you are in for a treat. And learning the hard way is not a bad thing.