Hey guys!

I finally finished my IROC-Z rims. They looked crappy before, so I decided to polish and paint them. The first step I took was to strip the clear off, and then have the tires dismounted. Then I sanded all the machine grooves off of them, starting with 80 grit and working my way up to 400. I tried starting with 40 grit on one rim, but it cut into the aluminum to deep and left a few scratch marks. After that, I pretty much followed the method that is listed in the tech section. The one where you use a dremel, a cleaning wheel, and aluminum polish. I tried two kinds, Mothers and Blue magic. I found that the mother's cuts faster, but doesn't shine as bright. The Blue Magic must be a finer compound, because it cuts slower, but leaves a more brilliant shine.

Including paint prep, masking, painting, It took roughly 10 hours per rim to do, but I think it was well worth it. If you don't need to paint the inserts figure maybe 6 hours per rim if you use my method.

Oh, I also made my own centers out of 1/4" aluminum stock. I didn't want to pay $80 for some GM ones that will look sh*tty in 2 years. It took maybe 2 hours to make these and polish them, I included that in the time above.

Once it gets cold and snowy outside, I might do some polishing on the side for extra $$$. If your interested shoot me a PM or email and we'll talk out the details.

Here's a before shot and a couple afters:







Let me know what you guys think

EDIT: That rim in the first pic is the same one I am holding in the second pic. That was the worst one of the bunch

 

wow very very nice

 

Good job on those rims! I really like the black accents, Mine are still factory color. I like the black better though makes the polished parts really pop.

I found that 100 grit worked better for me then the 80 to start. The 100 grit still removed the clear pretty quick. But didnt leave scratches like the 80 did.

 

Kick A$$ job man! You made em look good, real good. I like em'!

 

Wow! I noticed how you're squinting in the picture - must be blinded by your rims.

 

Kick *** job man, those look great!

 

Thanks much guys I'm really happy with them. This set wasn't quite professional quality, but it's pretty freakin close. Oh well, maybe the next set

BTW, I weighed them with the tires off and they only weigh 24 lbs each. Not to bad for a factory casting.

\Matt

 

WOW! Those are nice man...........you did one hell of a job.......really sharp

 

That looks outstanding!! How did you fasten the centers to the rims. I need to make some as well.

 

It's just a compression fit for now. After I get the tires mounted I am going to use metal epoxy to perminantly fasten them. If I ever need to pop them off, all I have to do is give it a swift knock from the back with a screwdriver and hammer and it'll pop out.

I used a 2 3/4 hole saw on a press to cut them, and then used a grinder on the circumference to give it a snug fit. If you have some kind of metal lathe the exact hole size is 2 9/16ths.

Matt

 

excellent work!

 

That is absolutely incredible! Do mine next!

-AJ

 

sick looking! Makes me want to keep my Irocs! (going to order TorqThrustD's), but my wheels have several cracks in them, and some deap cuts/gouges in them

 

Looks like it came out really well. Most excellent of a job.

 

Thanks again fellas

Adam, Your rims are lookin pretty clean already. You're on your own

Error404, how'd you crack your wheels?

 

have no clue, there are a few cracks on the outter rim. but they were like that when I got the car. Guess the previous owner was "attracted" to curbs or something

 

Nice job im doin mine im waitin on another kit from eastwood. Im doing the whole rim tho and under that paint its ruff its gonna take awhile.

 

I thought about doing that, but with the dremel it would have taken probably 20 hours per rim. I have alot of free time, but not that much

Instead of trying to polish it smooth, use 80 grit to tear it down and then slowly make your way up to 400. Then polish it from there. I tried that on a small spot on one of the painted areas, and it flattened out much quicker than I expected.

Make sure you get us pics of the finished wheels!

 

Yeh the 80 grit does flatten it out real quick but i could still see tiny pits if u looked real close. Im gonna try the abrasive wheels and i dunno how im goin to get around the lettering that says front lol. But im sure i can do it will just take a lil time and after the first is done the others should go faster.

 

Yo quiero Iroc-Z wheels,lol. Nice job man 2 thumbs up!

 

I love the 85-87 Iroc wheels the best out of all the rest! They are just so simple, yet so good looking!

 

what did you use to take the clear off....i tried sanding the clear off on my formula rims. i did not read up before i started though, so i know sanding didnt work now and i ended up just painting them...but i want shiney...and a good winter p[roject

 

the pictures dont seem to be working

 

probably ran out of bandwidth

 

You probably just removed 2lbs worth of crud from each wheel

 

I used something called "aircraft grade paint stripper". You can get it at most auto places, and it works great. The only downside is that it is very corrosive, which is great for paint removal, but horrible for skin. It burns through latex gloves, so I tried some chemical resistant gloves, and it melts through those within 5 min. It only takes about an hour to turn the clearcoat to goo, and it took 2-3 coats to get rid of all the paint.

I still have 3000 credits with my host, and the pics are loading for me. Let me know tomorrow if they still don't work for you and I'll load them somewhere else.

Matt

 

Look pretty good. Have anymore pics.?

Oh, I hope you dont ride around with 3 lug nuts lol. (before pic.)

 

Here's one really high res shot for ya. Sorry 56k'rs... Most of the little spots you see on the rim is dust, because I am doing my bodywork simultaniously. I got my tires mounted saturday and I put them on the car last night, so I'll have some of those pics soon too.

All the rims were missing a lug when I got the car, and then I had to remove all the locks without the key. I got one of those gorilla sets now where every lug needs a key to be removed. I was a little more money, but it's ALOT of extra security

 

EDIT: Looks like my host or thirdgen regulated the size down, so its just another pic for ya.