so i started polishing my rims after i got tired of the dull look. so far it's a PITA but one of 'em is starting to look nice. i got a q though. im using aircraft remover to remove all the clearcoat. is there anything a bit stronger i can use? it's taking several coats just to remove the coating from the small sections. i've attatched a pic to show what im talkin about. i'm also using a razor blade on wherever i can get it, tryin not to scratch it. around the lug holes i'm using a small wire brush but the coating is being a bitch and won't come off easily. thanks.

 

None that I have found. but you can sand them off those wheels you can even hit it with a sander.

 

Yea mine didnt come off too well either, invest in a black and decker mouse or a 3M sanding wheel for a drill.

 

Thats what I did with my formy wheels. Aircraft stripper, then a power sander. Pain in the ***...but well worth it..

 

is it better to sand it while the remover is on there or do i rinse the wheel with water first? i'm hoping to finish this one wheel tomorrow.

 

I cleaned mine off before I sanded. If not for anything else, just to see what didnt come off from the stripper.

 

How long have you let the aircraft stripper stay? I've used that stuff on the bowling ball hubcaps that go on 82 turbo fin rims and at first I hadn't let the stripper sit long enough so it wouldn't come off too well. I just figured it needed more time and I let the stripper sit on there for about 15-20min and the paint came off with just using water and a sponge.

 

make sure you're using the can or bottle of stripper tha you brush/pour on cause the areosol sucks *****

 

speaking of which..the thickness you put on helps with the removal. If you put a whole crapload on, it comes off really easy.

 

ya i'm using the can with a brush. i will also try letting it sit longer. i've been leaving it for about 5-10 minutes before rinsing it off.

 

One thing I read somewhere was if you use a brush, its too thin a layer. When I brushed it on, I alwasy had trouble, but when I poured it from the can at like a 1/8 1/4 or so thickness, it came off like I was scrubbing dirt it was so easy.

 

1 - Aircraft stripper didn't work well for me (I used the spray)...so I went to town with a wire wheel. It made short work of any clear on the surface...but took longer inside the spokes.

2 - I didnt bother trying to polish inside the spokes...just painted 'em silver and clearcoated them. Looked good to me.

3- I would never do it again. Wasn't worth it in my opinion. Yeah, they look good...but I SO could have spent the time working OT and bought a set of 17's for the amount of time I spent polishing.

Good luck though!

 

If you polish inside the spokes...you'll be my hero forever! I didnt touch mine. I didnt sand, strip or anything. I cleaned, primered then painted and that was all!

 

you got any pics of the rims lookin at it froma straight angle? i have all 4 rims now stripped but there's still a lot of coating left inside the spokes which i wont even bother with. i left the remover on for even longer this time and didnt seem to help. the coating on the front of the rims comes off real easy though. i'd like to see how silver would look with the rest of the polished metal. also i'm guessing i have to paint the insides first before polishing the outside. is there any other ways besides using tape to cover up what wont get painted? using the tape just seems like a lot of work.

 

just make sure you sand down the insides so there smooth otherwise the paint will look like nastyness and the half removed paint will promote flaking

 

like grngryoutmyway said, make sure the insides are sanded and ALSO free of any aircraft stripper before laying any paint. The paint I used was an engine enamel (wheels can get pretty hot) which was "chrome" (that's what they called it, but it was a bright reflective silver color). When it was clear coated it looked more like OEM silver wheels. not bad actually.

I don't have a straight shot left in my computer, but this will give you an idea of what it looked like:

 

Ive never used the aircraft stripper before but what i like to use and actually works for me is "Heavy Duty or heavy Body Furnature paint and vasrnish remover for furnature" I got mine from walmart and you gatta make sure you get the heavy duty thick stuff as the longer the striper sits on the clear the easyer it will come off.
Take a piece of steel wool or a (real hair) paint brush (plastic britsltes melts) and dab it on the clear coat do the whole wheel let it sit for a min then dab more all over the wheel again....after a bout 4-5 mins sitting like that all the clear will just start to bubble off and you can give it another coat...let sit.....after a while all the clear will be lifted off the wheel no need for scraping or sanding....thats how you strip.
2yrs of working as a furnature stripper you learn the thicker the striper layered on the product the better it works. Ive run into alot worse things to strip then our clearcoat.

 

so will this stuff actually remove the coat that's inside the spokes that isn't coming off with several layers of aircraft remover?? i dont wanna buy more stuff if it's not even gonna work. i'd really prefer to strip all of it instead of having to paint it.

 

looks pretty good. i didnt know some of the CC was gonna be hard to remove otherwise i would've just used the brush with the remover and just dabbed it on the front part of the rims where it comes off easy.

 

It worked on my wheels..... i cant say for sure about your pontiac wheels...put if its clear coat or paint it will take it off fine if you let it soak long enoght(keeping it nice and wet with stripper). Now if theres sum sort of rubber kind of coating (like the red grand am wheels i had) it will come off just got to keep them really wet with striper and then srub with very corse steel wool. This isnt easy so dont ecpect it to be......ether strip off all the paint or youll have to repaint over old paint. Ive never striped a set of wheels like yours but clear and paint shouldnt be a problem.
Like know matter what kind of stripper you buy wont work properly if you dont use it right. Just dont be shy with it and dont be inpatiant. Its only cheap the stuff at walmart like less then 10bucks a liter.
And like i said ive never tryed the aircraft stuff before so i cant comment on it or even copare it to the stripper i use.

 

http://www.gmtips.com/3rd-degree/dox.../info/info.htm

After reading the above arcticle on buffing and polishing, I was thinking about not re-clearing my wheels. I am currently in the process of stripping and sanding my wheels. PITA! anyway, has anyone left their wheels un-coated with just carnuba wax to protect them? If so, any problems?

Thanks.

 

i guess i'll be somebody's hero pretty soon

got all the CC off, even inside the spokes. i left the remover on there for a really long time, scrubbing with a small wire brush then adding more remover and scrubbing again. the wheels looks even better now and they're not even polished yet. it's a PITA job but worth it since i dont plan on changing rims anytime soon.

 

also anyone know what works better. blue magic or mothers?

 

Blue Magic, IMO

 

Mine are uncoated and I havent had any problems yet, theve been on the car about 2 months and Ive only had to polish em once, and nothing works better than mothers billet polish but its a bit pricey, the blue coral stuff is supposed to be good too

 

You're lucky. When I went to get tires put on, the liquid they use to help them slide over the bead stained the aluminum. Thats probably not the correct term, but I could not get out what looked like a big streak on there. I had to go over them again with the white rouge.

Oh, and llwhatevertherest is (llvll4l2c91350 lol) I cant wait to see what they look like with the inserts polished!

 

I use both monthers and blue magic.... I use the blue magic with a VERY fine steel wool to polish the first time... use the steel wool instead of the clothe, then go and use the mothers with a soft cotton rag. comes out like a mirror.