I have the 16 x 8 20 slot concave firebird rims. When I bought the car, the guy before me had painted the rims black

I used paint stripper and got 90% of the black paint off, but it also took off about 75 % of the origninal grey paint that is in the slots.

I've taken one wheel off and am about to use stipper to get the rest of the gray off. THe metal underneath is a rougher pitted type metal, I sanded a small section to see what it looks like. Nice and shiney, but I'm worried will it rust fast , should i repaint inside each slot

Ive seen similar cars and it appear they have removed the gray paint and the whole rim looks almost Chrome. how'd they do that ?

Also on the alloy? shiney face area, the stipper took off the clear coat, and well after sitting for a year the rims just look like crap and no cleaner would help, I took some 600 grit wet sand paper and slowly went over the whole rim with the circular grain, and that part looks great, worried about it rusting though.

should i clear coat the rims, or would just keeping them clean and polished frequently be okay?

while i have the wheels off I'm going to clean up the inner fender wells. Any suggestions on doing that. or just spray paint it black.

 

look here

https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...hreadid=189570

 

Thanks...Okay now i see what i have to do. Looks like i will be sanding a bit over the next few days.

Wish i knew where to buy tripoli or white rouge locally. Do automotive or hardware stores carry it?

 

The sanding is long and tedious but worth it in the end.I myself am still prepping a set of Iroc wheels for polishing.I got the compounds and wheels through http://www.eastwood.com/ as a kit for like $40.


I believe you can also get them at Sears from old posts I've read.I cannot say for sure,but most any automotive body shop supply store will have them.

 

I know you can get it at Home Depot, there buffing wheels arent that great tho.

 

Okay, I realized very quick that even the 120 grit wasnt gonna cut it, so i went with an 80 grit inside all the slots. After about 10 hours of sanding, I almost have the one rim done, and thats just the 80 grit. The sticky back paper is definitly a must. BUT, This is sheer hell, my forearm is kinda locked up and the skin on my fingers is wearing thin. I bought a dremel, and its not much help. The rims just have to many small sections and contours for it to work well. I am speculating that as you "go thru the grits " it gets somewhat easier. Lets hope so because i still have 5 grits to go through, Then 3 more rims !

 

hehe..tell me about it

I did 80,180,220,320,320 wet,400,400 wet

..then 320 dry again,320 wet,400 wet,400 wet (a lil **** about it)

and yeah I stopped keeping track of the time spent sanding them otherwise I would have given up awhile ago disgusted.I just keep telling myslef it's worth it.I only have $145 (purchase price and compunds/buff supplies) into my Iroc wheels so far, so that's a good point for me to focus on.Now they are all sanded and I just have to find the time to polish them and hope they come out like I expect them to.I can't imagine trying to do Trans Am or Formula wheels...there is just way too much to sand.

 

well its good to know someone else knows the feeling. I actually finished one wheel. After the 80, and 120 grit the rest of it was easy. The 80 was the most important step,,,It took me one week of sanding almost every night to do one rim. I finished up with the polish last night, (almost passed out from the fumes of that stuff) placed the new chrome lug nuts on it and MAN what a world of difference.

Now if i could only find a full set of silver WS6 center caps !!!!

 

get your self a dremel tool with the extension wand it save your arms and makes the job enjoyable...

check out these things from eastwood time savers....... work smarter not harder i always say.

hope these help you out.

 

and these, if you have a die grinder they have mandrels to fit either to use these tapers and all kinds of grits, just be sure not to bend the mandrel or it sands all messed up. found out the hard way, talk about uneven


www.eastwoodco.com

 

Yeah I'm a be a dremelin fool now. At first i was afraid the dremel was going to gap and cut too much of the metal and make it uneven. But now i see what the deal is and will tonight try to do the whole rim with the 80 grit drum attachment. I did use a tapered grinding stone to get in all the little corners and curves and that was tedious but needed to be done. Rim looks killer :rockon:

 

Let's see some pics..I need inspiration to get moving on mine again.I haven't touched them in about a month and a half

 

Took some pics last night, but my computer wont let me download from my camera...always something i tell you!

I put the rim on and was comparing it to the old...one thinking...hmmm do i like it or not. Its clean and shiney, like a chromey shine,...compared to the old rim which looks more whitish satin. But it was dark and i havent seen it in the bright sunlight yet.

 

Okay i got it to work

 

This took me a week....Now get up and start sanding !!!

 

Yup definately tedious, however, definately worth it!



I would yank off those wheel weights and have them rebalanced with the weights on the inside of the rim or with adhesive mag weel weights.

 

If you really want it to shine you need buffing compounds and buffing wheels, not just polish.

I got my chrome center caps off ebay and I took my original WS6 center plastice pieces off of my old silver ones (Had to destroy the old ones to get them off, then repainted the silver on the back of the insert and siliconed them on to the new center caps.

 

Woah ! Looks like i need to use some compound and buff some more. I didnt want to have to order anything through mail, just wanted to go buy some, but didnt see any.

I checked ebay and didnt see any caps, Guess i will look again. Was it just some guy with a set or someone with lots of them?

sure wish i had a set of those

 

I buy my buffing stuff from eastwood also.

 

yeah i found some caps on ebay, I'm going to replace the center piece like you did. Looks like I'm going to have to order the kit from eastwood too.

ALmost finished sanding rim #2, eventhough I used the dremel a ton, there is just NO Way to avoid major amounts of sanding by hand. Worked 4 hours straight last night with the 80 grit.
This sticky back sandpaper is definitely the key. I also have a flourescent shoplight, I lay across the tire while I'm sanding and it really helps to see missed spots.

 

HOLY CRAP THAT LOOKS AMAZING!!!

NIIIICEEE WORK!!!!!