alright Ive been sanding polishing and stripping my stock firebird crosslace wheels. Although they look better than they did I cant get the mirror finish that everyone else does. I did aircraft remover, that got all the clear coat gone, then I had A LOT of scratches. So I started with 400, then 400 wet, 800, 800 wet, 1500, 1500 wet. They arent mirror or "chrome" looking just a little shinier.... so what am I doing wrong, am I not spending enough time sanding or what? thanks yall

 

you haven't polished yet. after sanding you need to hit em with a polish like eastwood sells or other sources "white rouge" and a powered buff. on a die grinder or bench grinder, drills are a little slow but could still work.

 

I just used the mother's brand and hand did it for about 2-3 hours today, omg they look really good. Anyway I could just use a buffer for waxing on them with the mothers? would that do just as good?? thanks

Jason

 

buy a buffer....liek you i tried by hand and the effort is rewarded.....do the power and watch the shine

 

Would a dremel work to polish

 

got a pic of what they look like? If you said the wheels had A LOT of scratches, very good chance you didn't sand out those scratches well enough on your initial sanding pass. 400 grit actually removes very little material...used handsanding, even less.

 

Sand to 400 wet only, then hit with emery, tripoli, then white rouge used on a drill with a pad or dremel or whatever, then use your mothers.

 

Nev-R-Dull works fantastic as well. just gotta have the time and beers to complete the job. look amazing when they're done. i used this product on my 2 line iroc wheels. they are like mirrors when they're clean!

 

Buy an electric 5 inch orbital sander and a makita or similiar grinder. sand to 220 then hit with your grinder and buff pads with emery and tripoli and white compounds.

this is a lower a-arm and my halfshaft and upper a-arm. Of course partially done but I never exceeded 220grit. 400 grit is the maximum I would go, anything more and your sanding marks are to fine and trap compounds and will make the surface cloudy.