ive really screwed up my nice 16" irocs. It first started with getting brake cleaner on them and now most the clear coat is gone. thats my main problem, now they just look ugly. so my question is. what can i do to make them look good again? should i just sand blast them all? or scrub them down and use a wheel polish? i need ideas and tips please!

 

check out the bottom pinned topic of this forum... also search is your friend

 

DO NOT, DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT sand blast your wheels!!!
Not if you ever expect to have them shine again.

Strip, sand, and polish, but DO NOT sand blast!

 

i recently had a set of iroc that i polished my self. use aircraft remover and scrub the clearcoat away. mine came out nice but i just sold em because i came up on some chrome ones. so check out how they look on my site under. they look nice and i think i regret sellin them.

 

ok i looked into it today and i have a few more questions. for polishing should i use a cotten terry cloth or the supersoft pile polishing bonnet?

and for polishing.. is thier a difference from compound and polish. at the store i see mothers and eagle one. aluminum/mag wheel polish. is that the kind of stuff im looking for?

 

I USED A SPINING WHEEL AND REGULAR BUFFER WITH ANY TYPE OF CLOTH I DUNT THINK IT WOULD MATTER JUST APPLY THE POLISHING COMPOUND TRY TO GET THE MOST COMMON OR STRONGEST AND POLISH THE RIMS. U CAN TELL IF IT WILL WORK IF IT TURNS BLACK.

 

so after sanding to 400grit, and once i start polishing with my terry cloth, with mothers aluminum wheel polish.. the wheels will turn black and thats a good thing?

 

YUP TRU TO GO WITH A FINER GRIT AND WHEN THE BLACK BUILDS UP TRY TO CLEAN EM OFF AS U POLISH EM

 

no offense but your run on sentences and shortcuts for words are making it hard for me to understand what your saying.

 

It's alot of work, but if your willing to put on rubber gloves and get messy with aircraft stripping, sand down to your approval, and polish them, I think they'd turn out great.
I tired it with my formy wheels and it took forever becuase of all the spokes, but turned out really nice, though I should have been more patient and started with a lower grit -- but it depends on how bad they're pitted.

It all depends on how you want them too look. Want a brushed look -- stop sanding around 1000. Want the scratches to dissapear -- go higher.
Strip 'em, sand 'em, polish 'em.

 

i read to go no higher then 400 grit and let the polishing do the work.

 

There are different abrasives of buffing compound just like there are different grits of sandpaper. From most abrasive to least it goes Emery, Tripoli, and White Rouge. The Mothers is less abrasive than the White Rouge. Its more of a finishing step.

Look at the wheels under direct sunlight after you sand to 400 grit. You will still see noticible scratches. You'd be working 'til your blue in the face and out of breath if you plan to remove those scratches with the Mothers Mag Wheel polish. Just sand to 400 and try polishing a small area -- you'll see what i mean.

Here's a link to some good buffing compounds.
http://www.eastwoodco.com/shopping/p...ProductID=1078