I polished one of my Iroc wheels today. This is my first try, so go easy on me. I still have to paint the insides black. Tell me what you think.

 

I think the pic is way too big

:good job: they look very nice

 

Thanks! I didn't want anyone to say that they couldn't see it!

 

Good point.

 

what process did you use?

 

180 dry
320 wet
400 wet
tripoli on a hard wheel
white rouge on a soft wheel

 

Looks great man, very nice job.

 

I made a few mistakes that only a perfectionist would see, but I know how to do it right on the next one. I had a shank that holds the buffing wheels on and the nut on the end nicked the wheel a couple of times. I think I'll cover the nut with some tape next time or just use a wheel that already has a shank in it. Sanding with the 180 is a real pain. I tried to cheat by using the dremel around the hard to reach center parts of the wheel, but that just caused me to have to sand away the marks the dremel left. It took me about 4 hours not counting stripping the clear coat and brushed on white paint someone had applied years before.

I don't mind the wet sanding, but if anyone has an easy way to remove the casting marks please let me know what it is. Just when I think I have gotten all the casting out, the light will hit it a certain way and back to work I go.

I saw some wheels with flaps of 180 grit on them at Home Depot, anyone try one of those?

 

Best tip I'd have to offer is not to skip from 180 to 320. Get a 2xx grit paper in there. They look pretty good, but they can be a mirror... if that's what you're going for. Any pics from better/other angles?

 

That looks great!! Just a 2xx dry?

 

hehe...well a 200 something paper. 220.. 280..

Like doing an LSx motor swap (LS1/2/6).

The casting marks seem to go away well working up from 180.. for me at least. I used 180/220/280/320/360/400/600 (all wet except 180 dry at first.. then wet 180) then emery cake(black)/brown/white on a wheel. Generic stuff that Sears sells for the compounds and sanding all by hand.

Using grits that close might be overkill though, but I wouldn't skip from 180 to 320. I've read that going over 400 hurts the final finish, so the next GTA wheel I'm going to stop at 400 and go to the compounds.. see if there is a noticable difference in quality/reflection.

Only reason I didn't finish the next wheel the other day was because I sustained an injury from not holding the sandpaper right I guess. Sanded through my fingertip. lol


-Bud

 

Yeah I caught the 200 something thing I'll try that on the next one!

Ouch...you must have used the car to spin the wheel while you sanded. I thought that looked dangerous when I saw it!

 

so are you actually sanding the surface (shiny part) of the aluminum, or did you only use the sand paper on the previously painted areas of the rim and polish out the surface with a buffing wheeel and some aluminum polish?

 

Yes, I am sanding the shiny parts! Check your inbox.

 

I'd like to add that stopping at 400wet is a bad idea judging from what I saw last night. At least using the compounds that Sears provides ( link ). I did a wheel up to 400wt... stopped.. used black/brown/white and you could still see scratches if you caught it right with the light. I did a small area with 600 and then used the compounds and it was a pretty noticable difference.

Perhaps it's different with tripoli on a hard wheel or whatever the popular method step is after 400wet.


-Bud

 

The way to get the scratches out seems to be spending alot more time on the 400 wet. I tried that and it came out great. I'll post some more pics when I get through. I'm gonna redo the first wheel at the top of this thread. I thought it looked great until I did the second one. On the second wheel, I took my time with the 400 wet and the tripoli and it looks like chrome!

 

what is this tripoli stuff? i sanded and sanded and sanded some more and then when i went through all of the steps i used a polishing wheel attatched to my electric drill with some aluminum compound that i found at a hardware store. it was a white colored block of compound and it worked pretty good. i had to spend a lot of time with the buffing wheel b/c i too had scratched after doing all of the sanding but the wheel took care of most of it. maybe going up to 600 after the 400 wet will help a little with the scratches, i might have to try that on the second one.

 

key is those cratches your not getting out is problably from the 1st grit you started with. I never go to a 1XX grit unless you got serious pitting and scaleing....or you have to sand out deep turning ribs.

Id start with 2XX,,, and use LOTS!!! of water with your wetsand.....and take your time before switching to another grit. and you need to work your way up to other grits slowly.....if your going from 200 to 1000 you should take about 4 or idealy 5 (ex. 2XX to 4XX to 6XX to 8XX to 1000grit) if your going to skip a step maybe skip 1000 and finish 800.
3 steps is not enogh and youll find you can see sanding marks after you finish.

 

http://www.gmtips.com/3rd-degree/dox.../info/info.htm
I've read on here that anything over 400 or 600 will cause it to be cloudy. You can get the scratches out if you take your time with the 400 wet and the tripoli.

 

Yea I used 180 to get the knicks out of my wheels and to get the casting (?) marks off of them quickly.

Curb rash was another story.. smoothed that out with a grinder and worked back up with sand paper. That was fun.