Spent a fair bit of time polishing and repainting my IROC rims and they are ready to go on the car - woo hoo!

 

Those look awesome man. I cant believe how good those look, my IROC rims look good for 19 years old but im looking to go with either chrome irocs or vette wheels, but those look wicked pissah what did you use?

 

NICE!!!!!!!!!

....the paint on mine was pretty good so I didn't repaint, but I polished mine.

 

Man oh man, you did one fine job. Those would look sweet on my car, props to you on a great job

 

Thanks guys - I love the early IROC rims and cleaned up they look just great. Can't wait to get em on the car now!

 

what paint did you use?

 

I masked up the polished parts and painted the rest with a Lexus colour called "Grey Effect Alt 6 [106]". Its a really nice mid to darkish grey colour that has heaps of metallic in it.

I originally had a different Lexus grey mixed up but when I put it on it was way too dark, almost black. When I put this colour on I knew it was just what I wanted and with the clear on top it looks awesome.

I used a 2 pack clear over the top of the paint but I'm leaving the polished areas bare.

 

They are truly excellent looking rims.
Details.
What was the process?
Chemical stripper?
What type of abrasive and polish?
I have two full sets and a couple of spares that need attention.

 

damn they look better than new

 

If I ship you mines, can you do the same thing...lol j/k. Awsome job on the rims, you should do it as a side job for any one with those types of rim.

 

Thanks mate - the process was something like this:

First I had the tyres taken off the rims and then I used a regular household paint stripper on them [Selley’s Quik Strip].

The clear coat comes off quite easily but the gold colour seems to be powder coat I think because I had to attack it several times to completely get rid of it. I also used a small stainless steel brush to get some of the more stubborn colour off. I ended up with nice clean bare aluminium with no colour left anywhere.

Then I just used an air powered die grinder with progressively finer flap wheels to get rid of the machining marks [started with 60 grit I think]. After that, I used strips of emery cloth then moved on to wet and dry sandpaper. I think I went 180, 320, 400, 800 and 1200 followed by white rouge on a calico mop on the bench grinder. Finished off with Autosol and Meguiars Metal Polish, especially in all the tricky areas.

Then it was time to paint so I used acrylic thinners then wax and grease remover to get rid of the left overs from polishing and then I started masking them up. I used a PVC masking tape – the same stuff they use for stripes/pinstripes/flames etc because the paint doesn’t bleed under it.

I used 6mm wide tape to get a good edge on the funny curves and bends and put regular masking tape over the top to get the coverage I needed.

Then a few coats of etch primer, 3 or 4 coats of colour and 6 or 7 coats of 2 pack clear lacquer over the top. Its probably the long way around but the result was really good – they look absolutely awesome in the sun and the colour is exactly what I had pictured in my head – close to the stock colour but with a bit more sparkle to it [especially with the deep clear coat on them]. I picked the colour from a colour chip in an auto paint shop [Lexus/Toyota Grey Effect Alt 6 102].

This is what they started out like...

Karl - send em over mate and I'll do em for you, just attach plenty of beer to them because its very very thirsty work!

 

I just bought a set of Iroc wheels off of Ebay to do this too. I am looking forward to it now that I see yours, they look AMAZING!!! Do you recall how much that paint was?? How much paint did you wind up using??

 

I had the paint mixed up into 400 gram pressure packs - just like regular spray paint cans. I used less than 1 can of etch primer, 1 can of colour and 2 cans of clear lacquer. Its not an expensive exercise but it is bloody hard work! Its worth it in the end though I reckon...

 

I have seen plenty of Z28 rims on here over the years and have mine stripped and polish as well but those are the best I have seen. Too bad you are so far away from us Americans...you could make some money at it.

 

Yes post pics when you get them mounted. Oh & what kinda of beer should I send....hahaha

 

I'm easy mate, just as long as its cold!

Can't wait to get them on the car now, I'll post up some before and after shots of the car with em on it. Its a black Camaro with these GTA 's on it right now which look pretty good anyway but I have always liked the IROC rims. The GTA's have been on it for a while now so its time for a change!

 

Suibscribing to this thread .

 

I wouldnt leave the polished parts bare. Just clear coat them to protect them from pitting. Mine are piting slowly now because i left them bare. I am just going to sandblast and sand my rims down then paint them. Awesome results man!!!

 

If it's a DD, then I'd agree. Mine is not, and I just hit mine up with aluminum polish every 4 to 6 weeks. Sure, it's a little work, but it looks better than any type of coating. All about your personal goals, and how you use the car.

 

I'll see how they go, my GTA rims have bare polished aluminium and have held their shine really well.

I've always been a bit wary of putting clearcoat over polished ally - one of the reasons I had to strip and polish these rims is that the metal under the factory clearcoat was really oxidised badly.

The car is a daily driver but the climate here is pretty mild [very similar to the sort of weather that San Diego has] so I'll see how they go.

 

Do you wanna sell those GTA rims?

Hahaha yes the best beer is FREE & COLD beer...

 

Great job!! It's so good it almost looks Photoshopped!

 

Perth any full pics of your car with those rims?

 

No they should go on the car this week Karl - there is still a couple of little spots I want to fix up before they go on but I hope to have it done before the weekend. Can't bloody wait!

 

How bout pics with GTA rims? Wanna sell those?

 

they turned out nice