Hey guys. I recently got a full set of C5 rims for free, but the insides of the rims got some nasty stuff goin on that i can't get rid of. Its looking to me like the only answer is resurfacing the rims, but I thought i'd check here and see if anyone has any thoughts.

this is what i'm lookin at.

 

Refinish them. If those are aluminum, which they appear to be in the pic, you can do so fairly easy. Attack it with some heavy grit sandpaper, maybe 80 or 120 to remove the pitting. From there use finer and finer papers to smooth out the surface. A handheld orbital sander or cornercat (triangular shaped handheld sander) saves you a LOT of time.

 

the clear has failed and you have some pretty heavy oxidation starting. You will have to sand them down to get rid of all the oxidation and markings, then re-polish.

 

alright cool..I'm glad to know its something i can do myself. What do i need to do to re coat them once i sand it down so that this doesn't happen again?

 

On my stock crosslace rims,the same thing is happening. The clear failed and they oxidized on the ring of each rim. I sanded it and it didnt help much. Im considering just having them dipped

 

It will just take patience - you can always save aluminum as long as there aren't huge deep gouges through it.... material missing (think curb rash), that sort of thing. Just a matter of removing the damaged surface and then smoothing out the underlying surface - ie polishing.

 

There are two ways to maintain rims after you polish them. First is to spray on a clear coat. However clear coat will slightly dull your shiny finish that you just spent all that time polishing. Second option is to put a coat of wax on them. This requires regular upkeep but will keep rims looking the best.

 

Just thought i'd post a pic or two of the turnout. I haven't had a whole lot of time, so I just finished the first rim today. Pretty significant improvement I'd say! The finished product and a side-by-side comparison to one of the 3 other equally oxidised rims.