Hey guys, next semester I am taking Auto Body and our shop has a sandblasting machine. I want to polish my rims and was wondering if sandblasting them before starting would be a good idea. Maybe sandblast them, then start at like 700 grit and work my way up or something. Any suggestions? Thanks.

sandblasting won't work in place of sandpaper. It only helps to remove paint and other stuff. It has trouble taking the clear coat off. However, take a sandblaster to your intake and it's great. Makes it look new. I just got out of auto body shop with a sandblaster... I'm ordering one in feb.


Despite the grits they state ... it works nothing like sandpaper.

you dont want to use a sandblaster on aluminum wheels. i will ruin them from what i heard.

this sounds funny, but i know guys that have bead (fiberglass beads i think?) blasted theirs, or even used nut shells. yeah i know, it sounds stupid, but they used some kind of nut shells that were all crushed up and blasted their wheels with them.

apparently the sand is too harsh on the wheels..it can ruin them, pit them, etc.

i heard this from a LOOOOT of people when i was looking tp find a place to refinish my wheels. nobody would sandblast them.

hope this helps...

-brian

You can sandblast them (well, technically bead blast them) with the alum. oxide above. If that one doesn't do it... there is one that can be used to do it and not cause pitting. I just can't think of it.

The sand... sacilia (sp?) sand is not good for alum. as you stated... it'll cause pitting in it.

I think its called media blasting i think.

Thanks for the info guys, I'll just stick to the old fashioned way.