Well, I decided to paint the wheels black, and turned out pretty good. I still wish I could have done a better polishing job, but I went over the back ones 2x and still have the front ones to do.

PAINTED AND POLISHED

 

SIDE VIEW

The pic doesn't really show the dramatic change from the before and after as seen in the front wheels compared to the finished back wheels.

 

I think they look great!!

 

Woops, forgot the side view pic.

 

LAST PIC

 

Lookin' good! I think I'll paint mine now! What do you think? Would it look good on my black Camaro?

 

Sweetness Mark. Are you happy with your choice of black?

 

I'm very happy with the color I picked, I think it helps the polished parts stand out more.
I'd say go for it Black_Widdow.

 

very sharp

 

Those are very nice, I just came in from working on my 92 camaro rim and boy is it hard to get the inside. Im never going to get done. But anyway what kind of paint do you use? I have a green camaro with white stripes

 

I bought some gloss black enamel paint.

 

That really looks good dude, nice improvement. Next is the center caps and you are done with your rims.

 

Do you like it more than the stock grey??

 

That's a tough call, I like the grey on the non polished rims more than I would black, but I like how the black contrasts the polished parts. Not too mention the black will hide dirt and brake dust better.

 

True, but I'm going to buy my cam before the center caps, I know the rims look horrible with the 3 center caps I have , but with how a new cam will wake my car up, that's my first priority.

 

I never liked non-painted IROC rims much. The grooves for the stripes and insides of the rim just don't look right without some paint in there. Your rims look much better polished and the black does kinda bring out the shine. Its gonna look nice when they are all done.

 

looks great!!!

 

hey that looks pretty damn cool. i was thinking of doing that to my 88 iroc z wheels.did you put a clear coat over it. if so what did you do to clean them so the clear would stick. also what clear did you use.

 

I like those rims, hmmm...dont give me any more ideas i dont need...

 

I didn't use any clear.

 

is that a dent mark?????

oh and you missed a spot

no just kidding nice job like it alot wish i had stock rims i could do that too

 

Yep , it'll get fixed someday.

 

Looks bad *** Talk me through how you did it. I am going to do that to mine and don't have a clue how to do it....

Cheers

 

Supplies needed
Sandpaper, grits- 80,120,220,400,600,1500 wetsanding
3M aluminum restorer
mothers aluminum polish
aircraft stripper ( I used the spray can kind)

Some key notes, get a sanding block at the least, a dremel helps with polishing, but isn't necessary
I did the back wheels the first time by hand, man were my hands sore.
On the 400 grit, that's the last grit that removes scratches so take your time with it. After that put the 3M restorer on and buff it out, it should be dull. Move up to 600 and then wetsand with 1500 (use WD-40) to make sure it's well lubricated. After that buff out again with the 3M.
And finally apply the aluminum polish.
Hope this helps.
Oh, and to keep it clean don't use polish or any kind of compound as it will dull the shine and scratch. I was told to use windex.
Good luck.
One, thing I've noticed is that everyone has a different method, but I found the 3M restorer to really help.

 

Excellent, how about the painting. My wheels are Gold and I want to go black.

Thanks

 

I used the air craft stripper on the painted parts as well, then just did a quick sand job and put some alcohol on them to clean it up and just sprayed on the black.

 

Do you plan on putting any clear coat on there?

 

No. Anyone suggest that I do?

 

clearcoat will definitly make them stand out more. I've done it on a couple test wheels out of the boneyard that i've polished and then painted and they look even better with clear.

 

Looks real nice. I can't wait to do mine already.

 

I've heard clearcoat can mess up polished rims, or am I mistaken?