I've got sets of both stock 15" Z28 wheels and 16" IROC wheels that I want to refinish. I just like th looks of these wheels rather than spending a lot of money on aftermarket wheels.

The protective clear coat on these wheels is worn and chipped away in spots and the aluminum has started to do some pitting. What works good to remove the protective clear coat? What is a good clear coat to use on them when restored? What is a good way to polish out the corroded areas and then smooth out the metal to match the rest of the highlighted parts?

Also, after filing out road rash and curb marks, I need to find a way to make the highlighted edges nice and shiny and consistent in finish again as compared to the original machined areas. Some of the wheel types even seem to have very light machining ridges on the shiny highlighted areas. When I use a heavy scotchbrite pad on an angle die grinder, I make the repaired area smooth and then it doesn't match the areas with the small ridges. But if I try to take all of the ridges out, it gets wavy and uneven.
Has anybody used any kind of mild grinding or very heavy polishing pads for this type of work? How do you make it look the same (straight and square) all over?

If you have the wheels media blasted, or something, how can you get the shiny highlighted areas back again? You could probably pay a polishing shop to do this, but I was hoping to find a way to do it on my own in my garage.

 

Check out the tech articles on the home page.I have refinished my trans am wheels.First stripping them down with low oder aicraft stripper available any parts store.Then repair any dings or road rash with files and a couple grits of dry sandpaper start w 120 then 220.Then wet sand the rims with 800 to 1500 then finish with 2000.I polished with 3m compound then mothers aluminum polish then finished by hand with a aluminim polish/sealant.If you take your time u can make them shine like chrome.Read all the tech articles and take some tips from each.There is an awsome article on www.firebirdnation.com forum tech articles on refinishing wheels.