I decided I wanted to try and save my stock wheels as opposed to getting aftermarket wheels. About 5-6 hours per wheel but well worth it. They are turning out awesome.


About an hour or so slathering the chemical stripper on it to get the old clear coat and paint off. Had to do it about three times and used a copper wire brush and large popsicle stick to scrape. Once stripped I hit the machined surfaces with 400 wet until all the machine marks were gone. Then used 800, 1000, 1500, then 2000. Then used some Mother's aluminum polish. Very nice. There are a few dents and dings in the wheels but even those polished out. Not perfect but nice. Then wiped the whole thing with acetone.


Next I covered the tire with tape and paper and used a piece of tape on each spoke to cover most of it. Sprayed it with satin black wheel paint. Gave it three coats and once it tacked up I removed the tape and paper then wiped the polished surfaces with acetone to remove the fresh paint. Boy what a difference!

 

Nice, Want to do mine,... ?? = )

 

Nice job I have been trying to get mine in better shape. Guess it requires more elbow grease.

 

Nice work!

 

Looks good, I don't have the stock rims sadly for my car, came with 16s but I have the generic 15". What I did was aircraft remover and sandblasted them, then painted black.

 

Yes, and wear gloves!! I sanded both index fingers until they started bleeding.. Learned that lesson the hard way..

 

Those came out really nice, and a great save of a great wheel.
That is my favorite "stock" wheel on a Third Gen Camaro and that's a nice looking car you have.

I'm glad the exterior wheel weight is gone. Do not let them do that again. Wheel weights are put on the inside of a nice wheel.

 

They turned out nice!

Whats the purpose of cleaning with acetone before paint? And you put the acetone right over the polished parts too? I'm doing a set now, and that's something that seems easy enough, but I had not considered.

 

Just a degreasing wipe down so I don't get any fish eyes or anything like that. I painted right over a good portion of the polished parts then used a rag and acetone and it wipes right off. Get real nice clean edges out of it.

 

She needs new front tires anyway so they will be put in the back.


Thanks for the compliment, this car will be a real head turner when it's done. There's only two third gen's in town that aren't rolling junk piles. Spring 2018 she makes her debut in town. I really wanted to try and save these wheels. If it didn't work out I was going with your AR-23's. I LOVE those on your car.!!

 

I finally got one wheel done. I'm not going to admit how long it took. I was trying to match the original IROC insert grey color, but went way too light. I like it though, so I think I'm gonna go with it. This wheel is gonna be my spare. Its got some issues, but looks great from 2 or 3 feet. Before an after, and next to my factory paint IROC wheels:

 

I really like what you did- the grey lets the mass of the spoke show better... makes it look more substantial

 

Shouldn't you be protecting all that work with clear coat?

 

I completely agree that it makes the spoke look more substantial. -However...my opinion is that it'd look better darker. To each his own though, GOOD WORK!!!!!! Looks great.

I polished mine over 10 years ago, and I go over them once a year with Mother's Billet polish and they look great. I could probably go longer though as they don't really need it. It's just part of my spring check list. ...this is a weekend only car though, so no harsh weather. For a DD, I'd definitely clear.