Well After seeing how nice some of your rims were turning out. I decided to try and polish mine. IM really happy with the way it turned out. I will try and post a pic, let me know what you think!

 

Looks good! Any more pictures? Could you tell us the process you took since everyone does things a little differently? thanks, keep up the good work

 

Thanks...Well, First I sanded the clearcoat off the machined areas with 80 grit. Then I used 180,320,400,600wet,800wet,1000wet. Then I Wet sanded the whole rim. Including the painted areas, with 1500, then 2000 grit. There was some orange peel that this seemed to take out of the painted areas.

After that I buffed it three times with Blue magic polish. It seems to get a little brighter every time I use the Blue magic. IM gonna hit it a few more times, but not now my fingers are killing me

MY camera is a cheap peice of crap, it looks a lot better in person.

 

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Last one..

 

Man, Those look sweet!!!!! I wanna do mine so bad. Just wish I had time to. How long did it take you to do that one. Did you sand it by hand or use a sander??? Those really do look great.

 

Thanks....I did it all by hand, it took me roughly 7-8 hours. I think I might try a drill on the next one, at least on the flat surfaces. I have a hand sander also have to see how that works. Its kinda tight to get it in there. It Might mess up the painted areas if you got to carried away with power tools. The clearcoat came off a lot faster then I thought it would though.

I just noticed we both drive 2002 S10s, Its been a great truck for work.

What do you guys think would look better? The stock lugs with the plastic covers? Or a set of chrome ones?

 

Looks great hope the others turn out just as good! I say go w/ the chrome lugs.

 

I spent a little more time on it, polishing with the blue magic and a flannel rag. Heres a picture of the chrome and plastic lug nut cover.

 

wanna do mine i love the way that looks. i just don't have the time to do it right now.

 

excellent work!

 

It looks great.... I wish I had an extra 7-8 hours each to do mine lol...

 

Could you get the same results if you used that Caswell Clear coat remover instead of doing all that sanding? And then give 'em a few coats of polish and then wax? I mean all that sanding seems like a lot of work for each wheel. But don't get me wrong, it looks great! Oh yeah, and after I polished/waxed them, would I have to put on a new clear coat? -89IRO

 

You have to do more than just get the clear coat off to make them look like his. You have to smooth the metal and to get the machined look gone. To do that, you must sand. If you use the paint remover, you run the risk of getting it where you dont want it. I would like to try a dremel, and my sander though.

 

Nice Job on the wheels. Im in the process of doing mine. However mine are in bad shape, Ive used Aircraft stripper to remove the clear coat and paint. Its taken two to three applications to do this. Once thats done, Ive done the sanding starting with 320 then 400, 600, 1000, 1500, 2000. Then I used Mothers. The first wheel came out real good, working on the second and third wheels now. Know what you mean about sore fingers.

 

yeah i just started doing mine the other day. dont use a dremel to polish though, for some reason it takes that black filth and "burns" it into the rim. then you have to sand it down again. dont know why this is but it did it on my rim and on my TPI runners so im gonna stick with elbow grease for fine polishing

 

Nice job It takes a while, but you will get faster at it as you do the other wheels. Its well worth the time IMHO.

 

Looks great, if you use a dremel to polish, be sure it has adjustable speed controls. Mine didn't and on one wheel it left some burn marks.

 

that looks awesome, man... can't wait to do mine one day and compliment with a new paint job... but for now, military duty calls... i've read alot of wheel polishing posts, the multiple sanding seems to be the way to do it...

KAM

 

I did a little more polishing with the Blue magic. A soft touch seems to bring out the best shine. Thanks for the replies.

 

So, how much is blue magic, and where do you buy it??

 

looking good! I'm on my third now. hard work but soooo satisyfying!

 

Anyone ever try a drill with a round sandpaper disk. Not such high rpm's, wouldnt think it would turn the rim black, and it would be much easier than by hand.

 

I know Autozone has Blue magic, it was 3.99. A little goes along way. I think the drill would be a good idea for some areas. Just have to be careful of the painted areas if your not planning on repainting. Pretty easy to do more harm then good with the power tools. IM gonna give them a try on the next one though.

IM working on my SuperRam plenum now for a change from the rims. I have a medium size hand sander that is working really well on the flat areas.

 

I used a drill on my rims last week. I just used the drill to strip the clear coat off. I used 80 grit, then 120. I really couldn't find much finer grits, so I had to do the rest by hand. I will have pics tonight or tomorrow. I got mine done in about 4-5 hours per wheel. Hated it while I was doing it, but they look so much better.

 

Getting the clearcoat off was the hardest part for me. Did you use one of those velcro pads for the drill? Did it work well on the whole rim to remove the clearcoat?

IM working on my runners and a set of 4thgen tips right now. I get bored with one and work on the other. The runners are a bitch to many tight places to sand.

Wheres the pics?

 

Fantastic looking work MikeH! Very impressive indeed. 7-8 hours a wheel is an awful lot though. Do you think you'll speed up with the next three of them?

Is it your stock runners or aftermarket ones you're working on?

 

Thanks...Ive polished two of them, the second didnt take as long. Maybe 5-6 hours total, for the second one. Its hard work on the hands and fingers, But rewarding as well.

The runners are from a SuperRam intake. I ported and polished the inside of the runners as well. I Hope it adds some power in the end.