gsmarcano

nice.

cavazos31

iTrader: (4)

be VERY careful not to take off too much material, agressive grits on the sander take off lots. Since I was working on the wheel without a center cap around, I didn't realize just how much material I had removed. I had noticed the lip to the center section looked a little worn down and it turns out I took out enough material to actually make the surface of the wheel lower than the center cap! Looking back at it, the piles of dust I had pictured were about as big as the piles when I removed the casting lines, which should have registered to me. Turns out stopping after you remove the machining lines is probably best. I won't be trying to get a super perfect reflection anymore by going over and over with low grit. No matter how far you sand down, the aluminum itself has pits and grooves. Only so well you can get it to shine, and I have to be all over that.

I was so set on removing all the blemishes that I went a touch too far. Probably shoud have worked on seperate sections instead of polishing one too far down. It did let me know that the aluminum itself has pitting throughout. I would recommend trying this on an extra set of wheels in case you do something dumb like me. I would have been SUPER pissed if these were not a cheap set of extra wheels! As is, I'm just normal pissed.

After having messed up this wheel with constant heavy grit sanding, I would recommend starting at 180. Take off the grroves and start from there. The shine you'll get is still AWESOME, and you can't tell unless your face is a few feet from the wheel. I'm just a perfectionist trying to get a perfect shine.

Looking back at my first wheel, the surfaces are even, so I lucked out. I can still go back over with the finer grits (probably by hand) just not a grit that removes a lot of material. With the recent turn of events, I'll probably go back to the first wheel and sand from 600 up, where I left off before taking the compound to it. I should be able to repeat the shine I got on the wheel I messed up by sanding to a higher grade.

I would advise keeping a center cap around at all times and not going too nuts like I did. Make sure you don't mess up your wheels, and work with a grit your comfortable. As you can see, I myself am constantly changing up my approach, so don't take everything I say as truth. Use it to figure out how you're gonna approach it, I would. You can follow the process if you'd like, just don't attempt anything I write about until a week after. That will give me enough time to report back with where I was wrong. haha

I went back out to the garage and noticed that the section I polished up was actually fine, the lower section was the next section I was attempting to sand prefectly flat. I was on it a bit with some rough grit without really thinking about it. Probably won't do much harn with 80 or 120 so long as you don't really go at it. As I said earlier I was trying to get rid of ALL blemishes without regard for how much material I was removing. Still sucks though.

Shane B

the wheels look awesome!! I would like to do this to mine.I have one question though,my wheels have been chromed and the chrome is starting to peel and look pretty bad.How would I go about polishing mine if its even possible.Or would it just be more cost effective to get new wheels.

cavazos31

iTrader: (4)

You can polish them so long as they're aluminum, but I really don't know how to go about removing the chrome. Possibly sandblasting, but I really have no idea. Remove the chrome and you should be good to go.

Going back to the first wheel, currently messing with yet another idea to get a better shine. Sanded and polished up a tiny section of the wheel I messed up and got even better results, but it was on a small scale. I'll keep it to myself until I polish up the first or next wheel, but I may have stumbled across a method that offers the best shine possible.

cavazos31

iTrader: (4)

Went back over a section of the first wheel I didn't like. Sanded 400, 400wet, 600, 600wet, 1000, 1000wet, 1500, 1500wet. The shine was the easiest its ever been to achieve, the surface is visibly more smooth, and the reflection does look better, which at this level of shine is an accomplishment. It appears similar to the rest of the wheel that was only taken to 600wet in terms of shine, only with a cleaner slightly more clear reflection. I prefer the finish after handsanding to 1500wet as opposed to 600wet.

Next wheel I plan on an electric sander 180 to 1500, (wetsand all stages past 320) then go back and handsand 400, 400w, 600, 600w, 1000, 1000w, 1500, 1500w, all in the same direction, running the length of the spoke(?). Follow that with emery(firm wheel), tripoli(firm wheel), white rogue(loose wheel), and jewelers rogue (loose) on a buffing wheel. Buff the wheel in the opposite direction you sanded and go over every stage well, especially the emery and tripoli. When you've finished with the jewelers rogue, the reflection will still appear cloudy from distance. I take a cotton rag and apply mothers metal polish in the same direction I sanded, opposite the direction I buffed. Really work it into the surface. The more passes over the surface, the clearer the reflection gets. I do about 3-4 passes with a terry cloth, and follow that with 3-4 passes with a microfiber cloth which really cleans up the reflction. From there every time you polish it seems to just get cleaner and better looking.

NOTE: I only use the drill/buffing wheel combo with the emery. After that, I use an electric polisher/buffing wheel the spins at 3500 rpm.

A lot of work, for sure. With an electric sander you can get the initial sanding done in pretty good time. With an already smooth surface the handsanding is also a touch easier and goes by better than you would think. By the time you get to take a buffing wheel to the finish, it will start to shine up on the very first pass, MUCH sooner than going over the 600wet surface with the emery. More initial work, but quicker polishing payoff and better end results. I'm 95% convinced I'm getting the best results I can. I only have a couple other things I'd like to try before being totally satisfied with my method. Thinking seriously about sanding to 2000 grit.

cavazos31

iTrader: (4)

Picked up a different polish, hot rims mag and aluminum polish from Meguires, and went over my first wheel again. Came out better than before. Still have to touch up the black on the wheel. Also polished up the only usable center cap I have. Back on these again. With the new polish the first wheel, which I only sanded to 600 looks as well as the other wheel, which I messed up, that I sanded to 2000. The extra work might be unecessary, so I'm debating which way to go on the next wheel now. 600 or higher. The 600 also appears a touch more clear at distance, but the 2000 is more clear up close. Kinda a toss up, but I'm leaning 600.

1bad91Z

iTrader: (1)

I have two sets of 1991 z28 wheels for sale. One set has center caps, the other set doesn't. PM me if interested. (Houston Area)