85-87IROC-LB9s

iTrader: (1)

Hello everyone, I thought I would just share with you my wheel refinishing project after 5 years of wear and tear on my old set of wheels. I ditched my old spray can methods I had used when I was 17. Thought I'd share with you all how my Urethane base/clear coat and sanding methods that worked out. I can't seem to get my pictures uploaded on this forum, so here is the link:

http://s1349.photobucket.com/user/So...?sort=3&page=1

Please let me know if any of you have any problems accessing the pictures. I'm still uploading all the pictures I took. I did this whole process by hand, and took me a total of 200 man hours, from the first wheel to the last wheel (Set of 4 wheel). Thanks everyone for your time.

Confuzed1

iTrader: (4)

Hey, those look really nice!! That's a lot of time invested though!

You can cut and paste the IMG link from the bucket pic to your thread...I do it all the time.

Mirror Image

iTrader: (2)

Man those look nice but those power tools sure may it easy

85-87IROC-LB9s

iTrader: (1)

Thanks confuzed1,

Yep, it took me two months to finish these wheels. I did this during my college winter break, and put in 12 hour days, sometimes staying up until 3 in the morning; but it was worth every second of it. I started my way up from 220(Sometimes 180 or 80 grit for the early production wheels) to 1500 grit. Just a bit of warning for some of you that do this. Watch out for the older early production IROC wheels (1985-mid 1986), the clear-coat seal on those wheels are indestructible and will NOT come off with aircraft paint remover. The only way to remove the clear coat is with media blasting like I have and did. For some pointers you can tell an early production IROC wheel by the center hub, where the lug nuts are. The centers on those wheel are a bit shorter and are cut thicker. The late production wheels have slightly longer thin cut centers and the clear is not as tough as the old ones (it will peel off). I have both an '85 and '87 IROC, so yes I can tell these minute differences in casting. Anyways sorry if this is lengthy. Here are some teasers.

http://i1349.photobucket.com/albums/...ps50e3d65a.jpg

http://i1349.photobucket.com/albums/...ps967d6536.jpg

IROCgiraffe

iTrader: (3)

That is a fantastic job! I was actually thinking of doing this to my wheels. I would like the chrome like finish, without the weight of the chrome. I really like the gray in between the spokes. My wheels have the same metallic gray paint, just tired looking.

85-87IROC-LB9s

iTrader: (1)

The paint I used on these wheels, is not the original medium gray metallic that the IROC wheels came with. I had this paint mixed by my friend at a PPG body paint supply shop. I had him max out the metal flake before it would clog my HVLP gun filter. I will be refinishing the wheels that came off the car, with a modified WA-8537 color (Original gray paint code). I just got so tired of the solid black inserts and black wheels themselves. They are just too boring for me now. There is no excitement in the paint like metallic paint has.

IROCgiraffe

iTrader: (3)

Great info. Thanks for posting your paint info

85-87IROC-LB9s

iTrader: (1)

Here is one of the wheels that I bought from ebay, just when it arrived in the mail from someone's back yard in Arizona. This wheel was "fresh" in that it was still original. This is how I started out. I also wanted to add, I used all steel valve stems just like the original 1985 IROC wheels. They are not exact originals but are close to what my '85 has. Try to stay away from rubber valve stems and cheap chrome covered ones; they will dry and crack within time.

http://i1349.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7f857c2f.jpg

http://i1349.photobucket.com/albums/...psc611b2f4.jpg

Tuned Performance

iTrader: (92)

Those look sweet, do you need my address to send the to for close inspection lol

85-87IROC-LB9s

iTrader: (1)

Thanks Tunedperformance, lol. It's been a while since we last spoken. How's everything? I've been meaning to contact you to burn me another $6E memcal for my '87 IROC. I will be installing 3.42 gears soon, and need to make the changes in the memcal. I've been so busy on this car with everything else like body, and interior that the engine hasn't been updated yet.

Anyways, I will continue to update more pictures on this recent project I did. There are so many to go through. Again, I did this by hand because I wanted to challenge myself instead of using power tools. Power tools and buffers should be even better for someone else. Last but not least, the rears of the wheel are so slick now, that brake dust no longer sticks to the aluminum. It washes right off when I wash the car, so there was a reason to do the rear of the wheels. Thanks everyone

Tuned Performance

iTrader: (92)

It has been awhile, since the last time we talked I couldn't take it anymore without a thirdgen and finally found a 91. It needs a lot of work but is coming along nicely. The bad is lb9 , but the good is a customer of mine cut me a deal of the century a fresh 383 short block for $500 and the ride