Restoring aluminum wheels?

[WoodenBirdOfPrey]

My wheels are like the one Whuntmore posted earlier in the thread.  It seems like most of the wheel is smooth and flat enough that if I keep the sander moving around it might not be too bad.  If they were like the 5 spoke wheels like priya's I wouldn't even consider it, they look like they have a lot more edges to get the sander caught on and cause damage.  I might try it with some 300 grit very lightly and see what happens.  If it looks like it's not going to work well i'll stop right there and finish it by hand, before it goes too deep and does damage.  I figure i'll have to do the outer ring and lip by hand, but if I could get the centers done with the sander it would save a lot of time.  And although my time and labor doesn't cost me anything, It's also not the easiest thing for me to come by.  It could be a 5 month process by the time they were done by hand and my tires will be worn through before then.

I think I might start working on it tomorrow night with a sanding block and see how painfully slow it goes.  I'll post back with my findings.

[eagleman]

Well good luck on your project.Having the newer style wheel I believe these came on 85 and up cars where as the spoke style were 84 and back you might be ok with the power sander.Like I said just take your time and you should be fine.Yeah I understand the free time thing so just be careful and enjoy the finished wheels. Be sure to keep us posted on your progress. Will post pictures of mine with the help of thereverendbill and my old brain once I figure it out pictures will be on the way!

[thereverendbill]

I would start with 600 wet/dry instead of the 300.  300 is gonna be way to agressive to start out with

[WoodenBirdOfPrey]

I'll have to check at Lowes and see if they have anything finer for my orbital.  The finest I have is 300 which really doesn't seem very aggressive but if you think it is, i'll try to find 600

[maddog]

300 grit will leave noticeable marks when you paint. personally i would use the 600 grit followed up by 800 grit just to make sure it is as smooth as possible but that's just me.

[thereverendbill]

I'll have to check at Lowes and see if they have anything finer for my orbital.  The finest I have is 300 which really doesn't seem very aggressive but if you think it is, i'll try to find 600

600 grit (wet) is what i use at work to prep body panels for repaint (mainly if there is dirt in the base and the panel has already been cleared over) and it'll cut through the paint and into the primer in no time.  I think your final grit should be 2000.  I would highly recommend you wet sand the wheels because every time to you get the paper wet and sand your keeping the wheel clean. 

 

[priya]

It all depends on how deep your imperfections in the wheel are.  600 grit isn't going to remove anything but the most superficial of imperfections or you'll be sanding a very very long time.  It really doesn't matter if  you use 300 grit to start if you subsequently go to 600 grit, 1000, and so on.  The higher grits will remove the rougher 300 grit scraches so there is no danger of 300 grit scratches showing through after you've worked through to the higher grits.

I wanted to make the "4 wheel drive" emblem on my glove box door shiny,  I started with 240 grit, then to 320, then to 600, 1000, 1500 and then polished with a buffing compound and final coating from a headlight lens polishing kit.  It came out nice and shiny and scratch free.

[HappyPappy]

Here is a hint, If you want to get the clear coat off use GOOF OFF or lacquer thinner!!  GOOF OFF is easier on the skin

[GRONK]

I recommend a glass bead blast followed by a progressive wet sanding session.  The bead blasting will speed everything up and give you a nice matte finish on anything you don't want polished (in the grooves) I have done this to many wheels over the years.  You can but a decent cheap blast cabinet for under a couple hundred bucks.  You can borrow one for free.  Every shop should have a blast cabinet handy for restore work.

[WoodenBirdOfPrey]

I finally got myself motivated to start working on the wheels.  Winter is coming, and I need new tires for the snow.

This is the wheel I started experimenting with.  Unfortunately the center cap is damaged on this one, the parts car was in a rollover.  Anybody know where I can get a good center cap for one of these for cheap?


I just used an electric orbital with 220 grit, because that's what I have around  I only did about a quarter of the wheel, just to check how well an electric sander is going to get the job done.  I sanded the bottom right part of the wheel, and the lip of the wheel all the way around.  This is probably about 10 or 15 minutes worth of sanding.  It turned out surprisingly smooth considering that I used 220, looking at it up close there's no visible scratches, swirls, etc. like I thought I would get.  I think the speed of the sander and applying only light pressure helped.


Then I went over it with some polish real quick.  It'll polish out a lot better than this, I just didn't put the time into it since the wheel needs a lot more work before it's really ready to be polished.  I just wanted a sneak peek of what the finished product could be.




I like what I'm seeing so far.  I think I'll continue to get the corners and other tough spots with a foam block, and do everything that I can with the orbital and i'm going to see if I can find some finer paper at Advance tomorrow when I pick up my flex plate.

[thereverendbill]

looking good

[priya]

Looks like you're on the right track.

[WoodenBirdOfPrey]

I think I'm abandoning the idea of sanding and polishing these wheels, as long as it's taking, I don't think I have enough free time in a year to finish them, never mind actually getting them done before snow comes and I need the tires.  I didn't want to do this but I think my only options right now are keeping the Jeep wheels on it or painting these factory alloys.  I think after cleaning up the spots where the coating has peeled I should be able to paint these silver and maintain a stock appearance.  They won't be as sharp looking as if i got them polished, but I'm not letting this car turn into my next money pit, I'm still trying to sell the last one.