So I got my + wheels stripped. Used aircraft stripper and steel wool to get the rotton clear coat and black off the rim. Then used 200grit paper to get the Mill lines out of the rim, then 400/800/1000/1500/2000 and finally an aluminum polish.





Just got done spraying the clear coat on it. I ran out of tire shine so I used some clear coat, hopefully that will stick around longer than shine will.

One down, 3 to go.

 

wow, that is awsome. good job man..lol at the clear coat it make's a sick shine..but..is that safe?

:AA:

 

Looks pretty good. I kept the original gunmetal paint though. Did you wetsand on all the steps? I wetsanded 180 grit,400,600,800,1000,1500, and 2000. Then I would polish the wheel and use Meguiars aluminum and mag polish(better than mothers) with a mini powerball after every single step. It turned out amazing and I still have to do 2000 grit. I'll post a pic up sometime.

 

Looks good. I just made a thread about doing this a couple of days ago.

 

Lol I wondered if anyone saw that. Nah, it is tire gel. I got a teeny bit of clear on the valve stem, thats all.


I was thinking of painting the old black parts something else, but anything other than black or dark grey would look too rice.

Yes, I wetsanded between all steps. I used an electric sander though. Carefully....

 

So Jeezus---
Where was the Lady of the House when you put the wheel on the kitchen counter to photog it??

Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska

 

Nice work Stu. Can't wait to see them in person.

 

ASLEEP

 

Looks great Stu, always promising work from you.

 

Thanks man

Got another one done today. Now one side looks snazzy.




After I get the other 2 wheels done, I will start re-dying the bump strips around the car, and the B-Pillar vents. They are old, and starting to fade

 

Wow, my car windows are not tinted, but it looks like it! Man... I think I might go 35% if/when I decide to tint

 

Sorry about the late reply, but I noticed you said gunmetal finish. Did you mean the milled finish from the factory? The stock wheels were not painted from the factory besides the black finish.

 

those wheels look awesome!

 

Nice! Get Meguiars hot shine(tire shine)and a microfiber towel and spray it onto the microfiber towel. Then rub it into the rubber moldings. Works wonders

 

Looks good Stu.

I think I still like them better with the rough casting areas black but thats just my opinion.

 

yeah, its definitely weird not seeing the contrast, but i kinda like it.

 

I wanted to paint them black originally, then I thought... Why not paint it silver like the car?

Then I remembered it was aluminum, which is silver.

 

Somebody needs to make 15x7 versions of these wheels. That would look so hawt.

 

Polished/buffed aluminum look good with the silver. After you darken and shine up the bump strips and b-pillars take a bunch of beauty shots and post - please.

 

You bet

 

Yupp, the factory painted part. It's not black though. It's like tornado silver/gunmetal or something similar lol.

 

real clean but I def prefer the black strips on those wheels.

Either way good job!

 

That wheel gap looks amazing. This was before I got the ReSpeed Coilovers.

 

Sweet, very clean. And you can always add color later if you choose. You did a meticulous job. ****! Another thing to put on my list for the 84.

 

So Stu, how long does it take you to do one wheel? Looks great, although I'm with Tim on the dark shading details. If you are going to go "+" wheels, go all the way. And yes, it is a fantastic look on the silver cars, the only way to go in my opinion (I'll show you mine when I get around to it next summer).