Well, sort of. I had a can of Aircraft Stripper handy and... well..




YEAH! They look much better than before.

Now, I have it stripped to the max, but I have some markings on it.




With the Brasso cleaner I have in the picture, will that get it off? I would assume so but would rather ask before going all out.

I want the wheel to have a nice polished look, and where the black used to be, to have the matte finish it has now.

 

I had great results using mothers aluminum polish.

 

You still don't have all the clear off. An old trick is easy off oven cleaner and a scotch brite pad. After you get the clear completely off, start sanding the area you want to "shine" with 400 grit. Then progressivly go to 800, 1000, 2000. Then let the polish fly. Mothers aluminum polish is the cat's *** for this. If you want to keep the shine, you will have to "seal" the finish with either clear coat, or aluminum sealer.

 

Sweet, so the Brasso will work, since it is pretty much the same thing.

I was going to attack it with the brass wheel brush... but I remember that alum is still a softish metal.

Will the oven cleaner burn my hands? I got a little of the Aircraft stripper on me and felt like I got attacked by mega fire ants.

EDIT: The stripper I used I left on for 30 minutes at a time, then wiped it down/hosed it off, and re did it. Did it about 5 times. Aircraft stripper sucks.

 

Definitely do not use a brass wire wheel on the wheels. I did that on mine and it scratched them up pretty good. It's not horrific and I polished them with the scratches anyway, but they will look better if you don't. The oven cleaner won't burn your hands, but it will hurt the lungs and sting the eyes. Wear a mask or keep your face out of the spray area until it settles.

 

i did something similar. i used the aircraft stripper and then just used a polish with a shitload of hand rubbing. the rims came out gorgeous. i dont have pics atm but trust me, with enough polish you can remove damn near any mark.

 

seems like you got the hardest part (where the + meets the lip of the rim) from there i would just go with some 400+ grit sandpaper just to remove the rest it should go pretty quick since you only have small patches of it left. i only went up to 1000 when i did mine then polished



this is before i applied clear to them, the clear really makes the black stand out a lot more. i think that gray finish will look good.

ps. next time you get your tires changed, ask them to put the weight on the back, it makes it look a bit better.

 

did the clear coat adhere to the rims with the polish on there?

blackdeath that rim looks gorgeous!! I actually really like the stockers....

 

I will have sticky weights on the inside of the rim. I hate the hammer on's.

 

thanks, i'm glad you like them, it was a bitch and painful 2 hrs per wheel, but i think it was worth it.

the clear coat was hard for the first wheel i did, i used duplicolor's wheel coating, i applied too heavy of a first coat, but stripped it and did the other ones with a very light first coat and they turned out ok.

 

Nice. Looks great blackdeath. Mine look nicer than yours imo lol(get pictures sometime), but I have more work into them. I'm not finished with all of them, but I will make a thread when I'm done. I start with 180 grit, 400, 600,800,1000, 1500, and finish with 2000. Wetsanding on all, and polishing every time after each step with Meguiars aluminum and mag polish(better than mothers) and a mini powerball. Look for my thread in a few weeks. Do you guys think 205/60/13 series tires would fit well on the stockers? I don't want to go lower than 205, cause i'll have no traction once bridgy.

 

Stu just follow my write up on when I did the waffles. Aircraft stripper,
oven cleaner, and AL mag wheel etching cleaner will get you to the point
you can polish em.

Also let the wheels warm up in the sun for the oven cleaner, works better then.

https://www.rx7club.com/1st-generation-specific-1979-1985-18/sa-waffle-wheel-refurb-771611/

 

I have the 205's on mine.

 

Yup, saw some pics of them in a thread

 

I've had 205/60/13's on mine for about 20 years, they fit just fine.

 

Unless your going to be using race slicks on the street, you'll have no traction anyway. Assuming your going to use the Sumitomo HTR 200's, since they are the only performance minded street tire available in that size. I have 205's on the rear of my car and they fit well, and look alot better than the dinky 185's on the front. I can still break loose with no porting, if I try. I plan to go bridge as well, but I'll be using something alot more capable than the Sumitomo's.