Sanded and polished a GSL rim what do you think?
09-09-17, 05:30 PM
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Sanded and polished a GSL rim what do you think?
Sanded a spare rim. Looking to do the rest.
Heres how I did it :
Soap water degrease
Stripped the clear
Sanded with 220 300 400 600 800 1000 1200 1500 2000 and finally 2500
Polished with a megs and another cream and viola! Any tips or suggestions?
I went from the outside in as opposed to sanding every surface at the same time before moving to a finer grit.
Heres how I did it :
Soap water degrease
Stripped the clear
Sanded with 220 300 400 600 800 1000 1200 1500 2000 and finally 2500
Polished with a megs and another cream and viola! Any tips or suggestions?
I went from the outside in as opposed to sanding every surface at the same time before moving to a finer grit.
09-09-17, 07:43 PM
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Was an all afternoon affair.
I was considering white for the cast surface to make the polished surface pop but a black is def the goto color if I try white and it does not do it for me. Factory is best
I was considering white for the cast surface to make the polished surface pop but a black is def the goto color if I try white and it does not do it for me. Factory is best
09-10-17, 05:00 PM
#6
Sanded a spare rim. Looking to do the rest.
Heres how I did it :
Soap water degrease
Stripped the clear
Sanded with 220 300 400 600 800 1000 1200 1500 2000 and finally 2500
Polished with a megs and another cream and viola! Any tips or suggestions?
I went from the outside in as opposed to sanding every surface at the same time before moving to a finer grit.
Heres how I did it :
Soap water degrease
Stripped the clear
Sanded with 220 300 400 600 800 1000 1200 1500 2000 and finally 2500
Polished with a megs and another cream and viola! Any tips or suggestions?
I went from the outside in as opposed to sanding every surface at the same time before moving to a finer grit.
Clear coating is a double-edged sword. It will protect the bright areas . . . until it is degrades. With the polished surface, you can touch it up fairly easily.
There's a process called physical vapor deposition that gives a satin bright finish, similar to polished. I bought a set of OEM wheels that had been through the process to mount my snow tires for my winter DD. 4 year later, they still look great.
09-10-17, 11:26 PM
#7
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Look great.
My tip: next time save your fingers and invest in some buffing wheels and metal polishing compounds. Infinitely superior result and way less work. Anything finer than around 200-400 grit can be quickly polished out mechanically using polishing compound. It's usually a 3 stage process. For aluminium, sisal wheel with black/grey compound, cotton wheel with Tripoli (brown/red) compound, then soft cotton wheel with white compound. Even for the rougher stages, you can apply greaseless compound to a polishing wheel so you don't have to sand with paper.
Check out Plating Kits Electroplating Kits Aluminum Anodizing Kits Gas Tank Sealer Metal Polishing And Buffing Supplies - Caswell Inc. It has some very useful tutorials on the subject. They also sell kits specifically for polishing wheels: Aluminum Wheel Finishing Kit - Caswell Inc
My tip: next time save your fingers and invest in some buffing wheels and metal polishing compounds. Infinitely superior result and way less work. Anything finer than around 200-400 grit can be quickly polished out mechanically using polishing compound. It's usually a 3 stage process. For aluminium, sisal wheel with black/grey compound, cotton wheel with Tripoli (brown/red) compound, then soft cotton wheel with white compound. Even for the rougher stages, you can apply greaseless compound to a polishing wheel so you don't have to sand with paper.
Check out Plating Kits Electroplating Kits Aluminum Anodizing Kits Gas Tank Sealer Metal Polishing And Buffing Supplies - Caswell Inc. It has some very useful tutorials on the subject. They also sell kits specifically for polishing wheels: Aluminum Wheel Finishing Kit - Caswell Inc
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09-17-17, 09:13 AM
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my process was similar but I started with a 2 inch orbital air sander with Scotch bright discs to remove the clear. The seven plus steps of wet sanding were the hardest. I had help from my brother and it took roughly 1-1/2 hours a wheel. These are on my 83 and I love them, but not enough to do it again for my 85. Lol.
