JoeyMazda

I'm trying to keep my car stock. I didn't want to change the rims so I decided to polish them. Here's how they look before & after. I will post more pics later.

White81Z28

iTrader: (4)

nice, what did you use?

JoeyMazda

I used a 3 step sanding and old school aluminum polish.

White81Z28

iTrader: (4)

Cool, mine need work also. Have several spots on them from the weights placed on them over the years.

Kentetsu

What tools were used? Or did you do it all by hand? Looks great!

SKarpenz

Hammer on wheel weights FTL. Aside from that, looks great.

RX-7 Chris

iTrader: (19)

What grit did you use?

FYI I had the tire shop move my weights to the back for a cleaner look.

JoeyMazda

I did it all by hand. One rim per day.

JoeyMazda

I did a 3 step sanding. Started with the 180.Second 400. Last 1000 grid with water. Final mother's aluminum polish..old school a can from the 70's.

rotordave

iTrader: (1)

Were you able to preserve the concentric machined ridges, or is the surface flat?

ray green

iTrader: (14)

Very nice, I'm inspired.

reisama

iTrader: (1)

WOW, loving the rims, defenetly going on my todo list.

blackdeath647

iTrader: (2)

man this is awesome! makes me wanna go out and do mine

you could always tell them to put them on the other side of the wheel, i just don't like the way they look. One of the guys at the tire shop actually recommended this i didn't know it was possible, but hey, i've had them do it since, only had 1 guy get pissed over it, but i think he was already having a bad day.

JoeyMazda

All the ridges are out. 3 step sanding.

blackdeath647

iTrader: (2)

i'm lost, what do you mean by the "ridges?"

also, few questions did you wet-sand through all 3 stages? did you add any clear coat or anything similar after the polish?. . . reason asked is i have lots of free time up ahead so i was wanting to engage on this lol.

i've had a can of mother's aluminum/magnesium wheel polish forever, just haven't been motivated to engage on it lol.

JoeyMazda

The surface is flat. I started sanding with 180 grid. Followed by 400 grid. And finished with 1000 grid with water. It smoothes it out & gets the ridges out. It should polish pretty nice.

NCross

iTrader: (18)

That's a lot of work! I've polished a few alloys in my day and it's too much work when you get into all the crevices and stuff. Did you paint the indentions or polish them too? Flat surfaces and lips are easy, but still a lot of work.

A little trick for next time...

Use WD-40 instead of water when wet sanding metal. It really speeds things up and you never have to rinse it.

JoeyMazda

I know about the WD-40..that it makes sanding easier. But it also leaves behind oily residue. I clear coated them and would have made it harder with the wd 40. I would've had to wash & scrub them down.

Sgt Fox

iTrader: (3)

When the face of the wheels were originally machined, there was ridges left by the milling tool. Sanding the wheels most likely removed the small ridges.

Those wheels look good though. I would recommend you get them balanced with stick on wheel weights instead of the clip on type. It will look a lot cleaner.

NCross

iTrader: (18)

Why not take a picture of the whole car with the new look?

JoeyMazda

I been busy. I just finished putting a rebuilt carb on the car. I'm waiting for a nice day to detail the car & take some pics. I'll post them when I do.

JoeyMazda

Here's a pic I took real quick today. I just wiped the car down a little.

reisama

iTrader: (1)

looks very very very nice.

bstrange99

looks good. Here's a link to the thread on mine... https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...olished+wheels . Pay no mind to the red, it's going away in the spring. I still plan to hit them with some 3000 grit 3m perfect-it, then with the mothers again.

ray green

iTrader: (14)

Wow, I need to do that. Got it on my list.