Stripped, Sanded, Polished my GXL wheels
Thread Starter
Sewww Speciellllllll
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 420
Likes: 0
From: Richmond, BC
Stripped, Sanded, Polished my GXL wheels
Inspired by other people who've done it.. One wheel fully done, took me about 2-3 hours. Stripped the black paint that the previous owner sprayed on, and the factory clearcoat. Then I had to sand down the texture that was on the wheel (you know what I'm talkin about). I did so with my PC and some 80 grit paper, then did 180 grit by hand, then wetsanded 680 and 1000 grit, and hit it with the PC again with E1 metal polish (knew that pad that came with the PC would come in handy someday). I sealed it with Klasse Sealant Glaze, but is there something else that would work better for aluminum?
Before:
Stripped of the black paint + factory CC
Close up shows the texture that I had to sand down
After sanding
After polishing
Before:
Stripped of the black paint + factory CC
Close up shows the texture that I had to sand down
After sanding
After polishing
looks good but it look as if you still have some grooves from sanding with a heavy grit ... to get that mirror finish you need to get all that out.... polish alone wont get it out... go back and start with 400 then work you way up... take you time with each grit making it smoother and smoother... I would dry sand it all the way to 1000 grit, then from there wet sand it ... after all the wet sanding is done at 2000 grit then go back and use an aluminum polish (mothers is what I use but it could be another brand).... that will give you the shine you might be looking for... 
