Restoring wheels

[Shelbyz26]

I've got a set of ninjas and a set of crabs that I'm currently in the process of restoring and polishing but I've got a couple questions. Does anyone know of a good system (i.e. 220 grit to 400 grit to 800 grit to buffing compound) that works well to get all the sanding scratches out of the polished areas of the wheels. I had to use some pretty heavy grit stuff to start with due to the decent amount of corrosion on the crab's lip. I got a drill-mount buffing wheel which polishes pretty well with some compound but i'm still having trouble getting the scratches from the 220 paper to go away. Also I need to know where to get the grey paint for the ninjas. Thanks in advance

Matt

[supercrackerbox]

Don't use sand paper, use Scotch-brite pads and plenty of water. Start with the red ones, then green. The red will take away the heavy stuff, and then the green will get you right up to being ready to buff. From there, you can use the white ones, or just go strait to polishing compounds.

[Shelbyz26]

Sounds good, I'll go pick up a pack of those today. Thanks man.

Matt

[moparmaster]

I never liked the Scotch Brite pads for removing scratches. I always used 220, then 320, 400, 800, 1000 grit and then polished with a buffer and compound. That way, you can be almost certain that all the coarse marks are gone before progressing to a finer grit. Going from 220 to 400 was too big a step for some reason when I polished my pizza wheels.
Also, you can get the paint at most auto parts stores like Auto Zone. Duplicolor and VHT both make wheel paints that will work. I prefer powdercoating myself since the powdercoating guy stips the wheel for me by sandblasting and then puts on a more durable finish for relatively cheap. Plus, there's no work involved on my part.

[supercrackerbox]

Problem with powdercoating though, it's difficult to have a colored center and a polished lip on a wheel like a crab wheel. Pumpers I'd powdercoat without question.

[ksavage68]

here's what I did: I have crab rims on my 88 shelbyZ that were stock and getting to be pretty ratty, especially the clear coat. I bought some spray can ("tal-strip" i think it was) paint remover and sprayed some in the plastic cap that came off the can or any suitable container. I took the wheel off and set it horizontal and used one of those small epoxy brushes to brush on the paint stripper just on the polished part of the rim. The clear came off fast and you can wipe it off with a rag fairly quicky (use gloves too). The reason for using the spray-on stripper is that it works and dries much faster than the regular brush-on type. My polished lip looked like NEW then, I will not be putting any more clear on, just regular polishing. Since that turned out so well, I thought..hmmm..and bought some medium gunmetal gray metallic wheel paint, and after masking off the polished lip, sprayed that on in a couple good coats after sanding the center a bit. WOW, looks way way better, the darker color sets off the polished outer rim perfectly, and get this: only took me one hour to do all this. Very, very easy. Doing it this way leaves the metal in perfect condition, and doesnt require re-polishing. This would be a perfect way to go for those that just need to get rid of that peeling and yellowing clearcoat. I'll try to get a pic posted soon. You could do this with just about any color, gold, black, gunmetal, bronze, or even painted same color as the car, would all look awesome, probably much better than the plain factory silver. Bonus: now your rims look like most factory Shelby-supplied rims with gray or gold centers. Let me know how it works for ya..

[ksavage68]

here is a pic of my wheel that i got done. Sorry for the greenish tint, its the flourescent lights messing with my cam. What do ya think?
http://putfile.com/pic.php?pic=4/10719150983.jpg&s=x11

here's a close-up..

http://putfile.com/pic.php?pic=4/10719163636.jpg&s=x11