Corroded Rims Update

[ClarkGriswald]

Well I am now stripping and polishing my stock alloy rims one at a time. Got my spare on and am working on the first one. Got some real nasty paint stripper and took off the clearcoat and the grey paint in the middle parts.. those middle parts were left rough no doubt cause it was cheaper than finishing them to just paint em with some thick paint.. so the first rim is down to bare metal now.. tried a few test's as to the best way to finish those middle parst but I think I may just hand sand them all with smaller and smaller grades of Silicon Carbide Wet\Dry with wd-40 as a lube. I know "Im crazy for doin all that work" but I did a little test patch and finished it up with 1500grit paper and it was already kinda shiny.. a little "Mothers" mag polish and that little spot is like a Mirror.. Obviously I'm not in a hurry but over the next few weeks I should have 4 beautiful shiny rims. I'll update this post if I come up with some miracle idea's to speed up the process.. Ive tested the dremel method but the contact area of a dremel is so small that it makes its own "Pattern" in the metal.. better to hand sand them I guess and make them all uniform in each step\grade.
If anyone has any suggestions to speed up my proccess (remember the tire is still on the rim, I'm just restoring the front and back's. Someday when I unmount the tires I will clean out and preserve the insides.. )I would appreciate any advice\tips.. Thanx..

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88 Grand Wagoneer
D44's front\rear
Warn 20990 Lockouts
AMC 360
TF 727
NP 229 (Funky)
Custom Hacking Via S.P.A. (Standard Polish Archetecture)

[okidoc]

I had some alum slot mags that had most def been abused. I used a drill mounted polishing wheel and compounds that came with the kit. After sanding each wheel with 1200 grit I used the wheel. WOW!!! I got the kit at Home Depot. I can't remember exactly where I found it but its in there. I also used the same kit to polish lots of other metal bits around the house(helps to justify the purchase).

[Ralph]

Clark, any before/after pictures? I'm really interested in what you're doing, because I know it'll save me serious dolleros if I can do this myself and get good results.

P.S.
Had to edit this post to celebrate No. 200! Whoopee, I'm officially an ISFJA-surfin' junkie!

[This message has been edited by Ralph (edited August 28, 2000).]

[ClarkGriswald]

Ok got me a cheap scanner and a polaroid camera goin now.. Here is a few pic's of my progress so far. The first pic is of my passenger side front tire with a tone of corrosion on it.. lots near the lugnuts in the center.. The second is the driver's side wheel that I have stripped the clearcoat and grey paint from. If you look real close you can see that same nasty corrosion around the lug nut area that I havent taken off yet.. Now I have to sand this rim with many grades till its all shiny and then polish it like a mirror.. soon as it looks like that I'll post a pic of it..



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88 Grand Wagoneer
D44's front\rear
Warn 20990 Lockouts
AMC 360
TF 727
NP 229 (Funky)
Custom Hacking Via S.P.A. (Standard Polish Archetecture)

[porkchop]

It's looking real good so far, Clark. Keep us updated.

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'67/'79 Wagoneer mix
"Old Timer"
Body of a 33 year old
Heart and legs of a 21 year old.
Spirit of a 1 year old.
360,TH400,QT,D44's F&R
SOA 32X11.50's

"I regret that I have but only one paycheck to give to my Jeep."

[Ralph]

What, exactly, have you done so far to that rim? It looks like you've made nice progress.

When you mention "sanding" the rim, does that mean by hand or with some kind of power tool?

[ClarkGriswald]

So far I have only stripped the clear coat from the outer surface and the grey paint from the inner surface with nasty chemical stripper called "StripEaze" (Proven to cause cancer by the state of california, and extremly flammable) that was strong enough to cut the thick grey paint. Just by removing the clearcoat all the little hidden pockets where water gathers under the clearcoat are gone and i used a 3m scrubby pad to do a once over on the outer surface so it is somewhat scratched up(brush finish? haha) but real clean. The nasty battery terminal like corrosion is still on there in the center part near the lugs. its hard to see there but its there.. (near the screws that held the center cap on). I will sand that off with some wet\dry and probably use either many grades of wet\dry silicon carbide paper with W-40 as a lube or mabye differing grades of the 3m scrubbys. They have some good alluminum polishing systems,kits that come with several grades and some polish..I did some tests with a dremel tool and still havent ruled it out for the initial sanding of the inner parts that are still rough from casting or blasting. It is not finished under the grey paint but rough and pourous. dremel just came out with some new tips that are abrasive fuzzys on a stick (kinda) I may try one of those but a grinding tip is too aggresive, the emory impregnated rubber tips may be the answer, i used a small emory\rubber wheel on that rim in the pic just on a small part to test it. You can see it in the pic, right at the 9'oclock position on the cleaner rim is a test spot the outer area is buffed with a little mothers and the inner hole right there has been dremeled just a bit in the middle..

Just made this my wallpaper on my desktop.. now I can see what I normally see out my living room window, even at night hehehe.

what the heck heres this one too..

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88 Grand Wagoneer
D44's front\rear
Warn 20990 Lockouts
AMC 360
TF 727
NP 229 (Funky)
Custom Hacking Via S.P.A. (Standard Polish Archetecture)

[This message has been edited by ClarkGriswald (edited August 31, 2000).]

[This message has been edited by ClarkGriswald (edited August 31, 2000).]

[ClarkGriswald]

You have been officially updated..

[River Beast]

GREAT job Clark!!!

Looks really good... lots of time and attention to detail will pay off in the long run.

I have a guy that polishes out any aluminum/alloy rim, coated or not... OUTSTANDING JOB from what I see coming from him. I sent a friend to him with '96' Impala SS rims (factory coated w/ small grooves). 2 days later, he got the rims back looking chrome dipped... but they were highly polished !!!! $175 is all it cost him!

Remember, the upkeep on a polished rim is more than a washing... Mothers Mag Polish is a GREAT easy way to keep up the luster and will help on getting them there, too. It's all I use on my Chrome/ aluminum parts.

Can't wait to see them done....HURRY UP!!! (hehe)

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Todd
78 Wagoneer "River Beast"
360/TH400/QT
Dana 44's (soon to be locked w/ 4.88's and 38x14.50's)
7" SOA conversion
4" Skyjacker Softride
3" Trailmaster Bodylift
My FSJ site: http://www.geocities.com/~spazz4life
My E-mail: [email protected]
"Where there's a hill...there's a way!"