polishing lip on a rim...HELP................!

[wearurpjs]

ok so those wheels I picked up are pretty good on the inside, but the lip on all 4, are in dire need of a polishing. can you guys help me out and post up some write ups if you have any..? or if youve seen any...? thanks in advance.

J

 

[SAKONE]

Maybe this might help, but pics of the condition of your rims also would help.

self-polishing
http://www.starquestrims.com/

 

[Goro21]

There are a few good writeups on rim polishing buried in the Tech Articles section. Here is one of the better :

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=199148&highlight=polish+your+wheels

 

[wearurpjs]

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there ya go.
the only question I have is...how the heck do i do the part of the wheel where the rivets/studs are..? do those come off..? my plan was to just polish the lip and repaint the inside of the wheels bronze.

 

[Goro21]

Wow, thats going to be a tough one. I guess what i would do, is grab a loose-wire style grinding wheel and lightly brush it over the wheel/rivets. After doing that, I'd paint the inside and rivets. (obviously any color would work) After doing that, I would refinish the lip.

I don't really see how you could refinish the area around the rivets without an insane amount of time/effort. . not to mention it still probably wouldn't look good/like new.

 

[wearurpjs]

what I was going to do was mask the rivets off with vaseline and paint the whole rim minus the lip, and then just work on the outer lip. I was thinking the same thing myself. should turn out pretty good though.

 

[sc2_ct]

I'd fix the lip berfore painting the rims so that you don't have to worry as much about scratching the area you've just put all the effort into painting, but either way should work fine.

 

[wearurpjs]

^^

wouldnt masking off the lip be harder than trying to avoid sanding the already painted wheel..? although...I do see your point...how would I do that then?

 

[sc2_ct]

I'd just use some good painters masking tape and conform it as well as possible to the inside of the lip, and then use an x-acto knife to carefully clean up the tape line.

 

[xveganxcowboyx]

It is very hard to get the peeling nasty stuff off the lip without scratching paint. I definetly suggest cleaning up the lips before painting. The fine polishing can be done after.

 

[timawdtsi]

First thing get some aluminum safe paint stripper and try and see when you go over that area it clean's up a bit better before you start sanding away.
My stock rim's looked similar and after I stripped off the clearcoat it looked a ton better.

 

[wearurpjs]

^^

sounds like a good idea...I think Ill try that this weekend. aluminum safe paint stripper right..? cool.