Topic: Polished aluminum (2)
in Forum: C3 Car Care
Already a Member?
Click Here to Login
Not yet a Member?
Click Here to Register for Free!
Jay,
Once you get the old slot paint stripped and/or polished by whatever means, you can mask off the front of the wheels then repaint them with a good rattlecan paint (I used gloss black engine paint.)from the backside. I'm only a year younger than you and got 'er done myself in a coupla hours.
There is a pic shown in this thread;
http://www.c3vr.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=63080&PN=2
DaveAutom8r 2007-02-02 10:13:53
Once you get the old slot paint stripped and/or polished by whatever means, you can mask off the front of the wheels then repaint them with a good rattlecan paint (I used gloss black engine paint.)from the backside. I'm only a year younger than you and got 'er done myself in a coupla hours.
There is a pic shown in this thread;
http://www.c3vr.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=63080&PN=2
Dave
SPONSOR AD:: (Our Sponsors help support C3VR)
Former Member
Send PM
Cramerton, NC - USA
Joined: 8/22/2006
Posts: 1094
Vette(s): black 1982 coupe slate gray interior, 350 crossfire, 1985 fuel pump, Steeroids R&P conversion
I polished my wheels earler this winter and after the polishing was through, painted my slots. I put the wheel up on the workbench at a comfortable height then used "wheel paint" from Eastwood which provided the exact semi-flat that I was looking for. I used a cheap china bristle brush to paint from the back then touched up from the front, didnt mask a thing and didnt worry too much about what got on the polished front of the wheels. After I was through with the painting, while the new paint was not fully cured, used a rag dampened with acetone to carefully wipe away any paint that had oozed onto the polished aluminum, it came off easily and with no damage to the newly polished surface. I was really surprised at how much difference the new paint in the slots made, they look great 
I apologize jayare, I have been swamped with work here recently. Actually, the Airplane Stripper is not bad at all. It is low odor, but you should do outdoors. I am stripping the paint off my original motor that has 119,000 brutal miles on it, layered with paint and it is coming off very easy. I say brutal because I am picky about how my stuff looks and this dude was caked. The stripper is working through the cake also. I have hit the block with degreaser 3-4 times now. That is how neglected this motor was.
The can tells you to brush in one direction, let it sit for about 45 minutes and let the stripper do the work. The easiest way you could do it would be to blast it, I assure you of that. I blasted my other money pit parts and they came out beautiful.
good luck, gurtz
gurtz...
I guess your busy, you posted at 3:49 AM..yikes!
No apology needed in email and forums. This stuffff is "whenever ya got the time".
(two cents) I here that stripper works far better if you cover it with plastic wrap right after you get it applied to the surface, kinda seals in the vapors. It will also keep a paint brush fresh until your ready to wash the paint out of it. My wife got me my own box.
Here I am once again....
Forgot to mention that I found two great sites for info. and products on polishing and buffing all types of metal surfaces. Terrific info!!
don't forget about Eastwood. They have great products period for restoring vehicles. I never heard about the plastic. The vapors are really not that bad. It is a low odor product.
gurtz
I have never used Airplane Stripper but I know several of my "car" friends have mentioned it as a good product when the subject of removing old paint comes up.
As far as polishing aluminum, I applied some Speedy Metal Polish to the wheel and used a Mothers' Mini-Powerball attached to a corded drill to remove it. Step two was a coat of Mothers' mag and aluminum polish, also removed with the Mini-Powerball. Step three was a hand shine with some Zaino polish. Made a big improvement on my negelcted rims 
I agree with you, but jayare originally talked about sanding down the peeling clear coat. I was just trying to give him another option to remove the clear versus sanding and potentially scratching the aluminum.
I have never used the stripper on my Vette rims. I used it on some other American Rims I have on another money pitt and a Shelby I restored. I use Mothers, the Power Ball, Mini Ball and Buffs if need be to polish my rims. The stripper works very well to remove caked paint.
heck there is a guy in the local Vette club I am in and he is stripping his entire 65 to the gel coat. I thought that was a bad thing, but he knows something I don't because he has a 59, 61, the 65 and is buying a 67.
good luck gurtz
Yes gurtz, what I intended to suggest was using the stripper to remove the old clearcoat as you posted, and them following up with some more elbow grease on the bare aluminum for a great shine I didn't remove the clearcoat from my rims since they just seemed to need a good polishing after 25 years.
in Forum: C3 Car Care
SPONSOR AD: (Our Sponsors help support C3VR)