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Topic: How can I polish our wheels.????

in Forum: Special Edition Vettes


How can I polish our wheels.????

Posted: 6/9/02 10:52pm Message 1 of 7
Former Member
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COLLEGE POINT, NY - USA
Joined: 2/21/2002
Posts: 41
Vette(s): 1982 Collectors Edition
HI al
Need a little help. What is the best method to polish the wheel on the CE. I have a small Dremel tool , and I polished a small section and it looks good. But I don't want to spend hours per wheel with the small dremel tool and polishing pads. (too small).
I have some water spots that I need to remove.

What do I need |headscratch| ?
and what can anyone recommend. What polish and/pad and tools do I need |headscratch|


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How can I polish our wheels.????

Posted: 6/10/02 8:36am Message 2 of 7
Former Member
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Pennsville, NJ - USA
Joined: 3/13/2002
Posts: 532
Vette(s): 1977 EX-L48
I don't have the same wheels as you, but to polish mine I bought a polishing/sanding attachment for my drill from Sears. I started with a rough grit and moved up to really smooth. I then hand polished them with Mothers Aluminum polish. At the end I was extremely pleased with my wheels. They look so much better now I can't even believe it. But I did spend a lot of time on each wheel.


1977 Corvette EX-L48
383 Stroker, Holley MPFI, MSD Ignition, BTO 700R4, VBP Street/Slalom, Hooker Sidepipes with JCL Spiral Baffles, Corbeau A4s w/ Shark Bar and Simpson 5-Points, 17" AR TTII's, Kumho MX's

(click to see a bigger version)

How can I polish our wheels.????

Posted: 6/10/02 12:40pm Message 3 of 7
Former Member
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COLLEGE POINT, NY - USA
Joined: 2/21/2002
Posts: 41
Vette(s): 1982 Collectors Edition
Thanks ..............
Will take a ride out Sears and HomeDepot.


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How can I polish our wheels.????

Posted: 12/17/03 7:27am Message 4 of 7
Former Member
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Sterling Heights, MI - USA
Joined: 11/13/2003
Posts: 110
Vette(s): 1982 Collector Edition, color is silver/beige.
RayCE:

After reading this thread I have a question that I may be pulling out of thin air. I thought the wheels come with a protective factory coating to protect the aluminum wheel? In following your sanding recommendations wouldn't this process remove this coating if one exists. I am totally novice about this subject but I wanted to check with you before I tried it myself.

82CE |headscratch|


Mike

How can I polish our wheels.????

Posted: 12/17/03 7:55am Message 5 of 7
Former Member
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The Woodlands, TX - USA
Joined: 9/2/2002
Posts: 104
Vette(s): 1976 L48 T-top, Auto, Bright Blue, smoke gray interior
The aluminum wheels on 76-79(?) did not have a protective finish. They had a machined finish which was not smooth. Many people including myself use fine grit sandpaper to smooth down and then polish. These are the wheels that you see with the painted black center portion and normally a dull finish. I don't know if your style wheel(CE) has a protective finish.


sstanford '76 L48

How can I polish our wheels.????

Posted: 12/22/03 1:48pm Message 6 of 7
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Gila Bend, AZ - USA
Joined: 12/14/2001
Posts: 30
Vette(s): 1982 Collector Edition Almost all original Borla's and hollow cat.
Hey Ray,
I have a pretty good thread going about this on the CE registry. Go take a look at it.
http://82ceregistry.com/82ce/index.htm |wavey|


How can I polish our wheels.????

Posted: 3/12/04 1:23pm Message 7 of 7
Former Member
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Joined: 3/12/2004
Posts: 67
Vette(s): 1982 Collector Edition
Hello,
There is a clearcoat on the CE wheels. I bought some automotive paint stipper and carefully used a small brush to remove the clear coat from the spokes and outer edge of the wheels I didn't go near the brown paint that is applied between the spokes. After removing the clearcoat, I used Mother's alloy wheel polish , mostly by hand, to polish the wheels. When finished, I recoated the wheels with clear coat made for alloy wheels. They are not perfect, but considering the wheels are 22 years old, they look great!


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in Forum: Special Edition Vettes


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