Topic: How can I polish our wheels.????
in Forum: Special Edition Vettes
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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
?
and what can anyone recommend. What polish and/pad and tools do I need
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

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

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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
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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)
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
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

Mike
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
Former Member
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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
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

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!
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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