Wet Sanding Wheels.

[Fester]

I have a 2008 Corvette with polished aluminum wheels. Car is immaculate :xyxthumbs:with the exception of some pitting on the wheels. The face of the wheels there is no problem it is in the corner where the spoke meets the hub. I've heard of wet sanding the pitted area and then polishing to finish it off. Has anybody tried this?

 

[BobbyG]

:welcome: To Autogeek Online !! rops:

If the wheels were un-coated aluminum then wet sanding would be a logical choice. Most of today's wheels are clear coated and these coatings are scary thin so proceed with the utmost care..........

 

[Fester]

A friend who does auto body at a collision center told me an easy way to check. If my polishing wadding turned black (along with my hands) pretty good chance they are uncoated.

 

[Andr3wilson]

That is correct. Are they aftermarket? If the cloth turns black, they are bare aluminum. Sanding and polishing is a ton of work. I recommend testing a spot first and getting a method down before full scale.

Try sanding
400 grit
800 grit
1000 grit
Then polish with polishing block (black I think) and cotton wadded wheel.

That will do it.

 

[Fester]

They are not aftermarket. Thanks for the heads up on what grit paper to use.:thankyousign: I was actually thinking of a finer grit but I will try this on a spot behind the spoke. I was also looking at getting the Wolfgang Metallwerk kit for the polishing part of the job.

 

[ViGi]

:welcome: To Autogeek Online !! rops:

If the wheels were un-coated aluminum then wet sanding would be a logical choice. Most of today's wheels are clear coated and these coatings are scary thin so proceed with the utmost care..........

And what about stripping clear coat from wheels. This days I try to find solution about stripping clear coat from wheels, and if I don`t see something from autogeek forum I don`t want to try.

 

[jdbillin]

They are not aftermarket. Thanks for the heads up on what grit paper to use.:thankyousign: I was actually thinking of a finer grit but I will try this on a spot behind the spoke. I was also looking at getting the Wolfgang Metallwerk kit for the polishing part of the job.

If it were me I would start with a finer grit. I would start with 800 or 1000 and see if you can get the spots to come out. If not then move to 600 if they doesn't work then go to the 400. It may seem like your wasting your time at first but it will save you a lot of time polishing. Plus you only have to do it on one wheel then you'll find the right grit to use. I would also sand to at least 2000 grit from the sounds of it your going to be in a tight spot and sometimes polishing aluminum is a pain. Also make sure the wheels are not coated if they are you may be getting into a much bigger project

 

[Fester]

:iagree:I agree, that why I want to try on the back side where the spoke meets the hub. I'm not ready to dive into yet but all the good feedback is certainly appreciated. I will take some before and after pics to post. I'm getting a list of all the components I need and buying as I can. One question I did have, should you use a different wool buffing pad between each different polishing step? I watched the video on aluminum polishing and it looked like the same pad was used for each step.

 

[57BORNTORUN]

First up not all aluminum is created equal. Billet, cast, recycled ect.Heck they even use it in pickle brine's.China has some of the worst and different country's that mine and process it have different standards.Some of our military vehicles have bullet proof polished glass made from aluminum. Very expensive and time consuming but how much is a soldier`s life worth.I have polished my share of many grades of all types(just not pickle brine`s.)Cast has more pours than billet but it`s less $ to produce.Different runs from manufactures yield different results depending on their standers.I just polished a 57 year old piece of a thin dash trim that looks like it was just produced.Through experience and time anyone can do it.:buffing:

 

[BobbyG]

And what about stripping clear coat from wheels. This days I try to find solution about stripping clear coat from wheels, and if I don`t see something from autogeek forum I don`t want to try.

Stripping the clear from factory wheels can be done but I think it best to leave this to a professional wheel refinsher.... These folks have the process and facility to make using wheels new again...