I posted in the tires/wheels area, but this might be a better spot. I picked up some aluminum slot wheels and they are in good roadworthy shape, but oxidized with maybe some small pits. I'm not inclined to try and polish these out but thinking about bead blasting to get a uniform flat look and then using a polyurethane clear to seal and make cleaning easier. Any opinions on doing this? thanks
Dan I'd try wet sanding the wheels with 400 or 600 grit paper then move to something lighter like 800. If you can get it down to 800 grit it'll start to look semi polished. Then clear that. I did a set of old Anson slots years back for a friend and they kept that semi polished look for years.
Dan I found the below information on another car bulletin board that I subscribe to. I have never used this stuff, but this seems a pretty good testimonial: "I recomended ACF50 for preserving the 'new' appearance of cleaned aluminum such as manifolds and carb bodies after bead blasting. For this purpose, it has done a remarkable job as these shots show, taken some 8 years after I restored the carbs. And this car gets used,too" He references the photos below http://www.jag-lovers.org/v.htm?1043197607 I don't how well this stuff would work/last on wheels. The under-hood of a Jaguar is a pretty harse environment -- but different than what wheels are expose to. One caution: this stuff is NOT supposed to be used on polished aluminum; only if teh metalsbeen blasted. Otherwise, the stuff will just smear. Your best bet for finding it is at a shop that carries air craft supplies. HTH Craig
Doug-What do you mean by 'leveling'? Craig-not sure I want to be experimenting too much with these wheels, but thanks for the info on this! I may talk to a local wheel shop also-thanks guys-
If the surface is uneven the media blasting will do a very nice job of cleaning out the uneven surfaces but will do little to make the surfaces level with each other. It will not make the pits smooth out with the surrounding surface. Only some sort of sanding/buffing is going to make the surface smooth. I love putting everthing into the cabinet to clean them up but sometimes you just gotta finish it the ole fashion way with elbow grease.
