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This thread was saved without dates. "Around Aug 2004" is estimated from neighbouring threads.
Alright, I've got a set of turbo wheels that I really like, but I think they could look even better. Here's what I'm thinking: tape off the lip, sandblast the rest of the wheel, and paint it gloss black. Take off the tape, and polish the crap out of the lip. Think it'll look pretty good? I might go get the tires taken off tomorrow so I can mess with them in my spare time...
Sound good but I would suggest polishing the crap out of the lip before painting, if you dont you'll have to try and polish that thin strip of aluminum and try not to scuff the paint. Just a thought.
Sound good but I would suggest polishing the crap out of the lip before painting, if you dont you'll have to try and polish that thin strip of aluminum and try not to scuff the paint. Just a thought.
Ditto!!!!!
Which turbo rims do you have? The later ones with the super small openings....or the earlier ones like what came on my '84 turbo with the larger openings?
I just refinished mine a couple of months back, and on mine, I used aircraft remover to get all the old paint, and clear off.....that stuff works great.
Then I masked off the face with painters tape....then cut out all the openings with a scapel. I painted all the openings with 3 coats of Duplicolor wheel paint from Autozone, followed by 4 coats of clear.
After that cured for a couple of days, I peeled off the tape from the face of the rim, and wet sanded the face by hand.. starting with 150 grit, then 220, then 360, then 450, then 600, then 800, and finished up with 1000 grit. After that I polished the face with liquid Brasso, and a high speed polisher to get a nice mirror like shine. Took about 4-5 hrs per wheel.....not including paint time.
They turned out perfect, and that Duplicolor wheel paint is super durable....way more than engine paint.
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/3/web/675000-675999/675796_1_full.jpg
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/3/web/675000-675999/675796_2_full.jpg
Which turbo rims do you have? The later ones with the super small openings....or the earlier ones like what came on my '84 turbo with the larger openings?
I just refinished mine a couple of months back, and on mine, I used aircraft remover to get all the old paint, and clear off.....that stuff works great.
Then I masked off the face with painters tape....then cut out all the openings with a scapel. I painted all the openings with 3 coats of Duplicolor wheel paint from Autozone, followed by 4 coats of clear.
After that cured for a couple of days, I peeled off the tape from the face of the rim, and wet sanded the face by hand.. starting with 150 grit, then 220, then 360, then 450, then 600, then 800, and finished up with 1000 grit. After that I polished the face with liquid Brasso, and a high speed polisher to get a nice mirror like shine. Took about 4-5 hrs per wheel.....not including paint time.
They turned out perfect, and that Duplicolor wheel paint is super durable....way more than engine paint.
Are the 'aircraft remover' and 'liquid brasso' things that are available everywhere? Like at autozone and such?..
Yeah....the aircraft remover I've seen at Autozone and Walmart in there Auto section.It's with the other aerosol paint removers.
I cant remember if it Aircraft Remover, or Aircraft Stripper.....but it does start with Aircraft, and has a drawing of a plane on the can.
The Brasso.....you can buy just about anywhere.....Walmart, Kmart, Target, maybe auto stores..but not 100%.....it's an all around polish for all kinds of metal....works great especially when used with a high spped polisher.
so what kinf of paint remeover can i use on a alum sparco intercooler core without damage.. sorry a bit off subject i know
Probably the same stuff...just read the can and make sure it can be applied to aliminium.....I don't see why not. I would go out and read the can....but I don't have it anymore.
Here's a pic of the can....http://www.kleanstripauto.com/art/products/areosolaircraftremover.jpg
And a link.......... http://www.kleanstripauto.com/products/removers.html
I've got the later turbo wheels with the fine mesh. Kinda got the idea from my 89 Trans Am. It's got black GTA wheels with the polished lip, and hey, it's blue too! :laugh: I might have two blue cars with black wheels running around before long... :wink:
Do they make the Duplicolor wheel paint in black? Also, I know I'm an idiot, but is wet sanding simply just sanding with water on the sandpaper? I really like the way yours turned out, I actually have a set of them too, but I'd rather use the fine mesh turbo wheels...
Yeah..........wet sanding is just simply wetting the sand paper, and the work area...and keeping it wet while working. Just make sure you get sand paper that says you can use it for wet sanding.....otherwise regular sandpaper will just fall apart when wet.
Not sure if they make black Duplicolor wheel paint.....I know they have a dark gray graphite color that looks pretty cool.
I tried the graphite color first on one of the wheels...and didn't care for it much. The dark color made the wheel look really really small. Looked pretty bad I thought......but may look totally different on your other style rims.
I painted my mesh wheels flat black last night, the thing looks really nice now.
yeah, Duplicolor wheel paint gets 3 thumbs up from me
I've seen it in white, black, silver, argent (dark silver) graphite and clear
I did 2 of my Infiniti rims white first ... and even just a quick coat (didn't really clean or sand them, just wiped with a rag) and they still look great.
Most chemical strippers are safe for aluminum, but yeah, just read the can.
And BTW Keith ... damn those rims look sharp!!! Well worth the time invested