Had a bit of spare time this week so decided i should start polishing my wheels
Tools i used
4.5" grinder with sanding disc
9" Buffer with 4.5" felt buffing wheel attatched
Wire wool
Paint stripper + Brush
Assortment of wet+dry sandpaper
Autosol metal polish
Started off with the grinder, cos the wheel had been kerbed pretty badly, just to smooth it and get rid of sharp edges.
The sanding wheel is pretty harsh so take care not to touch the face of the wheel or you'll be sanding hard to get rid of the mark.
Then i started with the paint stripper, the wheel still had the original paint and undercoat, which were pretty hard to shift. I would recommend being patient with the stripper and avoid temptation to use anything harsher. Cos when stripping the paint, your left with the bare aluminium itself without any deep sanding marks, cos you'll only regret it later when trying to remove them.
Once the paint is removed, I started to sand, using 240g first to remove any deep scratches, then went down to 400g, then 800g then finally 1200g.
Then i was left with this
Lookes very dull, but the result with the buffer and sum autosol metal polish is remarkable. I opted to use the buffer with the polishing mop as I can adjust the speed, but it could be fitted to the grinder. I worked the polish really well for a couple of minutes
Heres it is after the polish
After this polish, a few areas needed attention, so out with the paper an start all over again
The metal polish is fine for the polished look, but to get a mirror finish, i'm going to get sum blue buffing compound
Did it half a wheel so you could see it better, now on to the other 3
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