Hi all
Wanted to try and polish the spokes on my new turbine wheels i got from ebay.
Phhhuuu.. What a job :hick:
But i think its worth it, it should look great with the rest of the wheel painted dark argent or maybe black.
(http://home.online.no/~ogranhe/artimages/800x600Thunderbird_003.jpg)
That looks good, but you should have painted the wheels first though, would have been easier.
Check out Carmen's web site for tips on that.
I'd go with the Argent Grey.Black hides all the detail.The dark grey wheel paint looks great.We just did a set of old school turbine wheels (aftermarket wheels from the early 80's) the same way,polish and paint.We polished first as well.After the polish,we taped everything off,trimmed the excess tape with an Exacto knife,and sprayed the paint.Excellent results.You're doing great,3 more to go.
Good work!
I redid my turbines a while back. Removing that factory clear is the worst part. Taping them off isn't a problem, it's pretty easy actually. I have a set I'm going to do similar for my '86 with darker grey inserts.
Here's after masking off what I didn't want to paint.
(http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/12/web/648000-648999/648293_9_full.jpg)
Paint applied
(http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/12/web/648000-648999/648293_10_full.jpg)
Final product clear coated.
(http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/12/web/648000-648999/648293_8_full.jpg)
Nice job there! Did you remove the paint within the spokes? or did you just take the shine of it so the new paint had something stick to
I`m also going to use the wheels with out the centercaps. Just the wheel and some chrome lugnuts that will shine together with the polished spokes
I actually left the paint there. I used acetone and steel wool to take the factory clear off and worked it into the old painted areas to dull them.
I did it almost 3 years ago and they've held up great with only a few chips but I have driven the car a lot. I'm going to do it again when I get the car repainted hopefully this spring.
What did you use to polish yours? When I did mine I still had a few small stains that I didn't work out and I don't remember them being quite as reflective as yours.
Nice jobs on the rims, guys.
My magic tricks for refurbishing turbines:
- One spray can of aircraft stripper a.k.a. the Can of Toxic Death™. Takes just about EVERYTHING off nicely, with hardly any scrubbing to do afterwards. It's particularly nice to get that clearcoat off. Sometimes it needs 2-3 applications per wheel but it sure beats all that sanding. I also use 00 steel wool for the machined parts.
- Surface prep...I usually tape off the machined parts (spokes, edges) and sandblast the inner parts (rough areas). Unless the whole rim isn't in that great of shape, then I blast the whole thing.
- After painting, I put at least 3 coats of Dupli-Color high temp clearcoat on everything. Great shine, great durability, great resistance to brake dust. Using this clearcoat you will get about 1 full year of simply hosing off the rim to clean it, with little or no scrubbing. You could also use automotive clear if you're so inclined, although sometimes it actually attacts dust.
- When the rims get balanced, weight always goes on the inside. Stick-on weights are a godsend.
I haven't tried polishing any yet because, frankly, I don't have that much time in my life to devote to something like that. I've seen fully polished sets of those rims (the rough part is smoothed out, then polished) at swap meets before. It's totally nuts. But to they look good on a car.
Oh yeh aircraft stripper good stuff.
I love that stuff.I used to use it on valve covers (the old painted ones) before I'd restore tham for people.Watch that paint bubble up.Sweet,and easy.Wear hand protection.It can burn.
I would love to see a fully polished turbine *nudge nudge* :D
Nice work. I wish I had the patience to polish.
That's a good-looking wheel!
I just bought some better polishingstuff today. new buffing discs and paste. Cant wait to see how that works
Yeah, let us know the best method - I need to do this to my gold 20th turbines, though I do not want to repaint them.
I have a set of the gold 20th anniversary wheels on old Blue.I was about to polish them when I got the TC wheels and polished them instead.
how "rare" are the gold rims? I have a set that I thought about polishing up, but didn't want to destroy there possible value if there is any.
I just had a thought, don't know if this will work well with clear coat, but I have found the best thing for removing paint off my slot cars is Easy Off oven cleaner. Granted I'm soaking a body in the stuff for 24-48 hrs but when you take it out the paint rinses off.
Just a thought if someone wants to try it.
that paint stiper BURNS LIKE HELL!! i did my motorcycle gas tank wearing protection and everything i kneeled in the paint that came off on accident holy shiznit felt like someone lit fire to my leg! it got everything off, and didn't destroy the chrome gas cap so it was great