So I have 2 set of Ponies now so I can finally start my project on them. I want to polish the lip of them and I am getting the spokes painted Black.
My question is HOW?
I think it was Carm who had a thread about restoring ten holes by sanding them while the car was on stands in reverse. Could I do this? the thing that seems like it will be a problem is that the spokes are round were the meet the lip of the rim so the ends of them will be getting sanded too and i wont get the pieces between the spokes.
I hope that mad sense. Any ideas on what would be my best option?
I'd sand the wheels down and smooth them,polish the lips,then mask the polished lip with thin tape (1/4 inch),then paint the wheels with wheel paint.
grit suggestions?
This is almost what i am going for. I want to do the whole lip though
I start smoothing with 220 then work my way up to 2000.Wet sanding of course.The 120 and 220 grits I use dry with a 5 inch sanding disc on a drill when there is a "cast" texture.If the wheel is already smooth,I start with the 220 and wet sand up through the grits until it's nice and mostly shiny,then I hit it with some billet polish.
wet sand my way up to 2000. So should i just do it by hand? I was thinking of rigging something up to an old rotor that will spin it semi slow and hold the sandpaper top the rim.
My main concern is gettin it to look the same everywhere which is what I am worried about on the spaces between the spokes.
I am overall just scared I'm going to screw them up
I did my intake,alternator,steering pump bracket,valve covers,fabbed an intake plate,and also did a set of snowflakes a year or two ago.Not hard at all,just time consuming.Don't get in a hurry.I do the smoothing with a power tool,then the rest by hand.I keep a bucket of water,the water hose,and a LOT of sandpaper to work with.The lip is the easiest part.It takes a while to get the paint off,but after that,easy stuff.If you have any mild curb rash,get the sanding discs on a 5 inch wheel for the drill (I use 220 for that),and go over the spot back and forth (Don't stop,it'll cause flat spots),until the rash is gone.You can handle it.You just need to take your time.Getting in a hurry will yield py results.You may just amaze yourself.
I would wet sand it all by hand if there isnt any texture to it. If there is little I would just keep with the wet sanding. Polishing will take it out. Just get it down to bare metal and work with finer grits and polish the hell out of it. Polishing takes alot of time, I personally hate it because I have to do it at work after I finish painting a car.
BTW, wanna get rid of a set of ponies??
I would love to sell a set
I never saw another set of polished 10 spokes, I did mine on the '85 back in 1997, about once a year I'll take 20-30 minutes and some Mother's Aluminum Polish and retouch by had .... all 4 that is. Just did it on the 4th of August again.
I did them the first time after stripping them, then mounting them one at a time on the right rear with no stem, no tire, car on a stand, engine running at idle, trans in D. Worked them until I had them looking good, then sprayed the primer and paint in holes and recess, then cleaned excess off smooth aluminum.
(http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd22/CrystalPistolPics/CrystalPistolPics3%20Cars/?action=view¤t=polished10spokewheels.jpg)
That picture was taken just a day ago.
(http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd22/CrystalPistolPics/CrystalPistolPics3%20Cars/a85BirdandThomasJeffersonswall08040.jpg)
I have since done a set of 7 spokes for my'92 Sport as well.
(http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd22/CrystalPistolPics/CrystalPistolPics3%20Cars/e923ae07.jpg)
I posted something about them over on tccoa.com sometime past. Hadn't heard of others doing it yet, but happy to see some have.
Any pics ?????????