First of all, its a sincere pleasure having a young pro like you in the classic car restoration hobby! I look forward to watching your Saw Garage video series. But, with regard to the step where you are removing the dull clear coat I would respectfully like to submit a major shortcut that works extremely well - it is saves a load of time and is superior from a scratchless finish standpoint, saving further polishing time to remove the additional fine scratches caused by even the finest grade sandpaper. Simply mask off your tire (if you haven't dismounted it) and spray the entire wheel with a coat of "CitrusStrip" paint stripper available from Home Depot and the other such stores for under 10 bucks. About a half hour or so after spraying the first coat, spray it a second time as you will see the vintage yellowish clearcoat rise as surface film. The stuff is a surprisingly effective citrus oil based stripper without the smell/side effects of a petroleum based stripper. It didn't hurt my bare hands and didn't hurt the grass when I sprayed it off in the grass with a garden hose - but, it sure lifted 100% of the old clearcoat and left a surprisingly shiny finish without any of the self-induced sandpaper scratches. I was amazed at the result. You then need to polish the wheels with aluminum or magnesium polish - or, better, I used a bar of red rouge - melted it in an old mircrowave, mixed it with kerosene and buffing compount and used a lambswool pad on a high speed buffing wheel to remove the deeper scratches, leaving a mirror-like finish; and then paint the 8-spoke wheels "Trim Black" from the rear after covering the holes with masking tape on the bright side. I find that the SEM brand of trim black (#39143) is superior to anything for matching and durability - though, the Rust-o-leum's black "Trim and Bumper" paint is high quality, as well (just clean the nozzle after every use as it is sensitive) and is also available at Home Depot. I ended up being invited to show my car at a national Concours so it feels like I've sort of boxed myself in on using the more expensive trim paints like SEM when applicable . After you remove the masking tape and use laquer thinner (not sandpaper) to remove the residual paint that wept through on shiny side, you are done and the results will surprise you. And, even though its known that aluminum will oxidize without clear coat, since you're probably not exposing the wheels to salt, the primary oxidation is caused by sun/oxygen which is easily controlled by hand-polishing the wheels once a year. Yes, the polishing towel will be black from removing the oxidized aluminum, but you'll be right back to a mirror finish in around 30-45 minutes, well worth the effort for having nice looking shoes on your classic. Hope this `secret sauce' helps others. And, thanks again for your videos!!
Thank you for watching, the method that you describe sounds very effective. Only one of my wheels had clear coat on it partially, the rest of the rims had no clear coat and we're severely tarnished. I often wonder what it would have come out like from going straight to polishing, I probably should have tried that first. The only paint striper I have experience with is aircraft striper, but I have heard great things about citri strip for being delicate to the surface you are striping from. Thanks for your comment, I am sure that it will help others with varying circumstances, and I will definitely try out your method on the next set of rims I restore.
Sounds like you have some really good advice. I'm a long time restorer and have a question about the Red Rouge trick. I really can't get good results using rouge and I suspect it's due to not having professional wheels and product. I would like to try your mixing idea if you can give more details like how much kerosene and what type and quantity of buffing compound to mix. Yesterday I bought the Mothers Mag & Aluminum Metal Polish and it works pretty good but I'm getting some white streaks that I believe the red rouge usage would resolve. I was thinking of mixing that with the red rouge and hitting it with the buffer tonight. If you can help I sure would appreciate it, I don't mind the time as long as I get the results.
First of all, its a sincere pleasure having a young pro like you in the classic car restoration hobby! I look forward to watching your Saw Garage video series. But, with regard to the step where you are removing the dull clear coat I would respectfully like to submit a major shortcut that works extremely well - it is saves a load of time and is superior from a scratchless finish standpoint, saving further polishing time to remove the additional fine scratches caused by even the finest grade sandpaper. Simply mask off your tire (if you haven't dismounted it) and spray the entire wheel with a coat of "CitrusStrip" paint stripper available from Home Depot and the other such stores for under 10 bucks. About a half hour or so after spraying the first coat, spray it a second time as you will see the vintage yellowish clearcoat rise as surface film. The stuff is a surprisingly effective citrus oil based stripper without the smell/side effects of a petroleum based stripper. It didn't hurt my bare hands and didn't hurt the grass when I sprayed it off in the grass with a garden hose - but, it sure lifted 100% of the old clearcoat and left a surprisingly shiny finish without any of the self-induced sandpaper scratches. I was amazed at the result. You then need to polish the wheels with aluminum or magnesium polish - or, better, I used a bar of red rouge - melted it in an old mircrowave, mixed it with kerosene and buffing compount and used a lambswool pad on a high speed buffing wheel to remove the deeper scratches, leaving a mirror-like finish; and then paint the 8-spoke wheels "Trim Black" from the rear after covering the holes with masking tape on the bright side. I find that the SEM brand of trim black (#39143) is superior to anything for matching and durability - though, the Rust-o-leum's black "Trim and Bumper" paint is high quality, as well (just clean the nozzle after every use as it is sensitive) and is also available at Home Depot. I ended up being invited to show my car at a national Concours so it feels like I've sort of boxed myself in on using the more expensive trim paints like SEM when applicable . After you remove the masking tape and use laquer thinner (not sandpaper) to remove the residual paint that wept through on shiny side, you are done and the results will surprise you. And, even though its known that aluminum will oxidize without clear coat, since you're probably not exposing the wheels to salt, the primary oxidation is caused by sun/oxygen which is easily controlled by hand-polishing the wheels once a year. Yes, the polishing towel will be black from removing the oxidized aluminum, but you'll be right back to a mirror finish in around 30-45 minutes, well worth the effort for having nice looking shoes on your classic. Hope this `secret sauce' helps others. And, thanks again for your videos!!
Thank you for watching, the method that you describe sounds very effective. Only one of my wheels had clear coat on it partially, the rest of the rims had no clear coat and we're severely tarnished. I often wonder what it would have come out like from going straight to polishing, I probably should have tried that first. The only paint striper I have experience with is aircraft striper, but I have heard great things about citri strip for being delicate to the surface you are striping from. Thanks for your comment, I am sure that it will help others with varying circumstances, and I will definitely try out your method on the next set of rims I restore.
Sounds like you have some really good advice. I'm a long time restorer and have a question about the Red Rouge trick. I really can't get good results using rouge and I suspect it's due to not having professional wheels and product. I would like to try your mixing idea if you can give more details like how much kerosene and what type and quantity of buffing compound to mix. Yesterday I bought the Mothers Mag & Aluminum Metal Polish and it works pretty good but I'm getting some white streaks that I believe the red rouge usage would resolve. I was thinking of mixing that with the red rouge and hitting it with the buffer tonight. If you can help I sure would appreciate it, I don't mind the time as long as I get the results.
What about the back of the wheel? it needs to be protected also?
I subscribed
Thanks man I really appreciate it. Im going to try an make some videos when i have a little more time.
If these are 76-1980 corvette wheels they should not have any clear coat on them.