Strip and/or polish OEM wheels?

[BlueDubbinTDI]

I like the idea, but wheels with fat spokes look best with the bare metal look imo

[kodyo]

Originally Posted by thatfilipinoguy

I just want to see what they look like completely polished.

Closest I've seen before is "Black Chrome" ones from a Houston owner, but can't find them again. They actually looked pretty nice. I think a local dealer was having them done for an extra fee or something, Hope that somewhat helps.

[thatfilipinoguy]

Thanks, but I'm talking pictures here haha

[carloverx]

A little over 5 years ago, I attempted to remove the paint (then polish) a set of 18x9 Rota D2's I bought used. It was a total nightmare. As toxic as the chemicals were, the paint was still a bare to get off. I used Rust-oleum aircraft remover, metal brush and steel wool. I eventually gave up on polishing them by hand and sold the set. That said, I'd like to see what our rims look like polished so I'd say go for it!! Just be ready for a time/energy consuming task if you're planning to do it by hand.



Mid Polish


Mounted Pre Polish

[thatfilipinoguy]

I understand the process and everything. I am just looking for a picture of the stock wheels polished. =] A photoshop would work too.

[headlikeahole]

All these people suggesting powder coat or plasti dip clearly dont understand what look the OP wants. I thought of this miself and I agree the wheels would look great in bare aluminum look.

I'm thinking sand blasting followed by a lot of orbital polisher and compound would be the easiest way to do it. The chemical strippers just arent strong enough for a job like this.

[kodyo]

Originally Posted by thatfilipinoguy

Has anyone polished their wheels yet?

Finally found someone with something similar to polished:

http://imgur.com/kSz9OaU
http://imgur.com/ehK8M8B

[thatfilipinoguy]

That looks good, I wanna see the full polish though, no colors.

[suaveflooder]

I think it would look great, but I would highly suggest taking the wheels somewhere to get polished. I too have tried to polish a set of wheels. I got through one, it turned out GREAT, but it had pits under the paint and took a lot of time.

[dradernh]

I've used RimPro in Massachusetts for all my wheel work; wheels coming back from them are perfect. There must be other outfits around the country doing the same kind of work. For myself, I'd just have someone like that strip them for me, and I'd do the polishing myself using English Custom Polishing products. As always, no affiliation.

[ericmpena]

This guy says he powdercoated the stock wheels gloss black. They look satin black to me. Pics are on page 2 of this thread:
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=60233

[zimzum]

i stripped my si wheels i had back in the day and polished the fuck out of them with mothers heavy metal polisher. dont have any picks left buy it looked great if you dont mind spending a weekend scraping and polishing.

[kodyo]

Originally Posted by thatfilipinoguy

That looks good, I wanna see the full polish though, no colors.

I'm convinced that you will be the first person to ever do this if you do it. That's the closest I've ever seen to a "polished" OEM wheel.

[thatfilipinoguy]

Who wants to donate a set to me so I can polish? ;D