Now that’s the finish they’re coming to me in, what I want to do is replicate another finish they offer…black with a polished face:
My question is this:
If i strip the paint on the lip with that aircraft stripper stuff, can i just polish the lip by hand?
Anybody know any shops that would do this on the cheap?
I don’t mind diy’ing, but if a shop can give me sick polished face and spray the inside either gloss or flat black (haven’t decided 100% yet) for under like $200 im totally down.
Otherwise is it feasible to polish the face myself?
yes you can polish the lip by hand quite easily. just be very careful with the stripper around the surface you want to leave alone. you could just sand off the paint on the lip rather than use the stripper too, might take longer, but would certainly be much safer.
you need a bunch of wetsand paper. start with like 320 and work your way to 1200, then use some polishing compound. if you want you can then apply a wheel wax, and you should have minimal maintenance to keep them nice, other than a buff and re wax.
like instead of waxing over bare polished aluminum…we both know how i treat wheels when it comes to cleaning, so i’d like to keep these as low maint as possible
I’m so stoked I’m going back to 17s…i cant wait to throw some nice sticky 235/40s on, im so over the unnecessarily wide 35 series tires, 255 is a bit much…i learned this when i drove my car back to back with meehan’s…my car feels alot more…bloated? compared to his, and his is in a bit worse shape suspension wise as well…not to mention im knocking almost 10 lbs off each corner in unsprung weight :nod
Benny - Jack car up, get sulfuric acid and sandpaper. Set cruise control while rear wheels spin. Hold acidy sandpaper against face of wheel for 15 seconds. Hose off, dry, clear coat. Done.
Yeah if it’ll stay going sure. We used a friend with a very steady foot since BMW’s cruise wont set below 30mph which is way way way too fast.
Vary the height of the sandpaper while it spins, aka make it “wavy”. If you just hold it steady there and dont move it, it’ll make grooves around the entire outside edge of the wheel and the polish job wont look as good.
Laugh it up people but I can polish those suckers in 30 mins while its an afternoon project for you “safe” people. ;D
1: They seem to like to break e36 lug bolts, the centerbore MAY be a tad too small, I’ve decided to not deal with the hassle of finding out for sure, and having to deal with waiting to hear from the Phillipines for months…so they’re getting sold.
2: I’m so over 18s, and the rota’s are a tad heavier, also these are custom wheels, so if i ever bent one it means I’d have to buy a whole new set of wheels, no replacements readily available…fuck that
3: I’m a wheel whore, if i had more money i’d go through wheels like underwear
4: 17s are lighter, these are cheap and easy to replace, and speaking solely out of speculation…a bit stronger than the rotas.
