Refinishing/machining wheels

[Aitch]

Thought people might be interested to see the results of this year's wheel refinishing efforts. I bought a set of 350z wheels from McGuyver who originally planned to have them refinished, but then found a mint set so sold these on. They came with a fair bit of road rash, of which 90% was on the flat faces and lips, so I figured that I could easily sand them down and leave a machined or polished finish.

Here's some of the original damage (this example wheel was the worst):

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7286/16946181375_2f9fb1ea86_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/rPtBjX)
350z rims (https://flic.kr/p/rPtBjX) by Steve Hayward (https://www.flickr.com/people/16933777@N02/), on Flickr

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8744/16758480168_b54016ff09_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/rwTAif)
350z rims (https://flic.kr/p/rwTAif) by Steve Hayward (https://www.flickr.com/people/16933777@N02/), on Flickr

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7607/16945209271_f97721c4ef_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/rPoCmx)
350z rims (https://flic.kr/p/rPoCmx) by Steve Hayward (https://www.flickr.com/people/16933777@N02/), on Flickr

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8719/16758483308_27dc052518_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/rwTBeo)
350z rims (https://flic.kr/p/rwTBeo) by Steve Hayward (https://www.flickr.com/people/16933777@N02/), on Flickr

After initially testing out a hand sanding block, I found the OEM paint is indeed really durable and I'd kill myself doing it by hand (I'd previously sanded curb rash out of 3-piece wheel lips by hand, which was the most effective method for those unpainted lips). So I stepped up to an orbital sander with 60 and 80 grit paper. Each wheel took 25-40 minutes to get the paint off and scratches out.

Here you can see an in-progress shot, showing the original top paint, the black undercoat (hypersilver typically uses semi-transparent silver over black, which is why it's hard to match and/or blend), the grey primer underneath, and then bare metal at the edges of the spoke face.

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8724/16946187955_b2829102f7_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/rPtDhp)
350z rims (https://flic.kr/p/rPtDhp) by Steve Hayward (https://www.flickr.com/people/16933777@N02/), on Flickr

This is after 60/80 grit sanding, having removed all the surface rash. Since I'm not repainting, I didn't tackle anything that was down on the inner curves. This meant that a couple of nicks are left on the spoke edges too.

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8740/16758735110_b4de1ce100_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/rwUU5N)
350z rims (https://flic.kr/p/rwUU5N) by Steve Hayward (https://www.flickr.com/people/16933777@N02/), on Flickr

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7282/16946190935_0e39daafd6_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/rPtEaM)
350z rims (https://flic.kr/p/rPtEaM) by Steve Hayward (https://www.flickr.com/people/16933777@N02/), on Flickr

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7606/16323798114_cf58cd6091_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/qStJt5)
350z rims (https://flic.kr/p/qStJt5) by Steve Hayward (https://www.flickr.com/people/16933777@N02/), on Flickr

Next I put 120 grit paper on the orbital sander, gave each another quick pass, and then put a bit of a radial machining onto the spokes by holding it at an angle. It's not perfect but it will do - I was a bit time-crunched since I'm getting summer tires today.

Here's the finished product. A bonus of the black paint is that it leaves a nice little border on the polished surfaces. Given how hard the OEM paint is, I'm not really worried about these edges starting to chip or peel on their own.

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8707/16945218111_53197367c5_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/rPoEYX)
350z rims (https://flic.kr/p/rPoEYX) by Steve Hayward (https://www.flickr.com/people/16933777@N02/), on Flickr

A little under-exposed so you can see the brush marks I left.

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8685/16945220621_1f86be25c5_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/rPoFJe)
350z rims (https://flic.kr/p/rPoFJe) by Steve Hayward (https://www.flickr.com/people/16933777@N02/), on Flickr

The whole wheel.

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8745/16738841657_5575eb18cf_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/rv9Wse)
350z rims (https://flic.kr/p/rv9Wse) by Steve Hayward (https://www.flickr.com/people/16933777@N02/), on Flickr

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8703/16323804884_157ca6e23c_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/qStLtN)
350z rims (https://flic.kr/p/qStLtN) by Steve Hayward (https://www.flickr.com/people/16933777@N02/), on Flickr

I'm not 100% certain that I'll leave the brush marks on the wheels, but they're ready to get tires and go on the car. I did some testing with 800 grit paper and with a bit of work the spokes could easily look more polished, but I don't have the time to do it right now. I should be able to tackle the spokes in the summer though even with the tires on. Either way, for about 4 hours of work, I think I got these back to ~90% perfect, and they are really great from 5 feet away.

[ottoyu34]

Looks fantastic, sometimes like Audi style rims.

[Mr Wilson]

Wow, the initial owner of the 'Z' aim for curbs?

Great work!

[Dave_The_BMXER]

Creative solution is creative.

Looks good

[cwp_sedan]

Impressive job.

[loki]

No air brush finish?


Oh right you don't use air...

Good work on the wheels

[Aitch]

No air brush finish?


Oh right you don't use air...

Good work on the wheels
You're reaching.

[loki]

You're reaching.

Your car is so high it's reaching

[Kiewan]

Really nice job, especially for 4 hours work.
Didn't even consider this when they were in the classifieds.

[Aitch]

Your car is so high it's reaching
Better.

[Aitch]

Really nice job, especially for 4 hours work.
Didn't even consider this when they were in the classifieds.
It's actually what I planned to do to my last wheels before I got lazy, plus they weren't nearly as bad. So I'd had the idea for a long time.

[crxgsr]

So you are going the leave the bare aluminum exposed? Not really a good idea, as aluminum oxides. You should coat it with either polish or clear coat.

[Aitch]

So you are going the leave the bare aluminum exposed? Not really a good idea, as aluminum oxides. You should coat it with either polish or clear coat.
Yeah I've been thinking about that. I'm wondering though if a sealant will be enough though.

[Jackal]

So you are going the leave the bare aluminum exposed? Not really a good idea, as aluminum oxides. You should coat it with either polish or clear coat.


Yeah I've been thinking about that. I'm wondering though if a sealant will be enough though.

Looks amazing!!
Clear coat then sealant for all that beautiful work.

[FD22]

Looks good. Looking forward to seeing these on your car. Always loved the look of Z wheels on the first gens.

Edit: disregard middle sentence. Saw your ride thread.

[McGuyver_3]

That's really nice work. Good job. Looking forward to seeing them on the car

[m3rk]

Looks good man!