Just wondering what you used to get the wheels so clean?
I had some goals here and 5 chances to get it right... I didn't want to make more work for myself than necessary. I wasn't trying to remove the machine grooves on the surface, and I was trying to do this *mostly* by hand and on the cheap. So - avoid wire wheels, die-griders, dremels, angle grinders, sand/media/grit blasters or anything coarser than 400 grit. I didn't have a proper buffer at the time and tried various things, but in the end (by wheel 2...) this is what worked for me. I might do a write-up with more pictures if there is interest. I have 1 wheel left to do.
Go to the dollar store and get their economy pack green scrubby pads and cut circles to hot glue to your worn out rotolok discs... (I used a hammer and a piece of exhaust tubing like a cookie-cutter) now you have cheap green scrubby rotoloks, which are perfect for cleaning these up.
Wear Gloves and Safety Glasses.
1. Cleaned them up with soap/water, then Eagle 1, let that set a good spell, then hosed off.
2. Dry them up for the stripper. I use the Strip-Eze Aircraft Remover - pour can. Brush that on and cover with a garbage bag for about 30 minutes.
3. Use a nylon bristled brush (dollar store) or a plastic spreader thing. or some thing abrasive but softer than the aluminum, agitate the stripper in parts if needed. Wipe off all the clearcoat and remover, or hose down using eco-friendly methods.
4. Give it another wash.
5. Get some Bar Keepers Friend (dollar store) (powder or liquid form). Use your hacked green rotolok on the pits where the wheel weights were, the 'crazing/alligator' marks where the wheel corroded under the clearcoat, etc. Go over the whole face of the wheel with the green scrubby (by hand or with the rotolok, although I only used the rotolok on the pits and other corroded areas on the machined face/bead). Go with the 'grain' of the machine grooves - i.e. around the wheel.
6. Wetsand - I used 800,1000,1500,2000,2500. I used water with Dawn. By hand. Just even out your scratches.
7. Rinse, dry, apply Mothers Mag & Aluminum Polish. An old t-shirt works fine, or a polish applicator.
8. Clean up the 'D's (the cast part of face) - I used isopropyl after polishing.
9. Tape off. I used 2" wide blue painters tape (dollar store). Cover the whole surface of the wheel and partially over the 'D' area. You can use a razorblade to trim the tape AT the edge by cutting against the aluminum as a guide. Clean with isopropyl - make sure there are no polish globs hanging out.
10. Prime and paint the 'D's. I didn't worry about matching the color. Wallyworld has $3.88 paint - Rustoleum Dark Gloss Gray and a Metallic Silver. Prime the 'D's well. I have one that I did not prime well and the paint peeled a little bit when I pulled the tape. Be careful when pulling the tape. I waited about 30-45 minutes. I might re-do the 'D's, we'll see.
11. After removing the tape, you might need to do a little polishing on the aluminum. Wait a couple of days before doing this. Use the Mothers.
12. Get a good carnuba wax on there.
13. Get your wheels re-balanced on the inside if possible.
Things that didn't help much for the pre-cleaning (mostly for the 'barrels'/inside of the wheels)
AMAZING! Cleaner. Ospho (a little). Easy-Off. Diluted HCI/Hydrochloric/Muriatic acid.
Use a 4" 'Paint Stripper' non-metallic scrubby drill thing for cleaning really grimy barrels.
