Aluminum wheel restoration question

[jos51700]

When restoring aluminum wheels that have a machined portion of the rim, how do you bring that machined area back to new, without putting it in a machine and taking off a few thousandths of material? Sandblasting changes the finish and they might have clearcoat that's yellow and needs replaced.

This question has plagued me for years. The wheels I'm looking at having to restore are motorcycle wheels but the concept is the same as car wheels

 

[DC 340]

I would try something like Flitz metal polish on it. Use paper towels and if it doesn't clean up quickly it is likely clear coated. Flitz will improve it regardless.

 

[autoxcuda]

Brillo wheel and or debur rubber impregnated wheel on a grinding wheel.

C-clamp grinder to table
Put rim on rotating stool
Adjust height of stool
Bring rim up to finishing wheel on grinder
Rotate rim around to give machined looking finish and/or remove scratches

filing large scratch and gouges first and then hand sand is needed before the brillo wheel.

 

[340six]

My son worked at Rimpro. It fixed and restored all types of wheels.
It was common to fix all repairs (whatever was required), then paint wheel if background color. Toss in the wheel lathe (cnc) then clean and clear. It takes very little off. They had rough cutters for machine finish. And smooth , so hardly any sanding after. Most got clear. Some got polished with or without clear. Hardly anyone got painted/polished no clear due to requirements of regular maintenance for keeping the high shine.
EDIT. everything was painted before lathe, so when cutter hot wheel it cut paint off except where needed.
No taping required. If paint was done after it would have required taping and covering the new machined surface.
Then cleaned and polished or clear applied

 

[340six]

Brillo wheel and or debur rubber impregnated wheel on a grinding wheel.

C-clamp grinder to table
Put rim on rotating stool
Adjust height of stool
Bring rim up to finishing wheel on grinder
Rotate rim around to give machined looking finish and/or remove scratches

This short of spinning it you will not get the machine finish. Great work and ideas to improvise.

 

[autoxcuda]

This shirt of spinning it you will not get the machine finish

Yes it will not be 100% like putting the rim on a lathe. You are correct.

But it will put a duller sheen on there that from 10-20 feet away looks machine-ish.

It's a backyard garage compromise.

 

[BrianT]

My buddy does mobile alloy wheel repair and that's the biggest complaint he gets is that he cannot recreate the factory finish without sending the wheels out to be diamond cut.

 

[jos51700]

Brillo wheel and or debur rubber impregnated wheel on a grinding wheel.

C-clamp grinder to table
Put rim on rotating stool
Adjust height of stool
Bring rim up to finishing wheel on grinder
Rotate rim around to give machined looking finish and/or remove scratches

filing large scratch and gouges first and then hand sand is needed before the brillo wheel.

It's amazing how much smarter some people are than I am. If these particular rims weren't machined all the way up, that would work perfect, but I have other parts that will work on. Thank you!

My son worked at Rimpro. It fixed and restored all types of wheels.
It was common to fix all repairs (whatever was required), then paint wheel if background color. Toss in the wheel lathe (cnc) then clean and clear. It takes very little off. They had rough cutters for machine finish. And smooth , so hardly any sanding after. Most got clear. Some got polished with or without clear. Hardly anyone got painted/polished no clear due to requirements of regular maintenance for keeping the high shine

I'll be contacting Rimpro to see if they handle mc rims. Thanks!!

My buddy does mobile alloy wheel repair and that's the biggest complaint he gets is that he cannot recreate the factory finish without sending the wheels out to be diamond cut.

I had no idea this was a thing! Is he local to us? Most of my Neon rims are alloy and I need the clearcoat refinished because it lifts and then they leak.

 

[BrianT]

Yeah, he lives in Raymore. He does mostly cosmetic repairs for high end dealerships. Not to be rude, but I doubt he’d be interested in stripping clear coat on Neon wheels. It’s a lot of work. Usually we send wheels like that out for stripping and powder coating. Costs $1000 per set.

 

[340six]

Will require regular upkeep.
Strip, Sand, Polish with Black Emery and White Rouge. These were free and my car trailer needed rims and tires.
Does consume time but is almost free