Weekend wheel redo
 

I picked up a set of 15x7 "lace" wheels from a 91 Blazer on Craigslist for $50 to use as my winter wheels to put snow tires on. They looked better in the pics on CL but I bought them anyways since they weren't curbed or bent and I hadn't found any other cheap wheels. I bought some stripper, first can I used was Marhyde aircraft paint stripper from Advance Auto. I had bought a can of ZipStrip before but wasn't sure it was what I needed. I burned through the first can of aircraft stripper and it got most of the paint/clear off but still had some spots left. I went over them with the ZipStrip and it pretty well got the rest of the paint off. Once they were cleaned up I began to scuff them up and try to get off the corrosion and little bits of paint left stuck on. Of course I had to pick the most intricate 1st gen style wheel to redo! These things sucked getting in all the little divots and crevices to get all the paint off! I used 220 sand paper, steel wool and a red Scotchbrite scuff pad on the lips and just the Scotchbrite pad on the centers. Once I had them all sanded and clean, I wiped them down with wax and grease remover. I masked the lips off and cheated and just made a smooth line around the lip instead of following the factory "gear" style edges. I used Dupli-Color wheel paint in graphite and topped with their wheel clear. I had some silver caliper paint left over from when I did the calipers on my Camaro SS, so I used that on a brush to paint the cast in bolts on the wheel edges. Once that was dry I sprayed the clear. I used one can of color and one can of clear to do all 4 wheels. I was surprised it went that far as I had bought 2 of each thinking I'd run out with that much. They turned out really well for my first go at refinishing aluminum wheels and first go with spray cans. I had painted some steelies for my wife's Jeep Wrangler but just scuffed those and sprayed with automotive paint/clear with a real paint gun at my dad's. Here's the pics:

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m...s/DSCN4423.jpg
http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m...s/DSCN4427.jpg
http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m...s/DSCN4436.jpg
http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m...s/DSCN4437.jpg
http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m...s/DSCN4441.jpg
http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m...s/DSCN4443.jpg
http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m...s/DSCN4446.jpg
http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m...s/DSCN4451.jpg

Wow, what a transformation!

Send a pic back to the seller on CL.

Let's see 'em mounted!

I've got a set of chrome Bowtie hex center caps coming that I hope will fit. I couldn't find any factory style caps for this wheel. I need to get some chrome lugs as well. Hopefully will be ordering snow tires for it when I get paid on Friday.

Wow!! those are gonna look awesome nice work

X2 on that.

post a pic of them mounted and on your truck.

Damn your snow wheels OWN my main use rims... i hate you :(
They look awesome though!

DAMN!! Those look GOOD! what a transformation is right lol. You took those form crap to riches. can't wait to see them on your truck...they look awesome in the gun metal color!!

Very not bad!

I'm pissed, got the center caps I ordered today. They're BARELY 3" across and the tabs that hold them on are an inch smaller so they're a no go for these wheels. That was a waste of $20. I ordered a set of 94-05 GMC hex caps that hopefully will work.

WOW! That looks fantastic good work!

x2 on pics on truck =D