t type lightweight aluminum wheels

[AWCGroup]

here are some pics of my wheel restoration.

 

[turbo89]

Look Great ! ... did you machine the polished areas ?

 

[AWCGroup]

yes.

 

[turbo89]

yes.

how much does just the machining run ?

 

[AWCGroup]

i dont know. my friend owns a CNC lathe and he did it for me. i still need to find out what he is going to hit me with.

 

[AWCGroup]

they are powdercoated clear on top of the work to keep them looking like that. its a process the OEMs are using today.

 

[turbo89]

they are powdercoated clear on top of the work to keep them looking like that. its a process the OEMs are using today.

they look awesome ...very nicely done

 

[REAPER231]

Wow!! They look insane !! Great job !

 

[ALBERTAN]

Looks good. I've been doing a few sets myself in my shop lately...

http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/threads/refinished-my-t-wheels-myself.425719/

I'm sure that lathe lets you get a higher polish than I'm getting by hand. Mind you I'm into mine for basically a bag of blasting media and a deal on the PC.

 

[AWCGroup]

The end result

 

[ALBERTAN]

Nice tire choice. That's a setup I'd consider if I was going DR's in the back.

 

[AWCGroup]

Nice tire choice. That's a setup I'd consider if I was going DR's in the back.

Thx. I saw your wheels. They look great too. I went for a modern machined finish. After dipping the wheels in acid, I noticed they were machined like that originally but the grooves were filled in with galvanic corrosion. So I primed and painted hypersilver and skimmed them with the lathe afterwards. Then I powder coated them clear to keep them like new.

 

[AWCGroup]

I'll open another thread for the bodywork once I get to that. Maybe a few weeks. I'll post on FB too. Check it out. AW Collision of Monrovia

 

[ALBERTAN]

After dipping the wheels in acid, I noticed they were machined like that originally but the grooves were filled in with galvanic corrosion. So I primed and painted hypersilver and skimmed them with the lathe afterwards. Then I powder coated them clear to keep them like new.

Did you use muriatic acid? If so, do you recall the strength of the acid and how long you left it on? I didn't really feel a need to use acid, but it would be good for future reference. I didn't do anything with the as cast portion of my wheels. I found that getting the as cast portions clean was the key to making the wheels look good. The powder coat will definitely be more durable than clearing them.

 

[AWCGroup]

Yes. Muriatic acid. Used industrial grade. I painted the whole wheel inside and out with hypersilver then machined them for that look.

 

[ALBERTAN]

How long did you leave the acid on for? Thanks.

 

[AWCGroup]

2 days. I checked a few times a day.

 

[AWCGroup]

Here is what I started with. I ended up with 7 wheels. I picked the straightest ones to minimize the lathe from eating uneeded material.

 

[ALBERTAN]

Wow. Those are way crustier than any of my sets. Was the hypersilver paint lighter or darker than the as cast portions after cleaning? If I understand you correctly, you left the acid on for a couple of days, painted the entire wheel, powder coated the entire wheel, and then machined the lips and fins? Did you put anything over the machined portions afterwards? Thanks for the info.

EDIT - I see you mentioned you machined them before powder coating them. The second picture in your original post looks like you PC'd them before machining.

 

[AWCGroup]

Na dude. I painted. Machined then cleared to preserve the machined look