its beginning . . . . i hope !
 

well i made a start on my wheels as i was let down by the idiot who reckoned he could restore them

i ordered a polishing kit off ebay and tried it out to see how it went

before

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2...0/IMGP2123.jpg

after

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2...0/IMGP2178.jpg

dont worry i'm gonna split the wheels so i can do a proper job on them

that should turn out very nice.
What is the procedure you are using?
I always strip the paint with a very strong chemical and then start grinding with a p220, then a p400-p600-p800-p1000 and then switch to wet sanding paper p800-p100-p1200-p1500-p2000 and then start polishing.

yeah im doing that then going through the 4 polishing compounds that ive got with the progressively softer head - at the moment im just going round the rim with a dremel and cleaning up the flashing left from the casting and getting rid of any marks left by kerbing and it looks really good so far

but ive turned my attention to my bumpers today, i'm drilling them out for that race trach refugee look and it will hopefully save some weight too as they are very heavy at the moment

but its taking a long time without access to machine tools

Here is a good wheel polishing article as well.

The only question I have is if there is an air tool with a polish attachment to speed up the process over all that hand rubbing!?

FWIW I have the exact wheels and plan to polish them out.

What about a clear coat of paint after the polish? Or just keep them waxed?.. Dunno if there is a wax for wheels?

clear coat will hold only a short time and then start to peel off, the surface is just to smooth for it to stay on.
I use a thin layer of silicone spray to protect the wheels over winter but the key to keeping them in top shape is cleaning them at least once a week and use a good product (we have Unipol or Belgom over in Belgium) to keep them shiny.

yeah once ive got them finished i will just give them a going over with solvol once a week the keep them looking tip top

with regards to rubbing them down by hand, i feel its the only way to get them looking as good as possible, with a power tool i feel that you will rub away more alluminium than you want too if you are not too careful, which is very easy to do when one rim alone (split rims remember) will take at least 16 man hours to complete

this is not a quick and easy job - if you think that you will end up with wheels not looking as good as they have the potential to look

the very first set of wheel I polished took about 20 hours/wheel. Now I've done about 7 sets and can do it in about 5-6 hours/wheels at the easiest so its a process of trial and error.

but my split rims are pock marked like crazy ill take a pic and post it so you can see what i mean and they are a unusual profile which makes it harder

i reckon i could easily polish a set of regular wheels

i got my wheels back and made a start on them and heres the results

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2...0/IMGP2251.jpg

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2...0/IMGP2247.jpg

before and after shot just to prove how much my arms are hurting ;)

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2...0/IMGP2257.jpg

Nice job man.
I did a complete set last week and my shoulder is very sore, 4 wheels in 1 week is a big NO NO :)

Looks great! Way to bring those hot wheels back to life!

I'm not sure if it's been mentioned, but ZoopSeal is a great product for keeping those lips blingin'. :agree:

can you imagine how amazing they're gonna look with the centres painted black and the rims polished to death

the closer it gets the more excited i'll get

free carbon fibre
 

dont you love it when you get 2 metres of pre impregnated carbon fibre mat through the post . . . free of charge ;)

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2...0/IMGP2259.jpg

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2...0/IMGP2260.jpg

oh yeah amd a metre of kevlar just to seal the deal :D

finally picked my seats up at the weekend

and oh yes they are nice alright !

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2...0/IMGP2345.jpg

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2...0/IMGP2346.jpg

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2...0/IMGP2347.jpg

theyre out of a 2002 porsche boxster, and theyre in pretty much mint condition. theyve got map pockets and diddy little coat hooks on the back, and theyre sort of a very dark blue grey/black colour

i hope theyre heated too cos heated seats are amazing

just gotta fab some subframes

Hey fastdub I have a pair of boxter seats also 2002. No heat in mine :( . They do have power seat backs, but no base power, just manual sliders. They are very comfortable though.