It is difficult to find information on refurbishing IROC-Z wheels, primarily due to their unique design. It was not only a challenge, but a great learning curve as I worked my way through countless hours and mistakes while sanding, polishing, masking, and painting these wheels. And so, bellow is a detailed guide of the techniques I used, pictures, and my recommendations.
1. Here are some detailed pictures of the wheels before they were painted. I also took the extra step to clean and scrub the back sides. This was made easy by using varsal, but still requires some elbow grease. I used a spray bottle for the varsal and scrubbed away the dirt and gunk using rags.
In the pictures, note the rough edges from where the wheel weights were mounted, and the small blotchy speckles caused from clear coat chips. It helps to give your wheels a scrub and wash, so you can access the damage/corrosion/ware better.
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6569.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6570.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6572.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6573.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6574.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6575.jpg
2. The most essential requirement to a great looking wheel starts with removing the clear coat. If you are looking for a chrome-like finish, you will also need to remove the machine marks made on the wheels. This is where things get tricky, and unfortunately is the path I took.
I removed the clear coat and sanded down the machine marks using a 100grit sandpaper on a rotating buffing machine. I used a sandpaper attachment on my rotating buffer. I urge you to use low revs and be careful along edges and bends, as the sharp edge of the sandpaper can do swift damage. You can also use finer grit for this process. All together, this process should take you about 20minutes per wheel.
Once the clear coat and machine marks have been sanded down, the surface of the wheel will look shiny, but very rough, possibly worse than before sanding. Don’t worry, you’ve only started.
Here is where you begin sanding. After using a 100grit on a rotating buffer, I started with 220grit paper. It helps to have a pad to avoid ware/tear on your hands, but a small pad is ideal as these wheels have small corners and sharp bends. You can use dry or wet sanding techniques, but I found that wet-sanding was much quicker and less messy for me.
Continue sanding with 220grit paper until all your machine-sanding marks are gone. The metal should become smooth, with only microscopic scratches. Once you feel satisfied, move to 400grit, then 600grit, and then 800grit, etc…
The finer you sand, the smoother the surface will become. As you work up to finer sandpaper, you will notice the scratches disappear. At 400grit, I noticed that the scratches were only visible in very strong light, and at 800grith they were not visible at all.
At this point, you will also notice that the metal is getting smoother, but not shinier. In fact, the metal will appear quite dull, don’t panic. Again, you can sand as finely as you’d like. I found that 800grit worked well for me, some will recommend going to 1500grit. In fact, I would have been happy to stop at 600grit. Notice that the surface is very smooth, but also very dull.
The sanding process should take you 8 to 10hours per wheel (1 to 2 hours with each grit, although the initial sanding after the machine will take the longest). Here are some pictures from after the sanding process.
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6576.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6577.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6579.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6580.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6584.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6585.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6587.jpg
3. After sanding the surface smooth, you are now ready to polish the bare metal. This is also where your hard work starts to pay off. I used “3M Perfect II Rubbing Compound” and a buffing pad on my buffer. Both of these products are used to buff new car paint, and so you can find these at any auto-body shop.
I am not sure how toxic this material is, but it recommends avoiding skin contact. Personally, I did not follow this caution. Use small drops every few inches, it helps to spread evenly before you buff. Avoid using too much, as this product is really tough to remove, and a little bit will do the trick. Follow instructions on the bottle. It should take about 30minutes per wheel.
Rubbing compound is used to remove impurities in the surface and encourage shine. So after buffing, pure metal is exposed, with its true shine, and you will need to work quickly. You will notice that the compound’s residue is caked on along all the small corners of the wheel. This residue is tough stuff, and easiest (relatively speaking) to remove using water.
To remove the residue, I used a very clean and soft cloth to scrub as I slowly poured water over the surface I was scrubbing. It should take about 1hour per wheel to clean and remove the residue. The wheels will look like this.
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6608.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6611.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6612.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6613.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6614.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6616.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6618.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6624.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6627.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6631.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6636.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6643.jpg
4. Now that you have buffed and removed the residue, you will need to rush as the bare polished metal starts to corrode. Make sure the wheel is properly cleaned and prepped for masking. The following are pictures of the unconventional and thorough method I’ve used for masking.
These wheels have very small corners and bends, a masking nightmare. To properly curve tape around these bends, I used small snips of tape. Other methods involve taping the wheel roughly, and using a knife to cut away the undesired sections. However, this method leaves sharp uneven/jagged edges. Using my method, and being thorough, it should take about 8 to 10hours to mask each wheel.
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6590.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6593.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6594.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6595.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6597.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6600.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6601.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6603.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6645.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6605.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6606.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6607.jpg
5. After masking is complete, you are ready to paint. Make sure the painting surface is scuffed so the paint will adhere better. Make sure to apply a couple of coats of primer. I used ordinary car paint. High heat paint is not recommended, as it takes much longer and high temperatures to cure properly.
Once your paint has been applied, you have a short window before you must apply your clear coat. When you peel off the masking, you will notice that the tape has left behind a sticky residue. Use a clean cloth and small spurts of brake-clean to remove the residue, do not use varsal or any other oily products. Be careful not to scratch the wheel’s polished finish. This should take about 10minutes per wheel.
Once cleaned, you may apply the clear coat. Be very careful as clear coat is very tricky. If possible, get a friend to do it, so you will have someone to blame if he/she messes it up. I “baked” the wheels in a hot room, at about 40 degC, for a few hours, and waited another 2days for the paint to cure before mounting tires. Here is what the finished product will look like.
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_5863.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_5867.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_5871.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_5872.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_5875.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_5876.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_5877.jpg
Recommendations
1.If you are happy with the finish of your stock IROC wheels, you can avoid sanding all together. Sanding is, by-far, the longest and most painstaking process of this job. Simply use paint stripper to remove the clear coat, scruff the existing paint, and repaint the wheel.
2.If you have chosen to remove the machine marks, you are probably kicking yourself from all the sanding you are having to do. I was only able to find 100grit paper for the buffing/sander, and so took a lot of sanding to have a smooth surface. The initial sanding must be coarse enough to remove the machine marks, but fine enough to avoid unnecessary sanding.
3.When you are using the sanding machine, I recommend only sanding the spokes, as all other details are hard to notice in the finished product anyway. It will be very difficult to “elegantly” remove the machine marks from the center hump and outside rim edge. So save yourself the work. This will also avoid damaging sharp edges with the sander.
4.I initially started with dry-sanding, taking about 15hours per wheel. It was messy and very dusty, hard on my asthma (not to mention breathing metal filings). Wet-sanding was a dream, knocking off hours of work, and keeping the dust under control. Wet-sanding also produced a smoother/shinier finish.
5.If you happy without a chrome look, the sanded aluminum will give a very nice “brushed aluminum” appearance. It’s not reflective, but very bright and clean. Polishing will produce amazing results, but cleaning the residue left by the rubbing compound is hard work.
6.To avoid detailed masking like I did, simply mask the whole wheel. Then use a sharp knife to cut away the undesired sections. I found this to leave very jagged edges of unpainted surface, and generally a very rough look. It also creates risk of damaging your base paint.
7.This is possibly my strongest recommendation of all; DON’T **** UP THE CLEAR COAT. If you do, you have very limited options. Paint striper, at this point, will just destroy your fine finish. To remove the paint, you will need to sand it away, which means starting all over again.
Was it worth it?
NO! If you choose to follow all my steps, you’ll lose your job, your wife will leave you, and you’ll kill yourself from driving yourself crazy by obsessing. To finish these wheels in the detail I have, requires a lot of work, nerve, patience, and most off all passion.
It took me two weeks of full-time hours to complete these wheels, plus another week because I messed up the clear coat and had to restart from scratch. My hands were sanded raw, my wrists jammed from the same repetitive motion, and I hated myself.
You may not have the same bad luck as me, but I am obsessive compulsive and cause myself more problems and grief than is necessary. But I warn you that this job does require a lot of hard work.
1. Here are some detailed pictures of the wheels before they were painted. I also took the extra step to clean and scrub the back sides. This was made easy by using varsal, but still requires some elbow grease. I used a spray bottle for the varsal and scrubbed away the dirt and gunk using rags.
In the pictures, note the rough edges from where the wheel weights were mounted, and the small blotchy speckles caused from clear coat chips. It helps to give your wheels a scrub and wash, so you can access the damage/corrosion/ware better.
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6569.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6570.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6572.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6573.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6574.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6575.jpg
2. The most essential requirement to a great looking wheel starts with removing the clear coat. If you are looking for a chrome-like finish, you will also need to remove the machine marks made on the wheels. This is where things get tricky, and unfortunately is the path I took.
I removed the clear coat and sanded down the machine marks using a 100grit sandpaper on a rotating buffing machine. I used a sandpaper attachment on my rotating buffer. I urge you to use low revs and be careful along edges and bends, as the sharp edge of the sandpaper can do swift damage. You can also use finer grit for this process. All together, this process should take you about 20minutes per wheel.
Once the clear coat and machine marks have been sanded down, the surface of the wheel will look shiny, but very rough, possibly worse than before sanding. Don’t worry, you’ve only started.
Here is where you begin sanding. After using a 100grit on a rotating buffer, I started with 220grit paper. It helps to have a pad to avoid ware/tear on your hands, but a small pad is ideal as these wheels have small corners and sharp bends. You can use dry or wet sanding techniques, but I found that wet-sanding was much quicker and less messy for me.
Continue sanding with 220grit paper until all your machine-sanding marks are gone. The metal should become smooth, with only microscopic scratches. Once you feel satisfied, move to 400grit, then 600grit, and then 800grit, etc…
The finer you sand, the smoother the surface will become. As you work up to finer sandpaper, you will notice the scratches disappear. At 400grit, I noticed that the scratches were only visible in very strong light, and at 800grith they were not visible at all.
At this point, you will also notice that the metal is getting smoother, but not shinier. In fact, the metal will appear quite dull, don’t panic. Again, you can sand as finely as you’d like. I found that 800grit worked well for me, some will recommend going to 1500grit. In fact, I would have been happy to stop at 600grit. Notice that the surface is very smooth, but also very dull.
The sanding process should take you 8 to 10hours per wheel (1 to 2 hours with each grit, although the initial sanding after the machine will take the longest). Here are some pictures from after the sanding process.
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6576.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6577.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6579.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6580.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6584.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6585.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6587.jpg
3. After sanding the surface smooth, you are now ready to polish the bare metal. This is also where your hard work starts to pay off. I used “3M Perfect II Rubbing Compound” and a buffing pad on my buffer. Both of these products are used to buff new car paint, and so you can find these at any auto-body shop.
I am not sure how toxic this material is, but it recommends avoiding skin contact. Personally, I did not follow this caution. Use small drops every few inches, it helps to spread evenly before you buff. Avoid using too much, as this product is really tough to remove, and a little bit will do the trick. Follow instructions on the bottle. It should take about 30minutes per wheel.
Rubbing compound is used to remove impurities in the surface and encourage shine. So after buffing, pure metal is exposed, with its true shine, and you will need to work quickly. You will notice that the compound’s residue is caked on along all the small corners of the wheel. This residue is tough stuff, and easiest (relatively speaking) to remove using water.
To remove the residue, I used a very clean and soft cloth to scrub as I slowly poured water over the surface I was scrubbing. It should take about 1hour per wheel to clean and remove the residue. The wheels will look like this.
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6608.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6611.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6612.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6613.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6614.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6616.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6618.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6624.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6627.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6631.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6636.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6643.jpg
4. Now that you have buffed and removed the residue, you will need to rush as the bare polished metal starts to corrode. Make sure the wheel is properly cleaned and prepped for masking. The following are pictures of the unconventional and thorough method I’ve used for masking.
These wheels have very small corners and bends, a masking nightmare. To properly curve tape around these bends, I used small snips of tape. Other methods involve taping the wheel roughly, and using a knife to cut away the undesired sections. However, this method leaves sharp uneven/jagged edges. Using my method, and being thorough, it should take about 8 to 10hours to mask each wheel.
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6590.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6593.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6594.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6595.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6597.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6600.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6601.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6603.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6645.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6605.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6606.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_6607.jpg
5. After masking is complete, you are ready to paint. Make sure the painting surface is scuffed so the paint will adhere better. Make sure to apply a couple of coats of primer. I used ordinary car paint. High heat paint is not recommended, as it takes much longer and high temperatures to cure properly.
Once your paint has been applied, you have a short window before you must apply your clear coat. When you peel off the masking, you will notice that the tape has left behind a sticky residue. Use a clean cloth and small spurts of brake-clean to remove the residue, do not use varsal or any other oily products. Be careful not to scratch the wheel’s polished finish. This should take about 10minutes per wheel.
Once cleaned, you may apply the clear coat. Be very careful as clear coat is very tricky. If possible, get a friend to do it, so you will have someone to blame if he/she messes it up. I “baked” the wheels in a hot room, at about 40 degC, for a few hours, and waited another 2days for the paint to cure before mounting tires. Here is what the finished product will look like.
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_5863.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_5867.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_5871.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_5872.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_5875.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_5876.jpg
http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51 ... 0_5877.jpg
Recommendations
1.If you are happy with the finish of your stock IROC wheels, you can avoid sanding all together. Sanding is, by-far, the longest and most painstaking process of this job. Simply use paint stripper to remove the clear coat, scruff the existing paint, and repaint the wheel.
2.If you have chosen to remove the machine marks, you are probably kicking yourself from all the sanding you are having to do. I was only able to find 100grit paper for the buffing/sander, and so took a lot of sanding to have a smooth surface. The initial sanding must be coarse enough to remove the machine marks, but fine enough to avoid unnecessary sanding.
3.When you are using the sanding machine, I recommend only sanding the spokes, as all other details are hard to notice in the finished product anyway. It will be very difficult to “elegantly” remove the machine marks from the center hump and outside rim edge. So save yourself the work. This will also avoid damaging sharp edges with the sander.
4.I initially started with dry-sanding, taking about 15hours per wheel. It was messy and very dusty, hard on my asthma (not to mention breathing metal filings). Wet-sanding was a dream, knocking off hours of work, and keeping the dust under control. Wet-sanding also produced a smoother/shinier finish.
5.If you happy without a chrome look, the sanded aluminum will give a very nice “brushed aluminum” appearance. It’s not reflective, but very bright and clean. Polishing will produce amazing results, but cleaning the residue left by the rubbing compound is hard work.
6.To avoid detailed masking like I did, simply mask the whole wheel. Then use a sharp knife to cut away the undesired sections. I found this to leave very jagged edges of unpainted surface, and generally a very rough look. It also creates risk of damaging your base paint.
7.This is possibly my strongest recommendation of all; DON’T **** UP THE CLEAR COAT. If you do, you have very limited options. Paint striper, at this point, will just destroy your fine finish. To remove the paint, you will need to sand it away, which means starting all over again.
Was it worth it?
NO! If you choose to follow all my steps, you’ll lose your job, your wife will leave you, and you’ll kill yourself from driving yourself crazy by obsessing. To finish these wheels in the detail I have, requires a lot of work, nerve, patience, and most off all passion.
It took me two weeks of full-time hours to complete these wheels, plus another week because I messed up the clear coat and had to restart from scratch. My hands were sanded raw, my wrists jammed from the same repetitive motion, and I hated myself.
You may not have the same bad luck as me, but I am obsessive compulsive and cause myself more problems and grief than is necessary. But I warn you that this job does require a lot of hard work.
lol woulda had a few more steps to follow
