Project Bling: Completed (restored wheels and other stuff) *56k WARNING

[mk2_suprafan]

damn, you rock dude... i know ive said it before, but im just letting you know. i attempted my power steering cap, failed big time. i got it smooth, but not as shiny as i wanted it so i just painted it and "polished" the T area of it. looks pretty good, but not as good as yours.

i wanna see what polished brake calipers would look like on our cars

[stevrock]

So, out of curiosity (and my lazyness), could you have sandblasted it instead of sand it down with the the paper and still get the same results?

Or is sanding with paper the only choice?

[mk2_suprafan]

you can sandblast to help with the clean up, but i dont think youre gonna get a polished shine with sandblasting. besides, if doing something like the power steering pump, you dont wanna sand blast that becuase its messy and you can get shit up inside it and mess it up.

[SilverMk2]

So, out of curiosity (and my lazyness), could you have sandblasted it instead of sand it down with the the paper and still get the same results?

Or is sanding with paper the only choice?

On the wheel faces, no. If you blast the faces of the wheels they'll be all pitted and you'll have more sanding to do. You then have to sand the machining lines out then the pitting in the valleys. If you bead blast the wheels mask the faces off it will save you a lot of work. Boy do I ever remember polishing my old stockers like that. I think I spent about 40 hrs worth of sanding on mine and ended up with blisters all over. Thank god for aftermarket wheels

[Tire Shredder]

On the wheel faces, no. If you blast the faces of the wheels they'll be all pitted and you'll have more sanding to do. You then have to sand the machining lines out then the pitting in the valleys. If you bead blast the wheels mask the faces off it will save you a lot of work. Boy do I ever remember polishing my old stockers like that. I think I spent about 40 hrs worth of sanding on mine and ended up with blisters all over. Thank god for aftermarket wheels

When you think you are finished sanding....sand more!

[SupraFiend]

rim shops often use walnut shells to blast wheels. Definantly don't use sand, glass beads or walnut shells.

[stevrock]

damn, I wanted to be lazy.

I guess I'll just have to pay somebody :P

[RedP85]

When you do lazy work, so are the results.
You get what you worked for !

[stevrock]

So to polish them you just keep sanding (with 400grit) until they are shiny again? (just the rims, I wouldn't blast the powersteering)

I don't actually mean lazy, I mean more of a quick and effective way. But then again, if it were a quick and effective way, it would just be "the way".

[Tire Shredder]

I think you need to go back and read the directions in the first post...I outlined the steps I took in detail.