restoring rims
 

ok, so i bought a set of 15x7 snowflakes for my t/a. since someone tried to convert it to a '77 S/E i figured i would finish. so i have the whole gold on black thing going, but i have these rims i wanna clean up. so i have a dremel with almost every attachment you could think of to shine the metal up, but about the paint.
what is the exact name of the gold color on the rims? anyone know, and if anyone would know, where could i get some rattle can paint for them or should i just have them done somewhere. these are only for a DD, not a show car
any clues?


thanks

I saw a write up somewhere on this, maybe transamcountry.com

You may want to get them media blasted for maximum adhesion.

ok, ill ask my boss at work how much it would be to get them sandblasted. (i work for a sandblasting place) should i go ahead and get them primed right away?

Hang on one second.

You mean to tell me you work for a sandblasting place and you were going to screw around with a Dremel??? LOL :mrgreen:

Seriously though, sand may be too agressive if these wheels are aluminum. Glass bead blasting is better for soft metals like aluminum and brass.

NOT SAND. You'll wreck the aluminum.

http://www.actionsalvage.com/hupcap.asp

:D

we dont use sand, we have this abrasive called black beauty, and it has 3 diff. grit types, and we do all other kinds of media blasting. (aluminum oxide, etc. just to name some)
my boss used to be the pres. of some kind of f-body club or w/e, so he knows alot and he himself has a 76 HO455 4 speed, im trying to get him on this site to give advice and maybe become a sponsor.

Make sure you pick the right media for aluminum or you will destroy your rims. You guys are the pros, but black beauty/silicon carbide as well as aluminum oxide are way too agressive in my opinion.

Edit:

Have a look at this chart from Eastwood:

http://www.eastwoodco.com/jump.jsp?i...8&iSubCat=1478

I use that stuff in my blast cabinet. Pretty tough for those rims.

Wait a minute........if the wheels have a polished aluminum section on them then I would highly discourage you from blasting them. If you are going to blast them I would only use baking soda as it won't dig too deep into the surface but will remove the paint.

See if either of these help:

ok so i talked to my boss today, and he said to get them glass bead blasted would be like $25 a rim for me, 45 otherwise. so then i asked about getting them primed and painted and i asked if it would be like under $100 a rim, he said yea, so i might do it. we have this killer gold paint also that has gold flake in it, and it looks just like the right color, so we might use that. but once they are done, i still gotta get center caps, some shiny lugs and tires for the rims. and i only paid 250 for the rims.

gotta love cars

Starlight black.

Solar gold.

I believe that is the color combo for the 77-81 TA's.

thanks

and i was just suggesting the aluminum oxide as one of the things we can do, i know its way to hard for the rims. and its good to use in a private cabinet b/c its reuseable.
and apparently, if i tape off the polished aluminum parts of the rim, the glass bead wont bother them

if you give me the vin # and RPO code for the paint, i can get you the correct name from our computer database at work. i could also get you the mix formula for dupont's chromabase line of paints (won't help unless someone uses chromabase to mix your paint), but the formula comes with a color chip that you could carry around with you at the store/where ever to try to match up to rattle cans or whatever.

the code for the paint should be on the RPO sticker on the bottom line, usually preceded by BC/CC or the number that has the letter'U' in it, as in 'U833'. this will work for most GM vehicles, btw.

Not sure a 1980 TA has an RPO tag - I think that started somewhere in the 3rd gens. Also, very likey not a BC/CC deal in 1980.

Your paint code s/b on your cowl tag.

I heard this guy mentioned a few times this weekend for doing outstanding restores on these wheels. A NastyZ28 sponsor.

FBodywarehouse - New and Used Second Generation F Body Parts

this works though
http://www.fbodywarehouse.com/fbw/home.php

Thanks, I didn't realize the link changed.

i love the fbodywarheouse actually, thats where i bought the rims from, along with other random parts

I just had 5 of my 79 Camaro Turbine rims restored. (two are actually getting done now)

The place is called Wheels America They do GREAT work. I paid wholesale because of the shop that I work at. $110 per wheel.

The wheels look brand new.