Diamond spoke sse wheels

[oldslss]

hey everybody,

just grabbed a set of diamond spoke Bonneville wheels from a 1991 sse for a 100$ came with a whole bunch of spare center pieces to however the rims are in rough shape and need to be sanded and repainted. i haven't done this type of work to cross laces or aluminum is there any certain grit for sand paper i should be looking for , also what kind of paint i should be using on the aluminum? and if anyone's done this work to cross laces what steps you did from start to finish.

thanks!

[Calplaya]

Good questions, apparently from the lack of responses you arnt the only one with no answers there. It will be interesting what others say, for sure, if anyone says anything that is. Id imagine someone on here has experience here....

[Jfridge92]

I don't have any personal experience with them, but I do recall that the crosslace rims have a VERY hefty coating on them that's very hard to get off. I'd start slow and hit them with an aggressive grit sandpaper and see what that does, but I can't say for certain.

[oldslss]

the rims are in very poor shape paints peeling off and such, so i assume that coating is pretty well gone. but i will still have to use a rough grit as a base ,

hoping others can chime in about paints and the overall process so i know what i need to purchase at the parts store, being broke and in college makes costly mistakes tough to overcome!

[MattStrike]

What I did:

(Remove the old rim weights!!!)
Used a wire wheel to clean up as much as I could - careful as you are dealing with aluminum. Wire brushes and 3 stages of sandpaper to smooth everything else down. Note - the existing coating will only come off where the rim has oxidized beneath it, you are mostly feathering the edges so they are not visible.

Next: Two coats of Rustoleum professional grade paint. I used flat white.
Three coats of color: I used the closest matching body paint to my car.
Five coats of clear last.

Let stand for 24 hours before putting into service, and then thermal-cycled them with a short drive with a lot of braking. After another 48 hours the paint should be mostly cured, I took them to the carwash and cleaned them up (brake dust!). I use center weights on them now instead of edge biters.

See page 12 of the Resto' thread in my signature for a picture of mine after about 8 months (and the reason to remove the rim weights first!).

[Backhoe]

I did mine the old fashioned way, steel wool by hand on the lips and glass beaded the spokes with the polished parts taped off. It took a bit longer, but I didn't want to create any more work by messing up the lips too much. Make sure if you use a wire wheel on a drill for the lip to remove clear, (I used a 6 inch wheel), that the strands are fairly light gauge, and bend easily, as the heavier type will remove material from the rim. Mine are still a work in progress, with lots of wet sanding left to do for that mirror finish.

I used a liquid mask called Fasmask in the groove at the edge, got it at the hobby shop. It worked really well, in a tight spot, you just need to put on a few coats, to build up enough so it pulls off in 1 piece, nice and easy.

http://www.pontiacbonnevilleclub.com/fo ... 37185.html

[yourgrandma]

I wouldnt try to strip those wheels with anything but a sandblaster.