DIY: SIR rim refinishing
 

Since a lot of people were asking me questions on this I decided to make a DIY. So here we go...

Materials:
- dishwashing soap
- greenpad
- paint brush
- paint scraper
- LePage Poly Super Strippa
- wet/dry sand paper (I used 320, 400, 800, 2000)
- Microfibre towels
- Mother's aluminum polish

Step 1: Cleaning the rim
You want to make sure you clean the rim very thoroughly. I used dishwasher soap and a greenpad to clean off as much dirt as I could.
http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-...68_4366532.jpg

Step 2: Removing the clear coat
Pour some of the strippa stuff into a cup, bowl or whatever you can find. Apply generous amounts of that stuff onto the rim using the paint brush. Let it sit for about 10-15 minutes and you'll get something that looks like this:
http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-...89_5663682.jpg

Once the bubbling is complete, you can now start to scrape off the clear coat using a paint scraper like so:
http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-...01_1295678.jpg

You might need to apply the strippa stuff more than once if you don't get everything out on the first shot. However, if there is only a tiny amount left on the rim, you can leave it and remove it when you start wet sanding. Once all the clear coat is removed it should look something like this:
http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-...04_8331908.jpg

Give it a quick rinse with a hose:
http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-...007_544476.jpg

Step 3: Wetsanding
Now here comes the fun part! Depending on how badly oxidized or damaged your rims are, you may need to go very coarse. My rims had quite a lot of oxidation and curb rash so I started off with 320 and ended with 2000. You may not have to go through as many grits as I did but whatever. The main thing to remember is try to follow the grains of the aluminum. If you don't, it may end up looking weird. Here are what each of the grits looked like:

320:
http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-...60_8229920.jpg

400:
http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-...81_6970432.jpg

800:
http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-...084_959639.jpg

2000:
http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-...85_7911740.jpg

Step 4: Polishing
Instead of reapplying the clear coat, I decided to just use aluminum polish. I used Mother's polish because I heard it was really good. I used two different towels. One towel I used to rub in the polish until it turned black:
http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-...23_5500724.jpg

Then I wiped off the black stuff with the other clean towel. After everything was done it turned out looking like this:
http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-...33_7140046.jpg

I got almost all the materials I used from Wal-Mart. I went to Canadian Tire for the sandpapers because they had so much more than Wal-Mart. All in all I probably spent $25-30 and spent about an hour and a half on each rim. I think that's pretty damn good considering going somewhere to get it done would cost you about $100 a rim.

nice write up if this was a piracy site id give you reps :P

piracy? I'm lost o_O

Nice write up. All though I personally use a palm sander with a piece of towel attached to the bottom to apply the aluminum polish. It comes out looking so bright it makes your eyes hurt.

Palm sander? What's that? I need something like that cuz polishing is a bitch lol

it fits in your palm and has an attachment on the bottom for you to stick a piece of sand paper on.

rims
 

i would throw that rim in the garbage it does not look safe for the road with that big dent

Ya I saw that too must vibrate like a bitch

jus get a mothers powerball from canadian tire for like 20 bucks.. makes polishing them amazingly easy.. i used a diff diy to do my webbers(def much easier to do sir's as there is not as many spokes). dunno how to upload pics on this **** otherwise i could show u em but they look ****in mint specially for under 100 bucks for all four of em..and yeah that dent in the rim is pretty huge..im surprised it still holds air lol

I'll throw you in the garbage

No vibration at all. Drove 140 with it in the front and nothing.

and you shut up chinaman :P

who di arse you callin chinaman there's no chinaman here foo :p

Usually when these wheels get polished.. the look polished.

You didn't spend enough time on the job. The total time you spent is what a good job takes per rim. But considering the horrid condition of the rim(s) my guess is you didnt give a ****.