Style 5 refinishing

[rdpower]

Well I started refinishing my style 5's, and it going pretty well I have them all disassembled, and the clear coat off the barrels. Taking the bolts out definently sucked the most, and was the most time consuming. Other than that everything has gone pretty smoothly.

Here are the pictures I have so far-




This is what I used to get the clear coat off. It worked like a charm. I then used a steel wool pad to scrape off the residue. One warning though, dont get that stuff on your skin, at one point I got it on one of my forearms and it started burning badly right away.

[rdpower]

Where did everyone find there sandpaper? I have looked at a couple of places and the highest grit that I can find is 600, and Im looking for some up to 2000??

Also what is the consensus on clear coating the rims after being polished? I understand the pro's and con's of both, but will adding a clear coat really dull the finish that much?

[rdpower]

I just got done sanding down one of the rims, I bought a set of sand paper from Home Depot that said it was made for sanding metal. It came with 3 different grits(coarse, medium, fine). I used all three but it doesnt seem to get all the scratches out of the metal. Should I go get a higher grit paper, and if so does it have to be a paper made for metal or is normal sandpaper the same?

Where can you find 2000 grit paper?

Here are some pictures. The one of the right is the one I sanded down and polished and the one of the left just has the clear coat removed.

[pottsalot]

doesnt loook to bad man, maybe a little more sanding and polishing and they'll be minty fresh

[randytt]

good luck.. i finished mines a while ago... turn out great! looks like u got a lot of sanding still to go. still way to rough.

u can get 2000grit at most auto stores. i got mines at walmart tho.

[Eddy@ApexRaceParts]

i made the mistake of going to home depot the first time i wanted fine paper. randytt is correct, auto stores will carry paper up to 2500 i believe. you can also buy it on line if your not pressed for time.

they look good. I almost prefer the brushed look to the polished look.

[rdpower]

Ya I just went and got 1000, 1500, and 2000 grit as well as some steel wool. So far I havent really done that much sanding. Do I really have that much more to do?

Did you do I write up on yours? What did you do to clean your bolts? Did you put a clear coat or just wax? Any other pointers?

[Mr Steele325i]

Those are some sexy wheels!

[Veedubbvr6]

Yea man, nice job!

[rdpower]

I went through the process of sanding the rim two more times(600, 800, 1000, 1500, 2000) as well as a rubbing compound and a polisher, but still have those fine little scratches.

Am I doing something wrong, missing something, or is this normal? Any help will be greatly appriciated.

[KR98E36]

What did you do about the bolts?? did you polish, paint, or just left them alone?
I'm picking up 3 of my style 5's tomorrow from the shop from being refinished.. only 3 because the 4th had just a small blemish and I didn't think it was worth the money if its not very noticable. But I may refinish it later myself if it gets worse.

[rdpower]

I havent gotten to cleaning the bolts yet, and I havent heard or seen of a good way to do it other than with a wire brush and hard work. That is other than buying all new bolts.

[FredK]

You can put the bolts in a vibratory tumbler and get them replated

The reason why the scratches are still present is because you likely used some pretty harsh sandpaper at first like 220 grit. The sanding scratches will only come out with ~400 grit sandpaper, maybe even with a intermediate step of 320 if you want to get it done quicker. So get some 400 grit and sand lightly, then move to 600 grit and all the way back up again.

[rdpower]

So do you think that if I went back to 320 then 400, 600,800,1000,1500, and then 2000 that would be alright. Do you think there would be any jumps in grit that are too large?

[Bring The Noise]

Sorry to hijack thread but how'd u get them to fit your e36?
isn't the et like 20" or something

[KR98E36]

Sorry to hijack thread but how'd u get them to fit your e36?
isn't the et like 20" or something

they fit fine, all you need are 1.5mm hubcentric rings.

[rdpower]

I think I finally got the process down. I resanded the rim using 320, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1500, and 2000 grit. Then used a polishing compound and then neverdull. I think it turned out great. Now onto the other 4 rims.

[Veedubbvr6]

Damn! Bling, Bling!

[Wellageddriver3308]

after sanding with 2000 i sand one more time with money...use a dollar bill to sand with...it works well also

[Daved]

Amazing work, congrats!

[rdpower]

Hey thanks guys, at this point I have 3 done, and should have the last 2 finished today. They I just have to figure out what Im going to do with the centers.

Any suggestions? What did everyone else decide to do with them?

[dcvee]

Hey thanks guys, at this point I have 3 done, and should have the last 2 finished today. They I just have to figure out what Im going to do with the centers.

Any suggestions? What did everyone else decide to do with them?

If you can find a machine shop in your area that has a vibratory bowl finisher you can easily polish your bolt heads without any labor. 95% of machine shops will have them. This would also work on your centers too.

Ammunition reloaders also use them to polish brass casings.

Edit..your rims look GREAT!!

Don

[sfgearhead]

be careful with the bolts, i think i read somewhere that they are one time only use. they are designed to stretch when torqued to the proper setting, and they won't hold properly if you reuse them.

to be safe i'd go with new bolts. given that you've saved the money by polishing yourself (and they look fantastic!) splurge and go for new bolts.

~ ian lomax BSME

[rdpower]

^^I have heard that, but I have also heard that it isnt true. I suppose I should read around to find out the real answer. Most of the write ups on refinishing style 5's say that they reused their bolts without any problems.

[rdpower]

I just finished sanding and polishing all the rims. Overall they turn out much better than I had thought, and although my hands are killing me at this point it went pretty smoothly.
Now I just have to figure out what to do with the bolts and the fronts. I know that I can have them professionally done, but I would really prefer doing these myself.