Polishing tip

[mro]

Last year when I was cleaning/ polishing the aluminum on one of my SF’s I decide to do the wheels to.
After having to hold the wheel still with one hand and operating a sander in the other I thought there had to be an easer way.
So I made this.





This bracket holds the wheel and allows it to be turned.
Not shown is how it can be mounted vertically next to the bench buffer and then it can buff the rim edges without having to hold either the buffer or wheel.

Today.......
When I made it there were no tires on the rims and when I went to use it today I found that rims with tires mounted would not fit. Modifications were in order as I have eight wheels that are in need of attention and sometime in the future I’ll want to touch up the wheels on the other Xses.



First time I used it I had to sit there and keep the wheel from spinning to fast by hand so this time I added an adjustable friction brake.



I wanted to try it out now so I did not do any prep work as I would normally sand the rim with a palm sander and by hand before polishing.



Now that I know this works I can start over and do them right. Polishing the rim edge is the last thing I do before painting.

[EricHa]

Very nice, those wheels look great! What do you do to get the surface ready for paint, and do you prime first?

[mro]

The painted wheel in the pic was cleaned with laquer thinner, light sanding, cleaned with laquer thinner agin then sprayed with rattle can high temp engine paint.
Engine enamel holds up pretty good and is easy to touch up at any time.

Since I’m doing a bunch of wheels at once I’m going to see if I can afford some two part automotive paint and I’ll spray it on with a touch up gun. If I do that I will strip then prime them with what the paint recommends.