i have a set of old school bbs mahle rims, that i would like to refinish.....
it was recomended that i use aluminum oxide or garnet to take the original finish off....i am not sure if they are powder coated or another type of finish...i would leave them be...but they are really scratched up......the finish is fairly thick.....
they are not going to be polished , just paint......

just got in from the shop....
and WOO-HOO
aircraft stripper does the trick

Make sure you get ALL of that stuff off and neutralized before you start to paint or you WILL be sorry! I would also recommend glassbeading them for a nice even finish prior to painting. If you choose to powder coat them, aluminum oxide will werk also. I suggest glass bead for painting omly because it leaves a smoother finish. Paint over aluminum oxide blasting will leave etch marks that powder will fill in. I speak from several years of experience as a painter and now a powder coater !

If you're going to paint or powder coat you can get away with media.

If you're going to polish...

DO NOT media blast. I did, and it was a *lot* of work knocking it back down to get a mirror finish. Like this:

Hey Mike,
what was the process you used to polish? I have a set of C2 turbo's I want polished for my 944 ( currently oxide blasted)and a set of 2 litre Fuch's for a 914 I REALLY want polished. Seems like a LOT of time involved.?

I started with glass bead blasting (with old, beat up, very fine glass bead). Then sanded with 80 grit, 120, 200, 320, 400, 600, and even some work with 1000 grit. From 200 grit on up I wet sanded (mostly). Then 3 different polishing compunds with the last being the finest and on a real buffer, not just a little dremel or die grinder. I even filed, sanded and polished the little ridges in the hole edges.

It took 30 hours to do that one wheel. It was beautiful, but I didn't do another one and I'll probably never do it again.

Al Reed earns every penny of his money to polish wheels. He's done 3 or 4 (5?) sets for me since I tried it myself.

thanks mike!!!
i have not decided if i will polish the lips....we will see as time gets closer....
they are a real cool set ...and we all like cool sets, polished or not...

I had my fuchs done a few years back and 1st media blasted with plastic then took to a wheel polisher and they have shine all over.
Click to view attachment

scotty...how do i rinse the aircraft stripper off before prepping??

Water alone does just fine. For a little added safety I would suggest a little pressure behind it and maybe even scrub them with a soft brush after the initial hosing.once they dry, glass bead or plastic blasting should remove any residual stuffs. So how much does Al Reed charge, and how good of a job does he do? I'm looking for a FULL polish on the 2.0 as in no scratches and mirror like shine/sheen