Ok I just got these "new" Sun rhinolites off ebay and they are definitly not in "NEW just laced up" condition the seller said they were. They need to be trued and and cleaned up quite a bit.

Any ways this is not a rip on seller issue. I want the rims to look as CHROME as possible. The face of the rims where the spokes go in is polished pretty nice but needs a good amount of "touch up". The sidewalls however are dull and spots of oxidation. So far I have taken some semi-chrome polish and gone over by hand then went back over again with the dremil with more semi-chrome polish. They look pretty nice but here is the problem. There are still fine scratches, just super shiney. Is there a special technique or just more dremil/hand work to rid them of the fine scratches. I would like a smooth finish when done. I am asking for help cause I dont want to get carried away and ruin the rims. Thanks for any advice I can get!!

Ian

I think you could take 1000 - 1200 grit wet paper and wet sand the scratches out then put some mothers polish on and rub the crap out of them. they should shine like chrome. SR

[ February 17, 2005, 03:26 PM: Message edited by: standardracer ]

So far I agree with standard...send me a picture and let me see how they look!!

Rats, I am having trouble getting a focused pic. I guess it doesnt read the polished area well and keeps focusing on the background. I tried taking in several different areas. I will give a wing at what your suggesting on the inside of the rim to try it out. If I can get it to work then I will procede to the outside. Thanks.

Sounds like the Dremel is your problem...not enough speed/torque for the size of the object being worked on. It's kinda like trying to spray the jambs on a car with an airbrush. Color sand paper is a good idea as STANDARD suggested...it also comes in dry form that you can stick on a palm sander without the water mess. The only other problem is if you make these rims too shiney you might not be able to stop eh?

For starters) set your camera to the little flower setting (its called macro if your camera doesn't have it as a flower) ... its for extra close up pics

2) are the rims chrome plated or just highly polished silver ? .... if silver the fine grit and some Blue Magic alluminium polish should do the trick (your better off carefully unlacing and then rebuilding the wheel if you want perfection) .............. if they are chrome plated, the fine scratches won't polish out, may need to compound them and then polish, again its way easier if you unlace the wheels

Dr. the rims were just highly polished on the face side (where the spokes are) and a dull brushed look on the sidewalls. I went to try your macro setting suggestion and wouldnt you know it both batteries were dead, so they are charging now, I will take at least "after" pics a little later. I aggree with you on unlacing the wheel, I just dont have enough time right now to do that and relace and all. I am not really looking for that showroom finish, just a good clean look. And those dull sidewalls wernt cutting it. But as I keep working on them, they may turn out showroom perfect. Once ya start its hard to put it down!

So this is what I have done so far. they were polished by hand the first time around. Not completely satisfied I busted out the dremel with a soft to med soft buffing wheel and more polish. BIG difference! but still a good amount of fine scratches on the sidewalls (the oxidation on both the face and sidewalls came off beautifully!!). So I post my help request. I moved to the inside of the rim to test it before I used on the outside. I sanded a small area with 800 then 2000 and polished it-awesome!! So I proceed to the sidewalls and they are looking tons better. I need to clean of the residue in all the spoke holes and around the nipples to get a better idea. I may take another round with the 2000 grit and repolish some more, but as it stands after I clean the crap up they may be fine. I will post pics later today. Thanks again guys!