dz_speed

Hello all. I just got my Corvette Home in late Feb after being Parked at my granmothers since roughly 05. I'm going to be replacing my Tires so in the mean time I want to refinish my Rally Wheels. My plan is to Sandblast the wheels with a unused Craftsman Sandblaster I got a few years back. I'm also looking at the Eastwood Argent silver and black paint pack. I did a few searches on this site for wheel restos, but couldn't find anything detailed. I remember reading a suggestion to use Walnut media. Any idea What grit and how much I need for four wheels? Also Should i grab a Can of Clear coat from Eastwood for my wheels?
Another Thing i am concerned about is the beauty rings scratched my wheels. These are the current state of my wheels. As you can see Two are painted yellow on the inside of the wheel. Can I Sandblast the yellow away and if so do I need to refinsh the inside? In the image of my beauty rings I have three of the ones on the right, So the clips dont match on the left one. Where can I get a matching beauty ring? Thanks in advance for any help, and sorry for the long post.

Easy Mike

You can sandblast your wheels; they're steel.

Trim ring on the left is a stock 4 clip. Ring on the right is aftermarket multi-clip and left the marks on your rims.

Black wheels in the background are not Corvette.

dz_speed

Hello Mike Thank you for the swift response. Sorry for the Confusion about the black wheels in the picture. They are off my Girlfriends vehicle and I had just posted them on craigslist. I believe the Walnut media was suggested because sand gets in the small crevice of the wheel? About the Beauty Rings maybe I should just purchase a new matching set. Are the after market rings prone to scratching the wheels?

Easy Mike

A good blast of compressed air usually gets rid of blasting sand.

I run both types of trim rings. When I want to impress people, I run the original four clips. For everyday use, I usually have the multi-clips installed.

My multi-clips do not booger up the rim as much as in your pic, but since that area is always covered by the trim ring, it's not a major item with me.

The original 4 clips can also leave a mark on the rim but, obviously, not like the multi-clips.

7T1vette

Walnut media is larger than sand or grit media and will NOT get into tight areas...but it is a milder media and will not 'etch' the wheel surfaces. Sand/carbide-based grit will etch the metal surface, depending on how much pressure you send to the blaster. Adjust pressure to get mild aggression on blaster; it will be slower but create less etching.

Don't worry about the yellow paint...it will be inside the tire. If you want a stock look to your wheels, use sandpapers or drill drum-sander to get rid of the scratches on your wheels, blast them clean, shoot front and back with Dupli-Color 'self etching primer' (will help to prevent rusting and will promote paint adhesion), then shoot back side with semi-gloss black, and [finally] paint front side with Argent silver. The factory did not mask off the holes in the wheels, so some silver paint leaked through the holes and the backside caught some overspray. Or, if you don't want overspray on the back, mask off those holes from the backside of the wheel. There was no clear coat on the factory wheels, but you can do so if you want. With the [aftermarket] rings you have, you will get a lot of scuffing from them anyway, so you decide if you want to reshoot both silver and clear when you make later repairs.

Have fun!

dz_speed

Thank you gentlemen for the replies. It sounds like a little bit of compromise running the aftermarket beauty rings, I'd rather not have the scratches but I'll have to price the four clip beauty rings. The scratches are def from the vettes previous years other owners. An interesting thing to note is why are two of them yellow. I'm sure I'll never know. I'll be ordering the the Eastwood supplies Monday and venture the project to take place late next week. I'll be sure to take plenty of pictures. Thanks again for the through advice

7T1vette

My guess on the yellow wheels is that a PO had two of his tires (complete) stolen years ago. There was a time back in the day that this was commonplace. The yellow ones are likely over-the-counter pieces from the dealer.