Refinishing Stock Wheels

[High Roller]

It seems there have been more than a few people posting something or other about refinishing or needing to refinish stock wheels lately. I thought I would share something that might save some of ya'll a few bucks.
This sounds completely crazy, but it works. First, unless your wheels are straight and don't have DEEP scratches, curb rash, etc. this isn't going to work.
Remove the center caps and make sure the valve stems don't stick out past the surface of the wheel. If they do, they'll have to be removed. This can be done with the tires on or off.
Simply jack up the rear axle and place it on jack stands. (Make sure both rear wheels are clear, and the fronts are chocked real good.) Crank the car, put it in second or third gear and let it run. Using a sanding block with wet/dry sandpaper and a garden hose, simply let the wheel turn and do the work for you. Start with a medium to fine grit and work your way up until you get the finish you want. Switch the front wheels to the back, spray on some clearcoat, and you're done.

[JTurbo]

Interesting Perry - do you have any before and after pictures?

[MAPSVO]

I have done that a couple of times on the 14" stock wheels that come on the 84 Turbo Gts. I have the tires dismounted and that way I can use a file on the lip to deal with curb rash too. I usually paint the holes in the wheel before I start and the sandpaper removes the paint from the flat surface and leaves the holes painted. This process works pretty well. I did find that when I spray the clear while the wheel is rotating I seem to get too much on there, so on the last set I did the clear after I took the wheel off. Seems like idle in 3rd gear works best for me. I set up a fan in front of the car to provide some airflow over the radiator too.

[High Roller]

I don't have before/after pictures now, but I do have an old set that I'm planning to do sometime soon. I'll try to post pictures then.

[SVOinDC]

Perry- any luck with this?

[gbeaird]

Dragging this up from the dead. We have a spare set of wheels, and the tires on the SVO really need replacing (one flat spot from an autocross finish that went sideways and very old tires). I'd like to get the spare wheels refinished before putting new tires on them, so they'll look nice should we show it.

I'm NOT doing this myself! Who's the current go-to for this service? I'm okay with shipping them off if there's a good refinisher somewhere in the US. I haven't looked locally yet, but intend to. Thanks.

[FLhotrod]

I had this local franchise do a set of 5 spoke and I have plans to use them for my F-150 wheel in a couple of months. You might see if there is a franchise near you.

https://www.awrswheelrepair.com/

Regards,
Harry

[gbeaird]

Cool. Thank you. I have also had a recommendation for Wheels America. I may send both a query to see how they stack up.