torque thrust type wheel restoration

[camarojoe]

I agree with Belair... another thing i usually do is dust a light coat of argent silver paint on the spokes after beadblasting. You want to try to maintain the "raw cast" look, but the light coat of paint makes them a zillion times easier to keep clean and new looking. The key is to not put "too much" paint on them, you dont want the spokes to "look" painted, you just want to cover the raw aluminum so it doesn't dull or corrode. As for the rim, you can use VERY fine grit sandpaper to clean up any light oxidization prior to hand polishing, (600 grit or so works well) or even better, send them out to a professional polisher. I do believe there are places that can actually "re-machine" the rims if you want to totally duplicate the way they would have looked when new. it's tuff to beat the look of a set of old-school 5 spoke mag wheels!