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| Refinishing/restoring the stock JH wheels | Rate Topic |
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| Posted: 08-26-2015 08:52 pm |
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1st Post |
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answerman Member
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Who has had luck refinishing/cleaning up the stock JH alloy wheels? I have a total of 13 of them now due to various parts car purchases, and I am ready to experiment. From what I've read, they are a magnesium alloy which is not the easiest to work with. I would like to remove all the paint and clear coat, remove the blemishes and get them to shine, and then repaint the black (I'm trying very hard to keep Ms. Jenavieve as faithful to factory as possible, so I don't want to go the Panasport route). I've tried wheel cleaner, emery paper, polishing compound, and a couple of other things on the "bare" parts with middling success. The next step is probably bead blasting, but I was curious what other peoples' experience has been and what worked for you.
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| Posted: 08-27-2015 09:32 pm |
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2nd Post |
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dwalls1 Member
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I tried different things on my own, but what I received from http://www.wheelcollision.com was absolutely the best and renders any other effort moot. Check out their site. $600.00 exchange sounds pricey, but, believe me it isn't. Their redone wheels look new and are better quality than new.
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| Posted: 08-27-2015 09:43 pm |
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3rd Post |
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answerman Member
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Yeah, I looked at their site (the price has gone up to $160 per wheel with exchange now). It's a possibility, though I want to try some other ideas first especially since I have so many spare wheels to work with. I dropped off one today to be bead blasted as an experiment, we'll see how that looks when it's done.
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| Posted: 08-27-2015 09:55 pm |
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4th Post |
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dwalls1 Member
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That sure is $10.00 more per wheel. Still worth it in my opinion, but you know what they say about opinions.
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| Posted: 09-04-2015 12:16 am |
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5th Post |
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Tom Bradley Member
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I got curious and did some experimenting on one of my spare wheels. What I found was that I had to start with 400 grit sandpaper to get the bare parts smooth without spending outrageous amounts of time. Then going to 800 grit wet/dry (done wet) made a pretty good surface. The original finish was never mirror-smooth, so stopping here might look fairly original. I also went over portions with 1500 and 2000 grit w/d. The 1500 grit also looked good. After the 2000 grit it was definitely shinier than what I remember, but maybe that is good. If you have a spinning pedestal like a wheel polishing shop has, most of it might go fairly fast. But the bare spots between the black squares I had to smooth out by going in and out radially because the surface was pretty uneven in that direction. Doing that part seems like a lot of work, but the result is probably better than any sort of sand blasting, even with very fine sand. Paying $160/wheel does not sound that bad, considering. Depends on how they do. I would like to see a close-up pic (especially of the spots between the squares) if anyone has one. But there is the satisfaction of being able to say that you did it yourself, which I always like. Last edited on 09-04-2015 12:17 am by Tom Bradley |
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| Posted: 09-04-2015 03:33 am |
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6th Post |
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Jensen Healey Super Moderator 
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That's what I did, Tom. After the 2000 wet sanding an application of Mothers Aluminum Wheel polish really makes them shine! Jack up the rear of the car, cut off the valve stem, and start the car. Let it idle in first gear. Shade tree polishing stand! Get new tires when finished. Check the lug nut holes for wear, I have some wheels that are so worn they will have to be recycled. Kurt
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| Posted: 09-04-2015 05:27 pm |
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7th Post |
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answerman Member
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Got the blasted one back yesterday, it's nice and clean but not remotely polished at this point. Now, I'm working on a solution... will update when I have more info. A teaser: Jensen ownership is the mother of invention :-)
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| Posted: 09-07-2015 02:59 am |
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8th Post |
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Art DeKneef Member
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Depending on what they used to blast with will determine the surface smoothness. Obviously the finer the material the smoother the finish. If they didn't do it this time ask them about using crushed glass. The glass will remove the paint but doesn't really do anything to rust. Other abrasive material attacks both the paint and rust. I experimented with a couple of mine and got smoother texture using the glass than the 80-grit abrasive. And using sandpaper 400 grit and finer will smooth and polish the ribs just fine. The hard part in my opinion is in painting the wheel. Either you spend a lot of time taping off the ribs or using a water soluble solution you paint on the ribs and can wash off. Slow, tedious work. Last edited on 09-07-2015 03:02 am by Art DeKneef |
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| Posted: 09-08-2015 10:25 pm |
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9th Post |
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answerman Member
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Wheels are scrubbed clean, polished, and the black accents have been repainted. I had to "invent" a machine (which I alluded to above). A used treadmill, the serpentine belt from my old truck, a rotor and bearings from one of my donor cars, and some miscellaneous hardware. Full details (since I assume I can't embed a video here) can be found at http://www.msjenavieve.com/?p=294 Art, I didn't even bother with masking anything to repaint. I just did it all by hand with a small brush. I didn't completely replicate the original look since I think the slots look better if they are actually visible, so all I did was the center, the "roulette wheel" cutouts, and the two recessed rings... a before and after shot here:  Last edited on 09-08-2015 10:26 pm by answerman |
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| Posted: 09-13-2015 03:36 am |
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10th Post |
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Tom Bradley Member
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Nice job. I like your variation with more polished metal. More work but looks better. I also liked your rotating machine. Much better than using the JH engine to do the rotating. Too much exhaust fumes that way. I think the way the original manufacturer did the painting was to spray paint the entire wheel and then sand the paint off the raised surfaces, which is faster and less expensive in production.
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| Posted: 09-14-2015 03:48 am |
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11th Post |
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Art DeKneef Member
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Tom, that makes too much sense. That would be the easiest way to do the rims.
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| Posted: 12-23-2016 05:35 am |
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12th Post |
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dbeliveau74 Member 
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I think the silver spokes look better than the black. I just refinished my Stag wheels and they came out similar see JHPS newsletter for article. Then I used Shark hide from Eastwood to protect the finish. cheers, Dan Attachment: Wheel_polished (500 x 375).jpg (Downloaded 223 times) Last edited on 12-23-2016 05:43 am by dbeliveau74 |
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| Posted: 12-24-2016 02:16 pm |
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13th Post |
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Brett Gibson JH5 20497 Member
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Do Stag rims fit a JH ?? and if so are they 13 or 14 inch. Brett
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| Posted: 12-25-2016 08:14 am |
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14th Post |
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Frank Schwartz Member
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Mr. Answerman: I watched your video and your machine you made is ingenious indeed... I do have a question...that is, how did you clean the center spokes, as I would think the wheel lugs would knock your fingers off...... Frank
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| Posted: 12-26-2016 10:53 pm |
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15th Post |
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dbeliveau74 Member
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The Stag wheels are 14 inch, 5.5 inch wide, with a 1 inch or 28 mm positive offset and a PDA (wheel bolt circle of 4.5 inches or 114.3mm. the Jensen has about 18mm to 20 mm positive offset and a 4 inch or 101.6mm PDA
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| Posted: 12-30-2016 06:12 pm |
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16th Post |
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answerman Member
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Hi Frank! Actually, in the areas I was concerned about losing a finger, I wrapped the sandpaper around a wood stick to hold it in place. The center spokes were pretty much just done by hand, not on the machine. Good to see you're already signed up for Jensen East in Vermont... looking forward to see you there!
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| Posted: 12-31-2016 12:46 am |
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17th Post |
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Frank Schwartz Member
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Yes, It is 1K miles and I think we can make it without too much trouble in one long and one short day...I enjoy the Jensen East meets so much...so many wonderful Jensen folk that I relate to... So, providing illness does not prevent it, I plan to be on hand...maybe we can talk Jay Leno into appearing??? Best regards, Frank
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| Posted: 04-17-2020 06:35 pm |
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18th Post |
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noomg Member
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Anybody ever figure out how they painted the damn things in the first place? It seems that any effort to refinish them is either costly, time consuming or both. Never was a fan of the originals anyway so I replaced them with a set of Panasports shortly after I got my car, a period correct, aftermarket upgrade. Also whoever thought aluminum lug nuts were a good idea, about half of them were stripped when I got the car home.
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| Posted: 04-17-2020 07:02 pm |
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19th Post |
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redracer Member
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Pretty sure they painted the entire wheel black, and then machined off the high spots to expose the aluminum(you can see the groove marks). Then, I believe they clear coated them. All of them were painted cheaply; powder coating would be nice, and there may be a wheel place near us that can do that AND machine off the high spots to expose the aluminum.(The WHEEL WIZARD, Chamblee, GA)
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| Posted: 04-17-2020 09:41 pm |
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20th Post |
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Sander Member 
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I powder coated the wheels black on 352. Kinda went well with the black and white theme. I found a shop that catered to motorcycles that only charged $25 per. I see many "modern cars" with black wheels now. Attachment: IMG_6494.jpg (Downloaded 96 times)
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