Whats the best way to Restore Ls Mesh wheels?

I searched for good write ups/videos on this topic but havent found anything useful.

I just picked up a set of LS meshes that came off a parted out 99 teg. its in decent condition with fairly new tires. The outter face of the rims are a little rough with scuffings (here and there) and rust build up. The Inner part of the wheels is rusted with no shine at all!... The wheels had been sitting for a while collecting dust and moist....

Im just trying to figure out, which spraying compound is recommended to scrub off the rust?

or better yet, do you know of any good write ups with pictures or videos that could help?...

air craft the shit
polish
then clear

paint them flat black or Polish them

Yea I was thinking Polished for now. You know that minty clean look.

Air craft ... Thats the paint remover right?... Im going to get a pic up later, but how good is that on Rust?... Because I know for sure, its gonna need some serious attention....

here's a pic of one wheel. The rest are very similar to this.

The inner part is where most of the rust is... Not the biggest deal but I'd like to have a clean rust free environment... lol

yeah it is
BTW im pretty sure aluminum doesnt rust but it DOES corrode, it might also be brake dust that seems to look like rust
i would still go to town with the air craft paint remover it should take it right off
in for pics, i got mine all curved and clear coat peeling when i was done they looked like new just sold them for $200 tho

BeatBox said:

yeah it is
BTW im pretty sure aluminum doesnt rust but it DOES corrode, it might also be brake dust that seems to look like rust
i would still go to town with the air craft paint remover it should take it right off
in for pics, i got mine all curved and clear coat peeling when i was done they looked like new just sold them for $200 tho

Click to expand...

Lol I just got them last night. havent really looked at them today. But from what I remember It looked pretty bad and rough in the dark so i assumed it was rust?... But you might be right tho.

So Lemme get this right.... Stuff I need:
Paint remover...
Scrub Brush?
What kind of polish compound?

And since im stipping the paint and going for "Polished" do i need to re-paint with clear coat or anything?...

Have them polished.

Sandblasting the rim would be the easiest and fastest way to get it ready for whatever your next step is. And trust me... be very prepared to spend the rest of your life trying to polish these wheels. I have put in over 60 hours on just one wheel trying to polish or invest in tons of different attachment tools for polishing purposes.

I had my ls meshies painted and then have spent 60 + hours using aircraft paint stripper and the steps in the DIY polishing wheels thread.

Start


Where I'm at now (i have 2 rims like this now)

I like the second picture! What is that color? gunmetal?

And Yea Im probably get them as clean looking as possible, ride on it for a while, then get it ready to be painted later on since im busy with school now.

P-o-l-i-s-h

IMO paint in between the spokes and polish the lip and the face of the wheel only(will end up looking close to that up there in the second pic)
like mentioned its gonna take for ever to do but will look good in the end

that 2nd picture up there looks perfect :thumbs up