Rehabing Rims on a 75

Hi All:

New to the forum so here is my first question. All four tires are dry rotted on the side-walls and the rims won't hold a bead since they are rusted inside and out. I am getting four new tires (going with stock 225/70/15--Firehawk Indy 500's).

As for the rims... I intend to media blast them to knock off the rust. Now what? I presume paint and clear coat. Any suggestions?

Thanks for the input.

R,
David

steel rims just have paint on them but clear coat shouldn't hurt.

Any of the corvette speciality places stocks the paint that will restore the rims back to a stock apprearance. Do you have rally rims? Have you painted steel before? If you get them sand blasted and you want the paint to "stay", you should look into a good prep, prime, then paint. I bought a 30 gallon air compressor, nice feather/touchup spray gun, so I can mix and match my paint. Cans of paint, unless you get lucky enough to get paint from the same lot, may not exactly match. Remember, it's all in the prep. If it's not prepared correctly, you will not be satisfied with the end results. My 75 came with the original rally rims, which I think are some of the best rims ever produced. They are simple, but great looking. If you have the center hubs and outer rings, I wouldn't mess with a clear coat, but if you are going to run painted rims, maybe I would go with clear coat. As long as you are happy with the results is all that matters. Also, you mentioned that your tires were dried out. Just a suggestion, look into "Cooper COBRAS", I have been really satisfied with them, They wear really well and look awesome.

|UPDATED|3/26/2003 5:52:41 PM|/UPDATED|

Thanks for the info. I spent the last two lunch breaks with a buddy of mine at the auto hobby shop working on the five rims. With a combination of media blasting and sand blasting, we were able to knock off the rust and accumulated crud. The rims look pretty good, just some minor dings. They turn well on the tire balancer, so I am confident that they will take a tire.

One of the guys at the shop had me pick up a quart of "POR-15." I will use it to coat the inside of the rim (to help maintain a bead) and the back side to protect it from brake and road dust. Apparently it is pretty tough stuff.

I was at a auto paint store yesterday and the guy wanted around $100 for paint, hardner, thinner. Plus I would have to go out an invest in a gun and nozzle ($200+ ?)... So the two cans ($8 ea) of rally wheel spray paint from Zip should be arriving in the next few days!

I have heard about priming steel prior to painting. I will pick up a can today and get it on there before the oxidation sets in. The retailer said the POR-15 would work for that as well, but I am not sure that I want that as a base coat since it comes out as a gloss. I think regular primer will do.

R,
David

P.S. Yes they are rally wheels. The inserts are in fair shape. Any suggestions on getting out scratches and dings?

Hey David...
did you happen to take a "Before" picture of the rims?
Becauase I (and others probably) would certainly like to see "Before" & "After" shots!

Well the job is complete. I did take before and after pictures but cannot seem to post them on this forum. I guess if you are interested in seeing them, email me at e2cpilot@yahoo.com and I will send them.

It all turned out pretty well. I have over 1/2 of the materials that I purchased remaining. If anyone wants to tackle the job, let me know. I am sure we can strike a deal on the materials and I will be glad to give you step-by-step directions (on how I did it).

Now it is on to rebuilding calipers and new brake lines...

R,
David

e2cpilot said:... I did take before and after pictures but cannot seem to post them on this forum. ...

David,

Images first need to be stored on an internet server before they can be included in a posting. Gold and LifeTime level C3VR members have storage space available to them. I don't believe there is any blocking in place here that would restrict you from posting images that are stored on another site.
Ain't exhaust work fun...!!! I replaced everything aft of the exhaust manifolds on "The Toy" and I'm glad that is one job I won't have to do again for awhile.

Have fun with the caliper rebuilding. I did that last fall and probably should have replaced all the brake lines as well. The good news is the rebuilding isn't that hard, just takes some time.