Anyone Tarted Up Old Rims ?

[WD Pro]

I 'might' be on the lookout for some blue BMX rims and the thing to do is 'shiney side' them so the worn ano is removed and the rim looks smart again.

Having just aquired a MTB rim I don't need, I thought I would give it a go / use it as practice

I just did one side (the worst) to see what could be done - I thought it might give some folk on here a few ideas for tarting up old rims

The old (best) side :



The new (worst) side :





What do you think ? It would only take a little more work to mirror polish them (as per the BMX scene)

Does anyone recognise the rim ? The mavic sticker had long gone, only the 'SUP' sticker remained ?

WD

 

[Retro Spud]

Re:

Now I've lightly polished the walls of many a rim with silicon carbide paper and the Autosol but never gots that finish

So what did you do with yours

 

[JonTom]

I have a mate who restores old school BMX and when faced with a very messy rim he uses one of those little palm sanders with super-fine grit paper.

It looks to work OK, but I've never tried it myself.

 

[Jamis Diablo]

I got a set that has to be cleaned, so am very interested in how you did it.

 

[Davichin]

They look great but, will not they brake worse with such a smooth finish?

 

[Retro Spud]

Re:

BTW 217 or 517 ?

 

[kalex]

Re:

I've done loads on bmx rims and I start off on 80 grit wet & dry and work up to 2000 grit. then you need a polishing mop then finish with peek.

it's well worth it but it's for carpet queens as using a rim brake with undo all the hard work straight away

 

[Ollie]

I recently cleaned up the sidewalls of my rims with a Scotchbrite pad and lots of soapy water to remove the brake dust, came out really well.

 

[Retro Spud]

I recently cleaned up the sidewalls of my rims with a Scotchbrite pad and lots of soapy water to remove the brake dust, came out really well.

Thats what I do also, cosmetically they look a lot better but still ruff enough to give good braking,
Do the same to the brake blocks to remove the glaze

Surprising what a difference it makes.

 

[Ollie]

I haven't rode on them yet but that's re-assuring. My rims weren't very worn but were covered in crud and brake dust and it made them look brand new, just abrasive enough to clean the surface without wearing down the rim too much or affecting performance - perfect !