OK now only from the guys who have done it... how do you get the gold off of the rims and buff 'em til they shine?
Don't tell me to do a search either 'cause I've done that.
I want someone to tell me step by step what they personally did and what they used.
I tried the "Easy Off" method but the gold didn't budge.
I tried the 3M pad in the drill thing but that took forever and the pad wore out very quickly and the rim looked like I used a wire brush on it.
The next try is gonna be a dremel tool and some buffing pads but thats like washing a bus with a tooth brush.
Please tell me what worked for YOU.
thanks.

 

Holyman-
If you don't mind me asking, have you tried painting the rims? I'm assuming you are attempting to take off the gold, to reveal what should be a shiny chrome color underneath??? I tried removing the old "grey" color on my stock rims, basically had the same luck you are having, so I ended up just painting them instead. I have seen some "aluminum", "chrome", and "silver" colored spray paints before that actually look pretty good if you have patience, take your time, and apply it correctly. With a good clearcoat finish, it should hold up pretty well for you as well. I ended up painting my rims black, have ridden in a TON of rocks since then, as well as mud, every other kind of debris there is. Rocks are where you'll have the problem with them chipping though, and honestly, mine do have a couple "ding" marks on the very outter edge, but for the most part, you really can't tell unless you look for it. I imagine that a silver or chrome look on top of that gold color probably wouldn't show up that well either, due to the glossy finish.

Anyway, sorry to bother you if you've attempted this already, if not, it might be worth a try? Sounds like you're having a hell of a time removing that gold, I tried that myself and ended up going the easy route. Sorry I can't help more than that,

Best of Luck,

Mike

 

the gold color you speak of is not a paint but its an anodize process. Anodizing is a chemical process of putting a color on metal. Basically it eats into the metal and makes the color depending on the chemical make-up. Since to gold color is actually part of the metal the only way to get it to change colors would be to take it to a place that does anodizing and have them anodize it the color you want. Once that is done then you can take some metal polish and buff away until you get the shine you want. Using anything else like the things you suggested will only put scratches on the surface.

 

I did!

The best thing to remove the gold is to find an anodizing shop and have them drop your rim(s) in an acid or whatever that will remove it fast clean and easy for fairly cheap.

Other wise (the way I did it).
Remove tire and air plugs. Sandblast. The only "easy" way to get rid of all the anodize. But it leaves a rough surface that you will have to sandpaper (80-200-400-600-etc) before buffing (with a "professional" buffer, it's easier). And it shines.

It does take a lot of time and effort.

 

ttaylor and zorro both offer correct advise to remove the anodizing but i found it much better to just spend a few bucks and get new wheels/tires douglas wheels come w/a super shine and are breez to keep up---i used 3M pads and hand polish w/blue magic on my stock levers-it too a few days----never again!![img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-cool.gif[/img]