Picking up a set of GSR Blades, opinions wanted!

[taluzer45]

Hey guys, Im picking up a set of GSR blades within the next couple of days, im getting them from a friend for a pretty good deal, $250 with Hankook tires, Currently they are flat army green, and im planning to sandblast them and clean them up! My question is what would you guys say is a good price for these if they were cleaned up, painted or polished? Also do you all think sandblasting would be too rough on the material and damage it? Ill put pics up when I get them, I know the tires are decent, but they have some camber wear from him slamming his old GSR on D2 springs and never got an alignment done
So any input from you guys will be appreciated, I was looking for tips, suggestions ECT on how you guys feel they look best! Thanks!

 

[HeX]

GSR blades are aluminum, so it all depends on your desired finish. If you want to powder coat the entire rim, then having them sand-blasted is fine. If you want the polished aluminum look, its best to chemically strip them because sand-blasting will pit the aluminum finish so they would need resurfacing to regain a sheen. If your goal is a total repaint, some may suggest to either strip or just prime & paint them yourself but I dont feel any canned spray paints are strong enough to withstand road usage over a long period of time regardless of the prep work. However, if you're on a budget then that may be your best option.

 

[taluzer45]

Okay thanks! But I was going for a polished approach because I always have liked the look of them! But if it was blasted with a lighter compound I wonder if it would still work okay?

 

[RichardCrainium]

I would think if you soda blast them they would polish up nicely. 250 is not a bad price as long as they are not curb rashed.

I would try it on the back of the wheel first so you don't screw up the rim

 

[HeX]

My understanding is that virtually any media that can sandblast through rim paint is abrasive enough to pit the aluminum. Thus, the rim would need resurfacing & repolishing. Someone correct me if I'm mistaken.

 

[taluzer45]

Well they have some minor damage, and they definitely need some attention! But im happy with my purchase!

Minor scratches on one

The camber wear

The worst about it!

And the caps

Like I said, im happy with em, and they seem alot worse by the pics than they actually are! And I guess I should probably remove the tires and do a aircraft paint stripper on them!

 

[R3dline]

who the f**k paints wheels military baby s**t green?

 

[taluzer45]

HAHAHAH that would be my buddy :p , who has a damn nice MR2; MINUS painted rims haha, but it was on his slammed GSR, and they actually looked decent on it! But now ya know why I want to strip the paint haha

 

[R3dline]

Indeed, you can sand all that road rash out , gonna take some time but it can be done

 

[RichardCrainium]

not bad I don't think that soda with pit the aluminum sand is way too abrasive Iv heard about people using ice, or walnut shells but I haven't had any first hand knowledge with them. But baking soda is super soft as long as you don't leave it in one spot too long it wont pit the wheels.