hHas anyone done or heard of polishing the stock rims. i know several people have gotten them chromed but i was wondering if it was possible to polish them to look like a billit alluminum kind of finish.

I will be taking delivery of my new RX8 this month and have arranged for a local machine shop to polish the stock rims for $150.00 each with a 3 day turn-around time. I am also upgrading the tires. I will post pics of my new ride with polished stock rims when complete.

sounds good

if you've got the tools its not tough to do yourself...just time consuming. its hard to screw it up, and worse case just repaint your wheels

As a matter of fact, I have all the supplies and am going to get started just as soon as I can find a flex shaft attachment for a bench grinder, grrr....

I got my stuff from www.caswellplating.com. I got the full wheel polishing kit, although from what I'm reading now that may not be necessary. It comes with heavy grit abrasives which seem pointless, given that our wheels are fairly smooth in the first place. I am also going to be using their "Zoop Seal" when I'm done.

The actual black/brown/white ( emory/tripoli/rouge ) and buffing wheels can be purchased at Home Depot and Sears though. That plus a can of paint stripper might be all you need. I'm going to start with the emory and see if I can skip the preceding grits alltogether. Plus I've heard you can just wax your finished wheels to keep oxidation off (Zoop seal is fairly expensive). If both of these were true, you could buff out your wheels with hardware store supplies for pretty darn cheap.




Cliff Notes Version: Tell me where to get a flex shaft for a bench grinder (not Rotozip) and I will post pics!

i might be able to get you one...my father works in automotive/marine finishing distribution.