restoring YH rims

[wisemanz28]

I'm restoring some YH rally rims for my Camaro this winter, after sandblasting I noticed a couple of the rims are pitted from rust . What's the best way to go about repairing those areas that are pitted ?

[6667ss138]

I'm definitely not a body and paint guy by any means, so just thinking out loud here. I think when it comes time to do my YH wheels I will chemically strip them for fear of getting the sand or plastic or (whatever is used for blasting) down in the cracks and crevices of the wheels. Then if there are pits I would probably just use poly to fill, sand and prime before painting. Now that's a finish carpenter by trade talking so now the experts can take over

[wisemanz28]

I've been using spot putty to fill the pitting, I just wondered what other people have tried.

[MyRed67]

I've been using spot putty to fill the pitting, I just wondered what other people have tried.

That's what I was told to use too, by a professional body man.  I was told that the spot putty "grips" better.

[z28z11]

Try POR 15, too. Fills pits, pretty tough stuff to remove.

Regards,
Steve

[rsr]

I use a good direct to metal primer that builds and fills the pitts and after sanding if any are still preset I put either USC all-metal or quality body filler in the pitts sand and re prime? I haven't used spot or glazing putting since the mid 80s.BTW putty is for pin holes and minor scratches...........

[69 Zee]

Muscle Car Review just ran an article back in Oct 2014.  Great piece on Rim Resto by Mark Ehlen if you can get your hands on the article.  If not..they took rims from a '70 Chevelle SS from rust to new again.  They treated them just like normal work to a body panel.  I pretty much typed exactly what the article stated by a shop that's been restoring car for 25+ years.  There may be other ways as well.. I'm sure

1) Removed all rust by media blasting, cleaned/degreased
2) Applied body filler (your choice) directly to the pitted or deep scratched areas, then sanded and feathered just like any body panel would be.
3) Applied 1 generous coat of Polyester primer then lightly hand sand with 240 and then 400 grit paper
4) Red Scotch-Brite pad in the hard to reach areas.
5) Applied 2 coats of DP50 epoxy primer (3 coats of primer in total).  After lightly hand sanding again the entire wheel is wiped down with DX330 on a lint free cloth and then tacked
6) Paint

Hope this helps