im pretty deep into restoration, and have found, for aluminum, that harsh chemicals do the best in my opinion. heres a few tips on gnx style wheels. first off, good cond. ones do in fact, have a decent clear coat on them. it is not a few layers of micron depth paint, but in fact a pretty heavy, several mil thick clear coating.. its no joke. if its in good condition, then id try to just polish the clear coating, with something like the mothers ball (the smaller one) and some marine plexiglass scratch remover rouge.. if that dont work, hot tank the entire wheel. itll come out good, then you have a good base from there to work with. if not, glass bead blast it. then, have em go over it with something softer yet, say walnut shells or plastic balls, then, wetsand, then brasso. i guarantee you theyll shine like nothing youve ever seen before in your life. BUT, once you take that super microscopic layer off of the aluminum (which is polishing) theyll oxidize in like 2 days now. i suggest clearing them with a durable clear immediately after the final polish, like either a clear lacquer (which is what i use to great effects) or maybe a wheel coating clear, that can withstand a little heat. (then, if you're so inclined, you can even rub that clear out, and wax it as you would do you car, for an even more blinding show finish)
But for wheels that are almost done, or done, and you want to maintain them, those power balls, both from mothers and flitz (which is what i tried) suck hind tit. they polish NOTHING. There are the firm foam ovals that you can attach to a drill motor, specifically for buffing wheel lips, but ya gotta go to a detail shop to find em. use say, aluminum polish or brasso on those. I use brasso and my older aluminum wheels on my regal, and they shined like no tomorrow. As for the centers, I dont care what anyone says, spray lacquer works wonders, and if you know what youre doing, will last YEARS. Its super hard, very durable, and will shine like no other. to be honest, after all that hard work, id clear the entire rim.
But for your specific question, ( i guess it dont matter, as youre almost done) if they were super neglected, id hot tank em, or just use some pretty aggressive sand paper, and wetsand em. if you have a big wash basin, id submerge the entire wheel in warm water, and wet sand em underwater with 320 grit. then of course, go to progressively finer paper, and youll be squared away. once youre to like 600 grit, after youve wore that down, go to chemicals. like the turtle wax chrome polish, then to aluminum polish, then brasso. As for the centre section. tape off everything you dont want black on obviously, then start from the back. it's going to take a long time with a spray can, cuz of the fixed spray pattern but, some tips include not spraying them in the wind, as it wastes paint, and screws up the consistency, make sure the paint, paint can, and substrate are from 60-75 degrees in temperature. CONSTANTLY shake your can. and after each shake, spray the can for a quick touch, in another direction, to get that quick burst of air out, then go right to the wheel again. cuz of the tight nooks and crannies on the mesh, youll have to do many many passes, at like 15 inches or so. slowly but surely building up layers, otherwise, youll either get a ton of overspray on some, and too much buildup on other parts. when layering, wait about 5 minutes or so before each coat, but not more than 45 minutes. its very tedious, but is well worth it. this is going to take a while. about a day a wheel. just keep building it up, so thats its totally even. make sure you got GREAT lighting too, and are in as a dust free enviroment as you can be. then of course, do the same thing on the front of the mesh. but, on your final pass, get as close to 12 inches as you can, for the maximum gloss. the further away each pass is, the less shinier it is. Youll see if you choose to use spray lacquer.
Hope this was of some help..
hope that gave you some ideas.
