Anybody out there ever beadblasted or sandblasted the spokes on a set of polished Torque Thrust IIs to give em more of a cast look? If so were you happy with the results? Thanks John
Remember to use virgin sand or glass bead. Otherwise, you're just blasting rust into the metal and after a few days it will look all spotty!
Talked to a local blaster, he had a set of Beemer wheels with the spokes blasted, had a nice soft gray kinda cast look to em. Yep Dad I will either paint or powder coat the spokes after blasting. Cool avatar Dad, those were the days. John
My powder coater has a color actually called "Bead blast aluminum". Even makes cast steel parts look like virgin blasted aluminum. Does not look fake at all!
The color of the spoke is a personal choice but I like the stainless steel detailing spray cans. To my eye it more closely matches the as cast aluminum spoke wheels of the day. If the wheel had polished spokes it's hard to get the surface texture of the cast spoke wheels.
Check out the Dec. 2008 issue of the "GOODGUYS GAZETTE" page 136. I sandblasted the dished part of the wheels on my modified. They were 100% polished aluminum like the outer lips still are. After I blasted them, I took some mag polish and rubbed it on the outer lip to get the rag black.........then rubbed this blackend polish on the blasted surface to darken it. Just blasting them, they are kind of light and new looking. I would try it on a small spot on the back of your wheels, just to be safe.
Finally got around to doing this. Started by blasting some samples of aluminum plate and trying different paints. Did'nt like the look of any of the paint I tried and went the Gibbs oil route. I am happy with the results. I went with a industrial blast to try and get a little bit more texture/cast look to the spokes. One layer of masking tape and three layers of duct tape to keep the blaster from wiping out my wheels. Have a nice weekend, John