[T3] wheel polishing update

[Greg Merritt <gregm@vwtype3.org>]

	I got my kit from eastwoodco.com, and have started smoothing my
Superior Industries Volksmag ("turtle") wheels.  It's item # 13103 on
their Web site.

	I picked one of my rims and had at it.  I spent a bit less than
two hours for my first session, entirely on that wheel.  In that time I
was able to take the most easily accessible areas most of the way down to
the bottom of the lowest pits.  It became clear that I'll need some
smaller buffing bobs to reach some areas -- these wheels even have some
features whose cross sectional profile is a bit tighter than 90 degrees.

	After I'd cleaned up that night, I realized that I'd grabbed the
finer (320) paste, not the coarse (80) paste.  Stupid.

	That first wheel has some areas that could still be improved with
the larger buffs that came with the kit, but they're along borders and in
semi-accessible areas.  I'll hold off on going further until I have a pass
with smaller buff bobs.

	Last night I spent about another three hours working on two more
wheels.  This time I used the correct 80 grit paste.  Seems to go a *bit*
more quickly than the mistakenly-used 320 did on the first wheel, but this
just isn't a fast process.  I got the second wheel to about the level of
the first, and the third wheel is nearly caught up with the first two.

	I am quite excited.  They already look loads different from the
fourth, untouched wheel.  The untouched wheel looks all chalky -- doesn't
really look like metal compared to the patially-smoothed wheels.  When I
eventually finish, the wheels should look great.  I hope that the mini
bobs do the trick on the harder-to-reach areas.


	The grinding paste I got seemed to be quite dry.  It's more like
stiff clay than, say, toothpaste.  Eastwood gives warnings about not
letting it dry out.  I thought at first that mine was too dry, but it
seemed to work fine.

	Eastwood says to use 2500+rpm for the buffing wheels.  I looked at
my cheap Craftsman drill motor last night, and the label says 1200rpm max.
I'm concerned that the mini bobs will pass over the wheel surface much
more slowly due their smaller radii -- I hope this isn't a problem, or at
least isn't a problem that patience can't solve.

	The instructions say to let the paste and the compound do the
work.  Well, I have to apply a good deal of pressure to make good
progress.  Maybe a faster motor would make the difference, or maybe they
don't expect folks to be working on wheels with a surface as rough as the
raw Volksmag.  I do think that once I've got the first order smoothing
done, I'll want to use a lighter touch to prevent scratch marks and
gouging.  At this point, though, it's all about removing loads of material
from the wheel.

	If you're familiar with the Volksmag (hi, Todd!), you'll know that
there's a circular ridge on the face of the rim several inches out from
center -- it's beyond the lug holes, but closer in than the large oval-ish
holes.  I've decided to grind that ridge away.

	Also, if anybody is shopping for stuff from Eastwood, I have a
link to a 10% discount:

http://www.eastwoodco.com/cgi-bin/sgdynamo.exe?HTNAME=email50.htm

I'll also post this separately.

-Greg

p.s.:  I'll probably throw the rims in the car for Kelley Park, if Todd or
others would like to see the work in progress.

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