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Yeah you might be able to save them. Here's what I'd do:
Dismount the rim from the car and remove the tire. Tape off any areas you don't want to accidently sand. Then get some sand paper 800, 1000, and 1500 grit. Start with the 800 grit and wet sand the effected area with it. ALWAYS KEEP THE AREA WET. Since you're only talking about refinishing the small polished lip it shouldn't take that long to remove the corrosion (maybe 20 minutes per rim). Once that's done, the corrosion should be gone and you'll just be able to see the sanding swirl marks the 800 grit left behind. Then pick up the 1000 grit and repeat the same process(maybe 10-15 minutes). This step will further refine those sanding swirl marks and the area will begin to look somewhat polished but will still have fine swirl marks and will look kinda dule still. Now pull out the 1500 grit paper and repeat the process(maybe 10 minutes) and when done, clean off the rims and dry them. At this point the rims will look alot better, and you should be able to see your reflection pretty good in the area. Now it's time to polish.
I use the little RED can of 'Mothers Aluminum Polish'. You can apply the polish with and old T-shirt or sock, but I've found that using my index finger works best(a dime size dab on your finger will be enough). Work the polish until it turns VERY BLACK in color or until your finger doesn't move smoothly over the area. Then use that old T-shirt or sock to remove the polish (like removing car wax). Repeat the adding and removing of the polish about 5 times. When you get to this point the area should look like a mirror finish (very pretty). If you have a DREMEL tool with the polishing fitting (it's white), you can use that to polish as well and that'll save time and will also make the finish look even more highly polished because of it's high speed. I just use an old t-shirt and socks though. Lastly add a coat or two of wax.
So, in about 1.5 hrs per rim they should look very, very good (new) at a total cost of less than $20.
See Ya,
Phil
posted by 209.164.228...
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