polish bbs lm lips, a couple questions

[k0mpresd]

so i have these lm's ive been thinking about polishing the lips on.
ive read a few of the diy polishing articles and it seems pretty common practice to use a chemical stripper on them. only problem is that ive already put tires on them and put them on the car.
im a total wheel noob when it comes to this so excuse my ignorance but what is the best way to polish these without dismounting the tires? im assuming chemical strippers and rubber is a bad idea. is the only other option sanding by hand?

[Crankey]

aside from the aircraft stripper, it's a huge PITA to try and sand/polish with the wheel bolts in place. you really can't do it right without removing them and taking the lips off.

buy a pair of wider rear lips.

put your old rims back on. dismount the tires and buy the right socket for the rim bolts and take them all apart. clean off the old sealer.

strip the clear off the lips with Jasco aircraft stripper or equivalent paint stripper. scuff sanding the clear coat and making the lips warm first will help the stripper work alot better. using cold stripper on cold aluminum parts will be much slower.

once clean of stripper, start sanding with maybe 400 or 600 grit wet-dry sand paper. use water with dish soap to keep the sandpaper from clogging up. small chunks of sanding debris will scratch the lip if you don't lubricate the sandpaper with soapy water.

after each step in sandpaper, wash the lip completely. if your dipping the paper in a cup of soapy water, get new soapy water. if the water is in a spray bottle it's fine and not contaminated with grit.

sand in steps of 400, 600, 1000, 1500, 2000. then polish with a rag and fine polishing paste.

if you don't go through this process, how would you get the lips properly sanded between the bolts ? plus it seems kinda crappy to leave the paint under the bolt heads. and your bound to scuff up all those bolt heads while trying to sand between them.

or, just run them as they are for a while, they are cool as is too.

[k0mpresd]

thanks. except arent these just 2 piece? i could just pop the centers out. no need to work around the bolts.
anyways, im going to get the tires pulled out and do it the right way i guess.

[harlerocco]

You could do it with tires on since they're 2pc but it's going to be MUCH easier to get them removed.