Tires: pontiac rims, pontiac fiero, glass beads

Question
my pontiac fiero came with premium wheels and someone ran into a fence and scratched them up. i am not worried about the scratchs but i do want them painted a different color. i took them to a friend of mine and he said that if i do sandblasting on them(they are small pattern honeycomb rims so not sanding them by hand)they might warp. i think they are aluminum. is it ok to sandblast aluminum or will it actually warp them? then he said a type of sandblasting called speedblasting. what is this?

Answer
Jeremy,

I think he meant "beadblasting".  That's a process using glass beads that removes paint, but isn't abrasive enough to remove metal.

It is OK to sand blast aluminum. but the media used must be chosen properly.  If you have any doubts, it might be best to have this done professionally.