Refinishing the alloy wheels on your Corvette might be necessary after years of use. Over time, the wheels tend to get beat up by everything from road debris to accidental curb checking (parking too close to the curb and scuffing the surface of the wheel), to road salt. Fortunately, you can refinish your Corvette wheels at home with a few simple tools.
Loosen the wheel lug nuts on the Corvette. Turn the lugs 45 degrees with a tire wrench.
Raise the Corvette onto jack stands. Jack the vehicle off the ground using the jack point in the front of the Corvette. Put jack stands under the Vette's front pinch welds, and lower the vehicle onto the stands. Repeat this process for the rear wheels using the rear jack point and rear pinch welds.
Remove the lug nuts on all of the wheels, and pull the wheel off the wheel hub assembly.
Use 600-grit sandpaper to smooth the surface of the alloy wheel. This will likely scratch the surface of the wheel pretty good, which is OK. Remove any and all scuffs and pitting on the wheel.
Apply a liberal amount of Brasso wheel polish to the wheels and work it into the wheel with steel wool. You should begin to see the wheel become very smooth.
Clean the wheel with soap and water, and dry it with a towel.
Mask off any area of the tire that you don't want to paint.
Apply three coats of Rustoleum paint to the wheels. Allow 30 minutes drying time between coats.
Put the wheels back on the Corvette when they are completely dry, and torque the lug nuts to 100 lb.-foot with a torque wrench.
