Well after more sandblasting, using a wire wheel in the drill, one of those foam sanding blocks and other things, i got to this point today :
However, the annoying bits are these :
The first two show small traces of the original primer that has so far refused to shift. I've tried all different kinds of removal and it just doesn't want to shift. I've discovered that Volvo used a 140 degree enamel paint - in other words, after spraying it on, it's baked in an oven at 140C to make it hard. Factor in 30+ years of baking in the hot sun, heat from the brakes and so on and it's like it's case-hardened on there!
The third shows a few gouges on one of the spokes that didn't appear until i sandblasted the wheel. They look old, like over 30 years old so i suspect they were there originally and were filled before the wheel was painted originally at the factory. That throws a whole new risk into doing the other 4 wheels. If they have similar gouges which won't polish out because they're way too deep, my best course of action is going to be to fill those gouges and paint the wheel.
I did start re-polishing the front again and got about this far :
It really needs a good blast with the pressure washer before i do much more and that won't happen until at least tomorrow. I have a couple of ideas to try on those last reluctant bits of primer but i'm seriously considering abandoning the polished fronts and just painting them - maybe body-colour, on the fronts of the wheels at least.
Decisions, decisions!
