I'm also thinking of the possibility of making a quick and dirty turntable, position the wheel, position a die grinder with a flap wheel and sand off the powdercoat on the rim. Then go with progressively finer flap disks till its to my satisfaction. You'd need to prep the surface for paint so you may as well just stick at it down to bare aluminum and polish it. Just a thought.
Polishing aluminum is polishing aluminum. I think the simple turntable idea is a good idea. Figure out how you're going to set the edge(s) of your polished area. Be careful and get after it.
Do you happen to have an old aluminum rim you can test your idea(s) on?
