I have used a wire wheel and drill and then repainted. I would consider sand blasting next time, was hard to get to all areas with the wire wheels and I ended up using a couple to finish the job. The wheels I started with were solid rust so a lot of work was required with the wire wheels.

I did mine a few years back as well. I did a lot of masking though and painted the spokes and raised slot openings with silver, following over the rest of it with black and finally five or six coats of clear. They still look great though. The paint is chipping where the center cap makes contact on the spokes though, but that's more due to me removing them and putting them on at the beginning and end of each spring/fall.