rim re-polishing

[kouness]

Aww man I am such an IDIOT... I am in desperate need of zilvia's assistant.. I use to have some nice polished lips my rims, but now they are all dull. ok here is what I did.. I know i know spare me for the disaster. my brother works for Enterprise Rental and he brought home products to clean, wash your car.. etc... well he also borught home this tire/rim cleaner that he said worked awesome. I was like great.. free car wash soap, carpet cleaner, tire cleaner, what's next.. Washing my car that is. Well i get to washing my car and all goes well until I took a look at my rims and they weren't shiny anymore. I didn't really think anything of it until the car was dry and the shine never came back to my rims.. The tire cleaner had ruined my precious rims.. I researched it afterwards and found out that car places use cheap tire cleaners to clean tires/rims and thyat some of them are not good for rims with a clear coat and/or polished lip becasue the chemical is to strong.
Now my question to all you cardetailing gurus out there is: How can I make my rims nice and shiny again? Will I have to take them to a wheel specialist or can I do it on my own? Thanks in advance on all advices.

[fliprayzin240sx]

Eagle 1 metal polisher...start buffing before corrosion kicks in...

[Gumballf355]

yea, go to Kragens and get some aluminum metal polish... alot of elbow grease should get the stains out and bring it back.

[kouness]

Thats were I went earlier and got some Meguiar's Hot Rims Mag and Aluminum Polish. I tried using it, but didnt seem like it was working that great. I alos have tried using Eagle1 Never Dull and that didnt do any good either. Should I try polishing them longer. I did sit ther for 30 minutes polishing one area and it didnt do anything.. Ohh and what type of grease is that exactly? any help would be great. -kouvang

[Ian]

what kind of wheels are they?


The finish on the lip makes a big difference...some are anodized, some polished, some clear coated, some not...etc

[kouness]

the fronts are volks and the rears are stichs

[johngriff]

POLISH???!


http://rpsportengineering.com/Pictures/Rims/vw01.jpg

Get some "Mothers Metal/Aluminum Polish" in the JAR. And Polish it.

[kouness]

damn that is super sexy... i like them.. how long does it usually take you to polish all of that. ill tyr to get some pictures of my rims up tomorrow cause right now its 11 PM rite now. Damn those are sexy.

[karl wasabi]

Damn johngriff. You got that done at a shop right? That is so clean. How much did it cost you to get it done?

[srpowereds14]

+1 for Mothers its in a red and white jar.

[Phlip]

Taken from a previous post:
Another option is this:
http://www.eagleone.com/images/products/Never_Dull_Polish.jpg
You can get it at Auto Zone/Advance, or order direct from Eagle 1:
http://www.eagleone.com/pages/products/product.asp?itemid=1006&cat=5006

[EJ253]

my volks are getting like that. i think the lip is clearcoated. i want to get the wheels redone.
unbolted, lip polished/re-clearcoated, center section powdercoated, reassembled
but i cant find a place to do it.


to the OP, can you post a pic of the wheels so we can see the damage?

[kouness]

ill post pictures soon, cant right now because im at work. i get off at 2:15 so it should be up by 3:30 the latest. i already have eagle1 neverdull. it didnt help very much if any. ill see if i can get ahold of some mothers. thanks all of you whos trying to help me out

[pbcstylez]

if there's clear coat, sand it off, and polish them

[kouness]

here are the pictures:

VOLKS:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v73/kouness/dullrims3.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v73/kouness/dullrims2.jpg

STICHS:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v73/kouness/dullrims4.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v73/kouness/dullrims1.jpg


thanks for helping me out -kouvang

[thejapino]

It looks like your wheels may have/had some clearcoat on the lips. Using a metal polish will not bring the shine back. If the clearcoat is still intact and not chipping, a cleaner wax may work to bring back some shine. If the clear is already gone or chipping than you may have to remove all of the clear and use a metal polish!

+1 for Mother's for metal polish. Its good stuff. Ive heard if you use the billet aluminum polish on bare metal, it works alot faster. GL

[koukikat180sx]

disassemble the wheels and get the lips polished and they'll look bright and shiny.

[johngriff]

Yeah, you will need a machine polish, like the wheels i posted above. If you were local, I would hook you up, unless you want to ship.

John

[KawBoy]

Aircraft stripper to remove clearcoat

http://www.crashsupply.com/csupply/images/items/klegar343grd.jpg

Then buff and polish wheels.

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/41C7YGVYQML._AA280_.jpg

Then re-clearcoat if you want..

But just waxing them will keep it good enough and prevent clearcoat damage/chipping in the future which would cause them to look like ass all over again.

Try this stuff instead of wax/clearcoat:

http://www.qualitytruck.com/lgqrt.jpg

Liquid Glass, It's polish/wax but its more like a clear coat, without the hassle of spraying and it chipping

"This amazing special formula makes it possible to coat your vehicle with a clear, hard, smooth, and mirror-like finish with a minimum of effort. The finish will not crack, chip, peel, or turn yellow. Liquid Glass is safe for use on today's clearcoats, gelcoats, acrylics, metalflakes, candy apples, pearls, plastic paints, epoxies, urethanes, etc. Also does an excellent job on chrome, aluminum, stainless steel, brass, etc.
Use on automobiles, trucks, vans, RV's, motorcycles, and other vehicles. Provides excellent protection against normal road, atmospheric, and other sources of pollution, dirt, etc. Retards oxidation of painted metals and fiberglass. Also use on aircraft to protect, keep clean, and reduce surface friction."

[koukimonster139]

seriously ^^

douse that shit in stripper..like the entire rim

let soak

pressure wash them, then get a buff ball and some metal polish and fucking make those bitches bling

[hondanissan]

Whats crakalackin in the big F! Looking forward to Fresno new year! In the mean time take those wheels to the shop...they should be able to fix it up real nice for about 40 bucks a piece.

[BustedS13]

POLISH???!


http://rpsportengineering.com/Pictures/Rims/vw01.jpg

Get some "Mothers Metal/Aluminum Polish" in the JAR. And Polish it.

HOLY SHIT. i know what i'm doing for wheels next. that looks insane.

[johngriff]

FYI, I am sanding the centers right now to paint them.

They wanted them black..... whatever..

[kouness]

thanks guys. imma try to find some place local to me to see if i can get them done.. im kind of scared of using aircraft stripper. whats the worst that could happen if i do use it?

[KawBoy]

The worst that could happen? It doesn't take off the clearcoat..

Its safe for metals... just put it on, let your clearcoat crack/bubble then hose your clearcoat off

Simple

lol

[72nismo]

with the car wash products so I finally had my wheel lips chrome plated. looks pretty good aside from if they polish the lips to much the aluminium tends to start pitting and if you dont take them to a chrome plating shop that knows what they are doing the pitting will still show thru the chrome plating. As that happen to 2 of my rims. Aside from that wheels look goood.http://http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p235/72nismo/IMG_0386.jpg Here is a picture of one of my wheels. What do you guys think. :)
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p235/72nismo/IMG_0386.jpg

[cwd240]

I also had/have the same problem.....it looks like moisture got under the clear coat and has started to corrode...the only problem with taking the clear coat off is that the polished lip will need to be kept clean more often then if it had clear coat.


I never tried that liquid glass stuff though

[steve shadows]

black why? if i saw them chrome like that i would stick with that.

fail fail fail

[KawBoy]

Wax.. or liquid glass (great stuff, I even use it on my car.. if I wanted to I could turn my hood into a slip n slide) will keep it from oxidizing for a while.

[johngriff]

black why? if i saw them chrome like that i would stick with that.

fail fail fail

RX7CLUB.COM

FAIL FAIL FAIL

[pbcstylez]

Hey John,

What do you recommend for wheels that have stripped clear coat, and have been polished back for wax/clear coat?

I wanna protect them wheels after i spent 3 hrs/wheel refinishing them mofos

[KawBoy]

Im not John, but I'll answer you anyay... pick up that liquid glass stuff. It really does work...

[johngriff]

^
|
What he said.

ICED OUT after paint
http://www.rpsportengineering.com/100_0657.JPG

[EJ253]

you really shouldn't of painted those