Polishing Fuchs rimms - replicas

[PeterTarga]

Hello,

Can you polish 911 replica fuchs rimms like the original fuchs (so that you have them like a mirror), how can you do it ?
How can you check the ET value when the value is not on the rimm.

Thankx for the reponses,

PeterTarga

[dickster]

*bump*

[redline76]

Yes, you can polish Fuchs replicas just like the real ones. I have a set of 7's and 8's (fake-y) on my car that have the polished lip and pedals with the centers painted black.

Anything made of aluminum will polish, but it takes alot (and I mean A LOT) of labor to get it to a mirror-like finish.





Sorry, gratuitous shots! I have my camera at work and went down to the garage to snap a couple to show you. Bored, what can I say?

In brief, my technique is to use progressively finer grains of wet/dry sandpaper, starting with 220 grit, then 400, 600, 800, 1000, and then metal polish/ jewler's rouge. The key is to sand in one direction, using wet paper so it doesn't load until the finish is even, then switch to a finer grade paper and sand perpendicularly to remove the previous sand marks. Finally, I use a dremel with a buffing wheel to polish the wheel. Mine are far from perfect, i.e: Al Reed, but hey, they look good enough to me and they're fake anyways, so who cares.

I imagine it can be done quicker with whatever machines the pros use, but I don't have 'em, and quite honestly, I'd probably give 'em to a pro next time to do given how many hours it takes to get the job done.

Hope this helps,

Warren.

[PeterTarga]

Thankx for your explanation, i find your polished rimms very beautiful, fine work

[RickM]

Peter,

Welcome to the board. This thread will help in figuring the particular measurements of your wheels. wheel info

Unlike Fuchs all aftermarket wheels are not formulated the same regarding the Aluminum alloy used and the integrity/density of the casting. This will influence the amount of reflection you'll be able to polish into the wheel. That said, using Warren's advice will most likely get you a very nice finish.

[redline76]

I would agree. I've seen other Fuchs that have much more of a chrome luster then mine do, but then again they look like they were done by a machine, i.e. no fine sanding or just a better technique and/or metal

Thanks for the complement, Peter. It's not hard to do at all, just time consuming. Patience, beer, and a few good CD's or a movie playing in the background always works for me on the tedious jobs!

[RickM]

I've seen aluminum rims come out with an OK finish, pits and other imperfections because of the base they had to work with. Last set was done by Al Reed and he did the best he could.