Polished Fuchs Care/Upkeep

[skipdup]

My polished Fuchs (were done by previous owner) are aluminum, right? Probably not coated with a clear coat???

Can/should I polish with a quality aluminum polish? They're starting to possibly look a tad hazy and would like to clean/shine.

Many thanks,
Skip

[efhughes3]

I use Mother's polish-seems to work well for me.

[Paulporsche]

Check out a recent thread on the use of Vaseline as a coating on the Fuchs.

[efhughes3]

Vaseline is only good on black finish! I believe Skip refers to polished...

[skipdup]

I believe Skip refers to polished...

Correct... My Fuchs were refurbished and polished by the previous owner. They're just looking a bit hazy...

Ed- Did you use Mothers Aluminum Polish, I believe in the small round container at the parts store?

Also, looks like the stinkin' weather man got us again!

Thanks,
Skip

[msterling]

The 911 owner's manual recommends vaseline but I believe the orginal finish is painted (center) and anodized (rim). The story might be a little different for bare polished aluminum. Vaseline works great on my stock Fuchs. I'm using an ancient jar of Vi-Jon that has a .12 price sticker. I think Vi-Jon has since been bought out by Zymol. P)

[vesnyder]

I've used several brands on my polished Fuchs with similar results from each - none has been that much better than the other. My most recent experiment has been Mothers Billet - has worked good but expensive?

[89911]

I've used numerous products, a quick review:
Flitz: Expensive and messy, but good results. Too runny for my likeing.
Mothers: Very good, also great for removing fine scratches.
Wenol: Also very good, not as abrasive scratch removal.
Eagle 1: Similar to Mothers in compound and results
Cotton Wadding (sold in can), I believe it is made by Eagle 1:
Very easy to use but lacks and compound for scratch removal. Takes a fair amount of polishing to bring them to a shine.

Any compound that can remove the oxidation layer will work. I like to use the Mothers or similar compount to remove any stubborn water marks. I actually hit my Fikse's with some cleaner that had acid in them (a no no) and this left a fine etching of water marks, even after immediately rinsing. The Mothers polished them right out. I like to think of using the more abrasive cleaners as a continuation of the finishing process. Each time you use them, your Fuchs get a little better. The vaseline is only recommended to help restore the appearance of the anodization on the original rims. As fare as the painted surfaces, a simple car wax should suffice.

[tdatk]

I have tried mothers and others and found them to be less than impressive unless you really rubbed and polished like crazy. I tried Blue Magic Metal polish cream (for chrome ,aluminum,and mag wheels) last winter, really inexpensive and fairly "rub on wipe off " stuff. It has a amonia like smell that you have to get used too, but ease of use was a winner for me.

HTH
Timmer



sorry about the pic quality

[tdatk]

Sorry,
The pic on the lower right should have been the "before" pic.

Tim

[twin plugged targa]

I am with 89911 on the products, except that the Fltz is the best - most agressive and easy to use aluminum polish. It is not cheap but if labor is the expensive part it is the best!.
If it is too runny, buy the tube which is a paste and can be bought from any yacht store. I then apply Starbrite Teflon polish to coat it!

For anodized finish try the vaseline - or, try a mild abrasive polish with a wax or coating bulit in !.

[efhughes3]

Skip-You're right about the weather. It is the Mother's in the little can with red label. Either labeled "wheel" or "aluminum" polish-can't remember.