more polishing questions

[gr8fl4porsche]

I am getting ready to send Al Reed some Fuchs to paint and polish.

Has anyone had Al's clear coat over the polished areas for a couple of years or more? How is it holding up?

What is the best product to use for upkeep on the uncoated polished areas?

[Rot 911]

Had mine for at least 2 years and thousands of miles and they still look like the day I got them. (The black and the polished areas are clear coated).

[Dan in Pasadena]

Just use a mild soap on them - nothing remotely abrasive - and you'll have no problems.

I had fully polished PD's on my old 944 with no clear coat and they stayed VERY nice for an extended period with only occasional, but thorough hand polsihing with the marine type polish Al sold to me.

[gr8fl4porsche]

Thanks guys.

Kurt - any downside to the clear coat such as chipping or reduced shine when new compared to uncoated polished appearance?

Dan - how often did you have to polish?

[Rot 911]

Originally posted by gr8fl4porsche
Thanks Kurt - any downside to the clear coat such as chipping or reduced shine when new compared to uncoated polished appearance?

No chipping or scratching problems. As for the shine, you tell me:

[gr8fl4porsche]

A picture is worth a thousand words.

I am going to get the clear coating.

[randywebb]

it gives them a lot of gloss -- too much if you like stock

[KTL]

The clear is good for reducing maintenance and scratching. The polished surfaces are easily scratched & dulled by washing, rubbing. The upside is that you can fix a scratch or ding by doing some polishing of your own if the wheels are not cleared.

The clear is not good if it starts to peel off and it's much more labor intensive to fix scratches, dings.

I'd prefer clear because i'm anal and can't stand seeing the fine scratches and occasional dulling in the polished, un-cleared areas.

I'd go clear if it were me.

[sammyg2]

I didn't get mine clear-coated but if I had to do it over again I would.

Mine don't require much attention as all, I spend about 10 minutes a month on them (total) with Wenol blue and they shine real nice.
The only problem is, Al's shop puts a certain finish, or grain on the finish when they gets done that really makes them sparkle. Maybe it's the polishing media, maybe it's just the direction they polish them. Who knows.

After many times (and over two years) of me polishing them that grain is gone and they don't quite sparkle as much as when new. They are smooth and shiny, but don't reflect light like a diamond, that is what they reminded me of when I first saw them. I've actually contemplated taking them back to him for "touch up" and them having him clear-coat them for me. His shop is only a couple miles away so that makes it easier.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally posted by gr8fl4porsche
Dan - how often did you have to polish?

Sorry for the delay in responding...

Al told me to polish them about every 3 weeks. In reality I only did it about every five or six weeks, but they always looked VERY good, in my opinion. I'll post a picture. Now, I am fairl anal so when I would do it, I'd really rub them up good. BUT... I could have used some kind of attachment to my cordless drill and itg would have been MUCH easier. Good luck

[Dan in Pasadena]

Those are crappy pix for this thread. Check this instead:



Oh, and I went without clear because Al said the clear cuts the shine by maybe 10% or 15%. It was a 944, it needed that little extra bling, 'ya know?!

[JeremyD]

I went without clear too. I have my wheels on a schedule - once every eight weeks it pops up on outlook

[KTL]

There's no valve stem support on that wheel JD! That stem is going snap off when you're doing 130 @ Sebring...........

Good looking wheels guys!

[sammyg2]

That's one thing I didn't like about what Al's shop did, they removed the valve stem supports and didn't put them back on. I guess they don't like the way they look.
I'm going to have to buy some new ones and install them before I hit any high speeds.

[89911]

I saw a set from A Reed that were polished and clear coated. I thought the clear-coating was of good quality, but the polishing under the clear still had fine swirl marks in them. These are almost impossible to pick up from a picture, so showing "mine are fine" pictures doesn't really do it justice. I have mine uncleared and after polishing, the finish is a virtual mirror, to the point I'm often asked if there chrome. I find the upkeep on these is negligible. Just polish them a few times a year. I also don't like what the clear-coat does to the black centers, changing them from semi-gloss to high gloss.

[KTL]

Mike,

What do you use for the final stage(s) of polish?

My wheels have the same fine scratches that make them less than mirror-like. I've found that stuff like Mothers and similar stuff is too abrasive and actually has a dulling effect? Maybe i'm just wacked........

[gr8fl4porsche]

Anyone use Mothers Billet Polish yet?

[kilodawg]

I've used Mothers Billet Polish and it's good but not the final step for the best shine IMHO. I still have two more steps to go after that.

For the ultimate bright shine I use PEEK in the foam can not the tube. Great stuff and in the foam can super easy to use. This is the best for getting the finaly clarity to the metal (for those of you that ride Titanium bikes it is the absolute best product to keep them looking new!).

After that I have started sealing the wheel with wheel wax. It really seems to work at keeping the brake dust from "sticking" to the wheel surface. Helps keep cleaning to a minimum.

A pic or two. I refinished the wheels myself and since they only cost me about $25 for supplies and a bit of time I'm pretty happy.

[kilodawg]

Found a little better picture.

[gr8fl4porsche]

Kilodawg,

The wheels look great. If you have the time - would you mind explaining the steps you took to go from annodized to the beautiful finish? To save a little cash - I am now thinking about refinishing my 7's and 8's myself.