Scotch Brite on polished fuchs results...

[jbmccandless]

Bob,

Once again, great work. Love the look. I like your idea about 'brushing' all of the bright bits. Dave Worm has been pushing me to do that on my 356.

Question about using that glass cleaner as a wheel cleaner. Any story behind that? I am having hard time cleaning brake dust off of my anodized space savers. I am looking for a good cleaner that won't ruin the finish. The authority (Harvey) said just use soap and water but I can't get it all off...

[Fishcop]

Originally posted by bob tilton
David - that is some funny arse ****! What makes it even more funny to me is the resemblance to my wife.

You married a bovine??!!

But seriously, if that lovely lady looks like your wife, you're both welcome over here anytime for a holiday

[randywebb]

kilo - those are prefectly finished - paint the centers black (not the spokes) and see how you like that

[bob tilton]

Jason - the shop that refinished my wheels gave me some blue tube polish and the foam glass cleaner. I just followed his instruction and used them. He would probably yell at me if I went back to his shop with these wheels. I have heard cleaning the RSR wheels is a pain. Maybe the glass cleaner would help - I can bring it if you're going to be at EASY this weekend.

John - LOL. I am a lucky dog becuase my wife is actually a very pretty lady.

[kenikh]

Not to side track, but Pledge works AMAZINGLY in cleaning RSR finish. You still have to scrub and vaseline is still necessary as a dust barrier, but it's better than everything I have tried.

[larry47us]

Bob:

Those wheels look amazing. My question is: My wheels are original anodized. I have fogged up the anodizing with the improper cleaner. There is also a bit of curb rash, and some scratches on the wheels from the PO's lack of caring.

Don't want to spend the money this year on Harvey or Al. Will this take care of some of the curb rash? You started with Polished wheels, how hard is it going to be to take off the anodizing with the pads?

I am impressed. At 1 1/2 hours per wheel, that gives my wife some respite from my Porsche agony in mid winter.

thanks

larry

[911-32]

I just think it's too much bling. I'm thinking of a look more like the wheels on this car:



Where I paint the centers slightly darker to better match the stripe and brush the rims. Any feedback?

I'll probably just try brushing the rims first to see how that looks but there might not be enough of a contrast to be real noticable. I'll keep you posted.

BTW how about some more pics of your car. If only I didn't live in the rust capital of the world... [/B][/QUOTE]

Well the photo flatters the wheels on my car. The fronts are kind of beat up 7s with whats left of the original anodizing and the rear 9s have had the anodizing machined off leaving a close to polished finish that dulls with exposure to weather. The centers are sprayed with on off the shelf "silver" wheel paint from Halfords (a UK auto store) that was a close match to the colour of the Carrera stripes. I also sprayed clear lacquer over the centres. That particular set of wheels needs totally refinishing as the combined effect of too many track days and too much laziness has left the centres discoloured from brake dust in patchs and the lacquer is cracking in places. FWIW, I would not lacquer again. When I get round to it, I will probably polish the outer rims and respray the centres in a mid Silver to match the stripes. The RSR patterns are mucho cool but perhaps not for this car.

Sorry to butt in on Bob's thread, but I thought someone might be interested.

Richard

[KNS]

Bob,
I have to admit, I did not do all the wheels. I have the typical black/anodized finish on all my wheels. A couple of years ago the car was dropped off at a shop for some work. When I went to pick it up one of the outer lips on one wheel was polished (not very well).

All I can figure is that someone in the shop not familiar with Fuchs anodized wheels saw my car and thought "Hmm, those wheels look awfully dull, maybe I can bring back the shine". Needless to say I was pissed. No one in the shop fessed up and that was the last time I went there.

I tried to find something that would look similar to the anodized finish and the kitchen scotch/sponge worked great. I looks close to yours but I must say it is obvious that you spent more time with it. Ideally, the valve stem would be out of the way.

[donstevens]

Originally posted by KNS
I did this about six months ago with the "green side of the kitchen sponge". I was amazed with the results! I looked all over for the right 'grit' that wouldn't scratch and finally grabbed an old used up kitchen sponge off the sink.

I must say though Bob, yours looks stunning. I have been wondering about the best way to protect the exposed finish. Wax sounds like a good idea.

I did the same thing yesterday. I didn't have time to get to Home Depot so I picked up the old pot scrubber and did a little experimenting, on my spare wheel. I started with one petal and it looks fine for the 90 seconds or so that I worked. I'll attack the other wheels once I get the right products.

Also FYI - I simply waxed the brushed finish and it looks great.

Thanks Bob, for the idea. And whoever posted the photo of the "Big Balls", thanks for the laugh.

Don

[Sizzle]

I use some Colgate on a Scotch-brite and it works like a champ.

[jtkkz]

looks great !

[RSBob]

You started with Polished wheels, how hard is it going to be to take off the anodizing with the pads?

Since I polished mine from annodized, I can tell you that removing the annodized finish is a real pain. You certainly won't be able to do it with Scotch Brite (Norton) pads, and you definitely won't be able to accomplish it in 1.5 hours per wheel.

There have been several threads on removing annodization and it is laborious, messy and time consuming. From start to polished finish, each wheel took 8 hours. I would think that if you want to achieve Bob's results, you would have to almost go to a full polish before scuffing.

You might want to keep your wheels as is unless you are planning on about 10 hours per wheel (includeds repainting as well).

Good luck

[bob tilton]

Excellent commsnts RSBob. I would imagine starting off with an anodized wheel is a different animal and then an anodized wheel with curb rash is yet another animal. My base was excellent condition polished wheels. I would even guess that the current "phase" of my wheel is the close to the final stage of polishing.
I stripped my spare a long time ago and after 8 hrs of work I still didn't get all the anodizing off. So for $75 per wheel I handed them off to Rite-Way Wheel in Walnut Creek and never looked back.

[cnielsen]

Don't know how I missed the beginning of this thread...

Hmmm, your wheels look familiar...



You did a very nice job Bob! Congrats, I think it is just what your car needed!!!

[curlesw]

Originally posted by randywebb
kilo - those are prefectly finished - paint the centers black (not the spokes) and see how you like that

I agree with Randy, this would look great.

Wayne C.
83 SC

[911SCfanatic]

I am thinking of doing that to all of my chrome trim to dull it a bit.

[masraum]

Bob, do you have a site with more pics of your car? It's a beaut!

[csimeon]

Hello Mr Tilton, greetings from across the ocean - Athens, Greece.

I ran across your post about buffing your fuchs! I love the look, it is the closest to original anodized aluminum, I have seen. Thank you very much for taking the time to share the information.

I need it .. I have a 1969, 912 targa - bought about a year ago - that came with four fuchs. When I tried polishing them I discovered one was anodized the other 3 turned shiny bright with the scrub compound. I don't like the look of the shine on my early 912 Targa, I thought the anodized hubs looked wonderful, matching the stainless steel targa bar. So I will scrub the 3 with Scotch asap.

What did you do with the caps?

How are did the brushed look last in time? Have you found a protective coating in the meantime? Wax?

Thank you - Christos

[al lkosmal]

Here are mine. Thanks to Chris Neilson and Bob Tilton for leading the way. Based on their examples....I gave it a go. These were bead blasted, then I polished them, scotch-brited them....then a satin clear coat.

Regards,
al

[bob tilton]

Hey Guys,

I can't believe it's been five years since I did this treatment. Wheels look great Al!

Got a PM asking me to post long term feedback.

Thus far the only real enemy to this treatment is cat piss. It won't wipe away with the foam glass cleaner or mineral spirits which means I have to spend approx twenty minutes re-doing the wheel. Not a big deal but finding twenty minutes is getting more and more difficult these days (shameless plug for my book project - werkcrew.com).

Also, I've switched over to more of a random circular pattern on the petals so it looks less like brushed stainless steel. It's quicker to re-do a wheel when the neighbor cats mark their spots.

All in all, I would not hesitate to do this treatment again.