Refurbishing Fuchs

kwm · 03-15-2006, 04:49 AM

I pick up my first car tomorrow. One of the first things I am looking to do is brakes and wheels. It is a SC so it has the fuchs with the fully blacked-out center. I refurbished some motorcycle wheels last year and was going to use the same technique here. I took all the powdercoat off with my Dremel and a abrasive wheel (which is like a real stiff hardened sponge). It worked well for all the small areas. Any advice on paint removal? Sandblasting? My Dremel again? I also want to polish the outer rims they are in bad shape. I want them as polished as possible b/c I am adding some other chrome accents to the car. I was going to try my trusty Dremel again and a polish wheel and polish compound? As far as repainting the centers. I do have a small compressor but no spray gun or air brush. Any advice? Rattle can? The painted centers are presently a mat black car is gloss black. All the centers I see are mat black ever seen any gloss black to match the car? Thanks

Rot 911 · 03-15-2006, 05:19 AM

A search on here will show several threads on how to DIY fuchs refinishing or you can send them to Al Reed and have them done which while costing you some money, definitely saves you time.

wcc · 03-15-2006, 05:23 AM

A search is always a great idea. But here is one link that I thought would be very helpful should I tackle this project.

Refinishing Fuchs for Dummies

kwm · 03-15-2006, 05:46 AM

Kurt V, I guess unfortunately I have to say I have way more time than money.

Plus I am a tightass. I just spent 4 hours last weekend airating my yard by hand with a foot powered plug cutter.

Wil Ferch · 03-15-2006, 08:38 AM

lotsa good stuff in here too...some posts by Weidman himself...

--> Economy RSR Fuchs finish ???

- Wil

docmace · 03-15-2006, 09:03 AM

Anybody know where to get the rough compound to get the scratches out after removing the annodized layer?

wcc · 03-15-2006, 10:05 AM

I have NOT done this project before, but I would think a rubbing compound would do it. Then follow up with polishing compound to get out rubbing compound scratches.

EDIT: Oh, you meant where. Well anywhere that carries 3M products. Like Finish Masters would be a good place to start. 3M makes good rubbing and polishing compounds.

bkreigsr · 03-15-2006, 10:14 AM

Rust-o-leum makes a black rattle-can for outdoor furniture called 'satin'. I've had much success with this as a replacement to the black original Fuchs finish.
Bill K

cbeers · 03-15-2006, 10:21 AM

I did mine. After anodizing is gone, I sanded with wet paper 240-320-420-600-1200. Wear gloves or your finger nails WILL suffer.

From there polish with different grades of polish. Sears sells a pretty good kit for $20. I finished by hand polishing with Mother's polish. Takes a lot of time, but I had a second set of wheels to work on, so it was worth it to me. I am cheap too.

Paint - Rattle can Wurth is best, but as bill said, Rustoleum is very close.

lastly, my wheels were intended to be stock looking, flat. Well, PP sent me the wrong stuff so I made due. A little glossy, but still OK I think.

Good luck!

-Chris

moneymanager · 03-15-2006, 10:43 AM

There is anodizing and there is anodizing. My first wheels responded easily to oven off and wet dry sand paper. Polished them with decreasing-size paper, finishing up around 600 and polished. They lasted nicely without any attention for four years, then got a bit of polishing.
A couple of months ago I replaced these. Anodizing would not budge...oven cleaner didn't lay a glove on them. Wet-dry took forever. Off they went to Al Reed who did a beautiful job for $50 each. So try it, but prepare to be defeated.
Re paint, get some krylon and forget it. These are wheels for goodness sake...usually covered with brake dust. And be sure to mask with the special 1/4 MMM masking tape they sell for this purpose.

moneymanager · 03-15-2006, 10:51 AM

Meant to attach this pic to previous post. Hope it works this time.

kwm · 03-15-2006, 10:52 AM

moneymanager, thanks for the hint on the tape type I was wondering about that. I need teh tape to bend and curve. Also I did research some other threads on here as people have asked me to do I even PMed some of the originators of those threads but havent heard back. This is gonig to sound really stupid but....what exactly is anodizing. I know how to spot it when I see it. Mostly as it related to anodized front forks on motorcycles but not totally sure what it is. Is it a heat treatment maybe? And, whay should this worry me on my Fuch project they dont seem to be anodized to me just real dirty and foggy looking. I want the shime on the rim moneymanger has in his photo.

kwm · 03-15-2006, 10:53 AM

Wow that is the kind of shine I want out of my wheels.

moneymanager · 03-15-2006, 10:59 AM

Not stupid at all. Anodizing is a chemical process...puts a dull shine over everything. Very hard...keeps aluminum from changing color further but graduallly erodes. your wheels are anodized...they look kind of milky/dirty now? You have to get this off before you can polish. Try Oven cleaner and LOTS of fresh air. If if works for you, good. If it doesn't you are in for an awful lot of tough sanding. I probably did about 3 hours of sanding/polishing per wheel the first time when the anodizing actually worked pretty well. I'd guess the second set would have take 5-6 hours each. Makes Al's $50 for a perfect job pretty cheap.
Do get the 3M tape. It bends and wraps around curves and yields a perfect edge with no bleeding. Do not use regular masking tape for the critical edges. Good luck.

quaz · quaz's Garage

KWM, I PMed you some info.

For the record the way I tape off pedals to paint the "negative" area is actually quite easy. Just tape the entire pedal with straight shots, dont worry about making the curves. Then take a razor blade, cut back to your curved line, and peel away the excess. The tape will lay flat and you will get no bleed. Just use a good 3M tape. YMMV

Wil Ferch · 03-16-2006, 09:05 AM

Black vinly electical tape curves nicely....can be covered with another layer of other tape for more coverage....

- Wil

kwm · 03-16-2006, 09:13 AM

Good call Will...I can see that working pretty well.

aigel · aigel's Garage

So, to me the question remains on how to refurbish the STOCK look for an SC. Black centers? On mine the color is faded away, the anodizing is still there, but milky white. I figure the anodizing is rough enough that I can probably clean in the faded spots with solvent and sand it in the non faded areas and then just respray? My outer rims look just fine, it's just the centers that are faded.

For the record, anodizing creates aluminum oxide. It's a ceramic. That's why it is so hard and why it is used as a protecting layer and a paint / color base.

George

kwm · 03-16-2006, 09:43 AM

aigel, would it not be even easier to retain that blacked out stock look? If your outer rims are ok cant you just tape off your outers and respray the centers after you scuff them up a bit?

KFC911 · 03-16-2006, 09:48 AM

I had road rash (and idiot scratches from careless tire removals) on just the outer 1/2" of the anodized lips so I decided to polish just that portion. Electrical tape is how I did mine too. I did the sanding with a hand held electrical sander (60 grit, then 100, 200) then wet sanding by hand w/ 1000 & 2000, followed by Mother's polish. They came out looking great, but took forever (and I was just doing the 1/2" lip). It was one of those projects that took a LOT of beer

! That anodizing is TOUGH stuff (at least it was on mine), and in hindsight, I'd spend the $ and send them to Al (he powdercoated my fan, housing, & engine tin) at a reasonable price although the turnaround time was longer than expected. Good luck!