How I Polished My Fuchs - Long detailed description with many Pics

[gunlover05]

Shopping list/parts needed: Strong corded drill, ¼ sheet vibrasander, dremel tool, car, Heavy-Duty Easy Off oven cleaner (2 cans), 2 cans of paint stripper, stiff brushes, rubber gloves, eye protection, dust mask, scouring pads, 220, 500, 800, 1200, 2000 grit wet-sanding paper, ½ inch drum sander, dremel tool attachment stainless steel wire wheel, 8 inch polishing wheel, emory polishing paste, puff dremel polishing attachments, Mothers Wheel polishing paste, mineral spirits, black electrical tape, 2 inch masking tape, 2 cans of self-etching primer, 2 cans of Rustoleum satin black #7777, big can of beer.

Remove old Paint – 3 hours
Buy Aircraft paint stripper, or any semi-strong paint stripper. Have lots of stiff brushes to scrub with. This will take 3 applications likely to get all paint off. Very Nasty job. Wear eye protection, long sleeves, pants, thick rubber gloves…have water hose to help in between application…the good stuff stings when it touches your skin.

Removing anodizing – 2.5 hours
Buy Heavy Duty Easy off oven cleaner. Spray on, leave 30 min, use scouring pad to scrub, hose down with water. Professional Low-odor Easy Off won’t work (ask me how I know)…needs lye in it. Fumes will definitely make you gag, so be careful. Will take 3 applications minimum.

Now for the Sanding.
Get 220, 500, 800, 1200, 2000 wet-sand paper and a ¼ size paper electric vibrasander, ½ inch drum sanding cylinder. 8 inch polishing wheel, Emory paste polishing compound.

Sanding Pedals (8-9 hours):
Fold/cut a sheet into 4 sections start with 220. Use the vibrasander with 220, 500, 800 then stop. Then take a small sanding block with 800 or chalkboard earaser and sand the pedals in a straight line from the inside to the outside. This will help take out swirl marks. Then take 1200 and do the same, but in the opposite direction, which is across the pedal. At this point you won’t have the inside corners next to the lug bolts. I used the ½ inch drum sanding cylinder attached to my drill. I also found the stainless steel wire wheel attachment for a dremel tool invaluable in the tight corners. Go through 220, 500, 800, then stop.


Sanding Rims (3 hours):
Believe it or not, I jacked up the rear of my car both sides, mounted 2 fuchs, idled the car in 5th gear to act as a “lathe”. Get ¼ sheets of 220, 500, 800, 1200, 0000 steel wool. I didn’t have 2000 grit paper, but wished I did. Crank the car, ease out the clutch, and start sanding, while not pressing too hard to slow the wheel way down. Keep a spray bottle with water to keep things wet, wipe off grime in between grit changes. Finish with wet steel wool. I know this sounds dangerous, but it isn’t…just don’t let your car idle too long at once (not good for engine I hear) I did all 4 wheel with engine running for about 45 mins total. Get all supplies ready and in reach to keep idle time down.

Wheel Polishing (3 hours): Wash all wheels down good, now let’s polish with the 8 inch wheel. Get your eye protection and dust mask. Put the wheel on a strong corded drill, 4000 rpm capable. Need lots of torque here. Load the wheel up with the Emory paste, and start polishing….hard to describe just play around and you will see what works. Polish both rims and pedals. You can’t get into the tight area with the big wheel, so after much trial and error, found the dremel tool with medium, fine, and polishing “puffs” work fabulously in the tight areas. This will sling stuff around, and get on your face if you lean over your work.

Hand Polishing: Now get your Mothers Wheel polish out and do everything by hand (1.5-2 hours)

Degrease everything with Mineral Spirits and a cloth (1-1.5 hours)

Taping (3 hours): Get black electrical tape and 2 inch masking tape. Use electrical tape to do the petals, and the edge of the rims, fill everything else with masking tape. I went by a picture online for petals, it just takes trial and error, but check your work as you go. Tape your lug holes, they aren’t supposed to be painted (or the places on the back side that mount up against the hub on the car – should be raw aluminum)

Degrease everything one more time with mineral spirits and now use gloves from here on out to not get finger prints on the metal (1 hour)

Painting (3 hours): Get 2 cans of self-etching primer (make sure the can says self-etching) and 2 cans of Rustoleum satin black #7777. Shoot 3 LIGHT coats of self-etching primer (so you don’t get a case of the runs) and then shoot 3 LIGHT coats of black paint (I didn’t shoot mine light enough and yes, got the runs). Do all coats of paint 20 min apart. If you line up all 4 wheels in a line, you can paint them all and start back with the first one in @ 20 minutes.

Use the dremel stainless wire wheel to CAREFULLY remove the paint from the lug holes. I wished I would have taped mine off. Be careful and not let it run up onto and ruin your paint job (ask me how I know this, had to re-shoot a spot or two)

Peel Tape off carefully about 8-12 hours later (1 hour)
Polish one more time with Mothers by hand (1.5 hours)
Put 2 coats of wax on the wheels at least 12 hours later (1.5 hours)
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploads10/finalwheel1179709434.jpg[/img]
Drink a really big beer – YOU DID IT. (and won’t want to do it again)
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[gunlover05]

final pic didn't upload right...one more time for the money shot.

[oregonmon]

They look great. Would you do it again?

[gunlover05]

Originally posted by oregonmon
They look great. Would you do it again?

Absolutely NOT. Way too much time invested and i don't have professional wheels. My time is limited (demanding job, demanding wife, 2.5 yr old kid) If I ever find myself needing to refinshing/polish fuchs again knowing what I know now, even now that i know how to do it, I will save up my $ and just let the pros do it ;-))

[theclaw]

I did something similiar but I passed on putting the car in gear. Too risky.

Check out my "lathe".

New way to refinish wheels

Do it again... I agree. I'd let the pro's do it next time.

[Jack Olsen]

Great thread. Thanks!