car wash turned my fuchs grey!!!!

Went through a car wash since I can't use water(we are on water restiction here). My fuchs are now cloudy and the lip is also cloudy. P21s doesn't take it off. They did not use any wheel cleaner when they washed it as I requested them not to. What do you think happened? Has anyone had this happen to them? How do I get them back to original? My wheels are or were original finish and in perfect condition before the wash.

They might SAY they didn't use wheel cleaner, but it sounds like they did. Either that or their water had a pH value far from neutral.

A Porsche dealer did this to my Fuchs one time, their detail guy was able to use a very fine light polish on the wheels to restore them. This was done very quickly after the incident, so it's worth a shot. I didn't believe it would work because I know all about anodization, but it did.

Vic
88 Carrera

I have a friend who had the same thing happen to her concour 928. She had to get the wheels refinished as the laquer was completely gone. Very frusturating isn't it.

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Joshua Harrison
1968 912 Coupe

I wonder if mothers mag polish would bring them back? Does anyone konw if mothers will turn the lip into a polished finish instead of the dullish anodized look? I will be showing the car at the concour in May and do not want a highly polished lip for this reason. I'll tell you though, it looks rediculous right now! The black, or should I say , grey spokes contrast the center caps-which for some reason stayed black-and makes it look like the wheels are ancient! Frustrated? No. I'm PISSSSSSSSSSSED!!!!!!!

Hey

I was trying to clean brake dust off my rims with brake cleaner and sprayed it on the front and back of the rims...turned my black centers gray...

But since it is paint, just use some glazing compound (I use 3M) and the black will look better then before...really brings out a shine and luster. I do it to my wheels whenever I wash and they look dull.

MJ

[This message has been edited by 82SC (edited 03-07-2001).]

ABSOLUTELY, DO NOT USE ANY ABRASIVES!!! Unless you don't mind destroying the anodized finish!

Take the wheels of the car one at a time, and wash with a mild detergent, like dishwashing liquid, and rinse thoroughly, TWICE! Allow to air dry completely. Next, get a large jar of Vaseline petroleum jelly, and a bundle of soft polishing rags. Apply a relatively heavy coating of Vaseline to the entire anodized surface of the wheel, and let it sit on the wheel for two hours, minimum. Then, rub the Vaseline into the anodized surface very firmly, just as you would apply cleaner wax or rubbing compound. When finished rubbing it in, go over the wheel again with dry polishing rags, and leave no residual Vaseline on the surface.

By the time you have done the first wheel, you will 'know' whether or not this proceedure is going to work! Not all of the finish may be restored the first time ... if there has been noticeable improvement, repeat the Vaseline rubdown in a couple of days.

The anodized finish is clear, and hard, but only 0.001" to 0.003" thick, and somewhat porous, with thousands of microscopic 'pores' in every square inch of the suface, allowing air and chemicals to 'get at' the base aluminum under the anodized surface. What the Vaseline does is to 'fill' the pores with petroleum and seal against chemical action at the aluminum. This 'Vaseline Treatment' is recommended by the factory (and Fuchs) at least once every six months. People who store their cars over the winter often leave a heavy coating of Vaseline on the wheels ... and don't rub it off until spring!

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Warren Hall
1973 911S Targa

Vaseline all the way. This treatment brought my wheels back.

I understand the issue of water conservation, but who in their right mind, would take a Porsche to an automatic car wash? I have NEVER taken any of my cars since owning them to an automatic car wash, no matter how crappy they use to be. A concours Porsche? Don't they have those self wash places where you are. At least you are in control of what gets cleaned. Take a good look at someone who has run their car through a "touchless" car wash for any amount of time and you will see it is anything but touchless. You are better off letting your car get dirty and waiting for rain.

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8 9 9 1 1, The last of the line.

'Next, get a large jar of Vaseline petroleum jelly'

Thought I'd gone on the wrong board for a moment

Will this treatment work on Fuchs that have been previously polished and (I assume) are no longer anodised?

Cheers

Something about "Fuch" and "Vaseline" I guess.

Polished Fuchs won't be helped by Vaseline ... might as well plan on monthly waxing from now on!

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Warren Hall
1973 911S Targa

I was under the misconception that the anodizing makes the wheels relatively maintenace free. It actually sounds like polished Fuchs are easier to take care of then original. My car came with the wheels already polished so I had no choice, but they have been easy to care for. Every month or two, hit em with a bare metal polish like wadding or Wenol and the oxidation is off. 10 to 15 min max. If the same thing happen to these wheels that happened to yours, it would just take alittle more buffing!

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8 9 9 1 1, The last of the line.

I agree with 89911 - never take your car to a
car wash of any kind. In the Excellence article about 3.2 maintenance they state that car washes use soda, I think it was, in their water, which is bad for clear coats and paint...and those high pressure wands can do damage as well. Not to mention they might be recycling their water. Besides, it's one of the funnest DIY jobs! Eric H 87 Targa

Since I owned many British bikes, I learned early off how to polish alloy and LOVE it. For that reason and my own ignorance of anodizing I never had it done to my Fuchs. Instead, I stripped, polished, and painted, then waxed the wheels. I also go over them with SimiMothersMcGuiars polishtypes regularly while sipping a beer. I just love it and the wheels look like new again.

Downside? Brake dust (esp. front wheels for obvious reasons) will scratch my nice finish if the dust gets pushed around. Will also damage spray can paint jobs like the satin black finish I put on my Fuchs. So there IS a solid argument for anodizing, but I just like to go back to the days of those Norton primary chaincases on a sunny Saturday afternoon...

Jw

So adonized rims use vasaline

Polished use Mothers (it works awesome)

And for your black painted centers use some glaze.

Personally I like the black centers with polished rims...looks awesome

Eh, what's Mothers???

Mother's is a polishing compound, extra-fine grade. There are others, like 'Simichrome Polish' by Happich, that also give good results.

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Warren Hall
1973 911S Targa

Watch out what kind of dishwashing liquid anybody might choose to use if you use it as a regular cleaner of your wheels. Some of them are far from mild. Dawn is a good example. That stuff is pretty harsh (kicks the crap out of my hands more than hand cleaner).

Use a good car wash soap that won't strip wax (supposedly) like Mother's, and you won't have to 3M the black centers as frequently.

I agree with the petroleum jelly method. It also does a good job on the painted centers. At least it did on my satin black centers. 3M Imperial Hand Glaze is of course much better, but petroleum jelly also works quite well if you are in a bind. It's a little messier than polishes but effective nonetheless.

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Kevin
87 Carrera


[This message has been edited by KTL (edited 03-08-2001).]

It's kind of funny when I read all the tech articles about polishing Fuchs wheels, because I went the opposite direction.

The Fuchs on my car were polished when I bought them, and to me polished Fuchs always had kind of a "rice burner" look to them. I like the anodized look better, but didn't want to spend $200 each to have them anodized. So I painted my wheel centers black, and used 2000 grit sand paper to dull down the aluminum rims. Now my wheels look just like factory anodized fuchs. The Vaseline comes in handy to keep the black centers a deep, jet black.

I still keep my eyes peeled for a good set of anodized Fuchs, used, but mine look so close that I will probably never justify the expense.

when I was young and naive (read stupid) I took my 911 to a car wash...it was basically a hand wash but moved the car down the line on a conveyor.

to make a short story long, the car got hung up on the mechanism and tore off the rear swaybar. plus of course the engine compartment and virtually everything else gets pretty well flooded.

needless to say that was my last trip to a car wash. self-washed my toys for over a decade now. the wife's suv still goes to the car wash though!