Fuchs Material Question
 

My rear 16x9 fuchs are fakes. (Can't afford real ones right now.) I'm in the middle of refinishing them. I'm trying to polish the lips. The fronts (16x7 real fuchs) were no problem. The anodizing was already removed, so I basically sanded, went over with tripoli 3 times, and then used white rouge.

However I'm having some trouble with these.

Can someone tell me if these are anodized. You can see like rings around the finish.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1290631470.jpg

The tripoli is just making black smudges all over the surface.

Those look like machine tool marks.
When you sanded, what # paper did you use? Hand or machine sanding? Wet or dry?
When I refinished my Fuchs wheels I stripped the paint, then the anodizing (used Easy-Off Heavy Duty oven cleaner for localized removal) before sanding and polishing. I used a sodium hydroxide bath to remove the black anodizing from the center caps and it worked like a charm. I didn't mix up a large enough bath to do complete wheel faces, that's where the Easy-Off came in (same chemical in a spray can!). It leaves a nice even etched aluminum which is relatively easy to sand and polish.
I imagine the aftermarket Fuchs styled wheels are also protected with a clear anodized finish but I can't be certain. If it does indeed, you'll need to remove it via chemical or mechanical (sanding) means to get a good polished finish. It is difficult to remove mechanically as it is a very hard surface.

I started off the same as my real fuchs. Wet sand with 800, 1000, and 1500. Then when I saw it wasn't really polishing, I hit it with the 3M light rust wheel on a drill. This was taking the stuff off (whatever it is), but it's going to take forever.

Maybe I should try the Easy-Off. How do you use it? Spray on and wipe off with what?

What are "Like Rings"?

Going to be difficult to polish those.

Typo.


Please embellish. What has to be done?

OK, I see, you were doing the "I'm like sad" thing... nevermind.

Might be a clear coat, probably anodizing. Anyway, it's reacting with the tripoli. You have to remove it.

How deep are the tooling marks?

You'd have to grind them smooth to make them look like the Fuchs, especially if you have a high polish on them. If a sort of satin finish, it will be easier to semi-match them.

I think it may be a clear coat. It seems to come off with sanding. The groove also disappear with enough sanding too. You can't really feel them, so I don't think they are too deep.

Unfortunately I'm going for the polished lip look to match the others I just did.

What if I use one of those stainless steel brush wheels?

instead of "Easy Off", try paint stripper.

Yes, paint stripper will remove the clear coat if that's what it is.

You'll kill yourself trying to polish w/ sandpaper by hand, you need power tools. Start w a Dremel, maybe?

If you can mount the wheel to a rotating surface and spin it rather rapidly, polishing with finer grades of sandpaper will be no problem.
Pottery wheel or something similar, for example. Something could be built using bicycle parts, even.

then switch to metal polish on cloth...

Polishing metals is one of my great pleasures in life.

If those are Euromeisters, they have a clear coat over a machined aluminum finish. There is no anodizing at all. I know because I have a set and I just removed the clear coat with paint stripper 2 days ago.

I've been sanding a bit more just to see and it appears to be a clear coat. I'm going to pick up some paint stripper and see if that makes it easier.

How are you finishing your Euromeisters?

Whoever said clear coat was right. I picked up some paint stripper yesterday and tested one of the wheels. The clear coat came right off after 15-20 mins. I just wiped it off with a sponge.

As for the tooling marks (rings), You can feel them once the clear coat is gone. They are not very deep and sand off pretty easily. I tried the 3M scotch pad on a drill and it seems to get it off.

So I'll try that then sand with 800, 1000, and 1500 and polish from there. Hopefully I can get them to shine up pretty good.

Wheel polishing: Had a friend that jacked up the rear of his car, put it on stands, started it, put it in first and let it idle while he pressed sandpaper against the wheel as it spun.

Well...


He was in the hospital for 2 days, had casts on his leg AND arm for a couple months.

Wife had to hire a contractor to get the front of the car out of the dining room and repair the wall and the wiring.

Also, spent a good chunk of money at the body shop.

Don't try it at home, kids.

Nice!

I'm getting a lot of black smudges when I'm applying the tripoli. Why is that?