Using Lye to strip FUCHS.

Jdub · 09-04-2002, 08:32 AM

Hi folks:

Went over all of the past threads concerning stripping FUCHS and Lye is one solution. I am seeing folks using anything from a 5gallon:5tablespoon to a straight 50:50 mix.

What I am finding on a test 6"er is that, eventually, even oven cleaner will soften and remove the anodizing in places. However, this is inconsistent and I would like to be a bit more aggressive (short of sanding: been there and done that!).

Can anyone who has use Lye tell me first where you purchased it and second what mixture gave you the best results?

Thanks very much in advance,
John

89911 · 09-04-2002, 08:43 AM

It is never going to be as easy as you may think with the lye. I have used the oven cleaner method to shortcut the difficult sanding of the annodization. But after this, you are left with minor imperfections and porosity that can only be removed by the ancient system of sanding in varying grits. I have seen other polished wheels that you can tell some steps were skipped. They may look good from 10 feet away, but up close, all the imperfections show.

Jdub · 09-04-2002, 11:08 AM

'89:

I agree completely: one of my polished 7"ers never saw sanding, only a hot tank and lots of Mothers polish. One of the 6"ers was fully sanded and it is the best and brightest of the lot! Of course, that was after tripoli and various rouges via a pad on drill setup to get it right.

My solution after the first wheel was to bring the other three to the chromer and have them hot tanked for a VERY short period of time. That worked great.

Now I am trying to find the right combination of handwork and chemicals to make this easier. We'll see - I will post something vaguely scientific about times versus chemical used and result.

John

89911 · 09-04-2002, 02:48 PM

Want to hear a lesson in futility. My brother just gets his 87 coupe with 6's and 7's in so so shape. We decide to fully polish them. Paint strip, oven cleaner, wet sand to 1500, tripoli, rouge. You know the picture. At first, you think this is going pretty fast. 10 hours later on the same wheel, you realize different. Well, I did 2 and he did the other 2 and they turned out great. Beautiful beyond belief. About 2 week later, he goes off the road late at night claiming a deer ran out in front of him. Yeah, right. More like a pink elephant! Anyway, he hit the 2 wheels that took me a whole week to polish along with side of his car against a guard rail, destroying the Fuchs. So I have nothing to show for my work. The story does have a happy ending. We bought his car to turn it into a clubracing car. The insurance settlement paid for an entire new paint job that we were going to do anyway along with some other goodies. And he switched to Big Brakes so now the other 2 polished wheels sit in his garage. Know anybody that wants a 6 and 7 Fuch fully polished?