Friend's 951 anodized wheels flaked off. What would you do?

[sugarwood]

Friend just bought a 944.

A friend picked up a set of 16" 951 wheels at that swap meet a few weeks ago, for $150. They're in that original gloss anodized finish, not painted.

Problem with the anodized is that while it looks good new, it scratches easily and there's nothing you can use to clean it other than soap and water.

No place locally offers re-anodizing. He found a place in CA that re-does Porsche anodized wheels, but it's expensive like $200-300 a wheel.

As an experiment, he polished half of a wheel with his orbital. The anodized layer came right off and left it smooth and shiny, but it is now an aluminum grey color, not the chrome like color. Polished on left.

What do you think he should do;

1. Leave them all alone
2. Polish all of them to be the shiny gray
3. Sand them down and paint them some color, maybe gloss black

[zedsn]

I had turbo clubsports on my 89 turbo when I bought the car and the guy that owned the car before had them striped, polished and then clear coated and it lasted a long time and they still look pretty good. I don't have my wheels handy but yours may not be turbo clusport wheels. I think yours may be d90's.

[Mrdi]

If $800 is out of budget, then sand and paint them.
Easy to touch up and good paint lasts a long time if cared for.
I spent big dollars to have VW alloys re-anodized.
They lasted about 5 years and then began to blister and peel.
Spent Big Bucks to have my Fuchs refinished and they are still fine after 10 years.
However the Fuchs are garaged, on a queen,
waxed and seldom driven.

[chris_seven]

The probability is that these wheels are either Low Press or Gravity Die Cast and wouldn't anodise correctly as they will have around 0.2-0.3% porosity which can localise but is often evenly distributed.

These wheels are commonly lacquered to seal the surfaces and prevent tyre deflation and this coating will peel.

It is unlikely that an anodised surface will peel as anodising isn't a coating but is a surface conversion process which creates an Aluminium Oxide surface to prevent corrosion.

The use of High Silicon Casting alloys with other elements such as Copper and the presence of porosity would result in a very poor quality finish.

As already stated the Clubsport Wheels of this design that were used on 944 Turbos are forged and use an Alloy similar to 6061-T6 and will anodise but they are rare.

If they are cast I would re-finish them with a 2K Clearcoat.

[911pcars]

Many owners who prefer a shiny look have merely polished the wheel which removes the thin protective anodized finish and are then relegated to scheduled washing and waxing or to spray with a clear coat (some leave a slightly yellowish finish).

Sherwood

[Trackrash]

Originally Posted by chris_seven

The probability is that these wheels are either Low Press or Gravity Die Cast and wouldn't anodise correctly as they will have around 0.2-0.3% porosity which can localise but is often evenly distributed.

These wheels are commonly lacquered to seal the surfaces and prevent tyre deflation and this coating will peel.

It is unlikely that an anodised surface will peel as anodising isn't a coating but is a surface conversion process which creates an Aluminium Oxide surface to prevent corrosion.

The use of High Silicon Casting alloys with other elements such as Copper and the presence of porosity would result in a very poor quality finish.

As already stated the Clubsport Wheels of this design that were used on 944 Turbos are forged and use an Alloy similar to 6061-T6 and will anodise but they are rare.

If they are cast I would re-finish them with a 2K Clearcoat.

After I removed the anodizing from a set of Fuchs I have, I couldn't believe it would just flake off. Good explanation Chris.

[canamfan]

Just a thought, but once all of them are nice & correctly polished, just seal them up whether a (temporary) surface treatment like Shark Skin etc. or proper clear... Mind you, I have polished Fuchs & once they were polished up with Mother's Alum. Polish Cream, I just left them & rarely had to re-do them, I did however use mild soap to clean & quality spray wax to temp. seal them. IIRC used to do the same with the 928 which I loved the look of polished flats, just my 2.02 cents

[FrenchToast]

Originally Posted by chris_seven

The probability is that these wheels are either Low Press or Gravity Die Cast and wouldn't anodise correctly as they will have around 0.2-0.3% porosity which can localise but is often evenly distributed.

These wheels are commonly lacquered to seal the surfaces and prevent tyre deflation and this coating will peel.

It is unlikely that an anodised surface will peel as anodising isn't a coating but is a surface conversion process which creates an Aluminium Oxide surface to prevent corrosion.

The use of High Silicon Casting alloys with other elements such as Copper and the presence of porosity would result in a very poor quality finish.

As already stated the Clubsport Wheels of this design that were used on 944 Turbos are forged and use an Alloy similar to 6061-T6 and will anodise but they are rare.

If they are cast I would re-finish them with a 2K Clearcoat.

These wheels are actually forged by Fuchsfelge (who also did the Clubsports and 'Fuchs').

They came anodized, however in some rare cases I think they were painted silver (of course Special Wishes would make them polka dotted if desired).

Otherwise I agree.
_

Additionally, I'm wondering if your friend's wheels were actually previously polished when he/she got them. Normally an anodized surface does not polish as easily as you imply.

It looks and sounds like your friend's wheels are previously polished, and were found in very poor, stained and scratched condition. The reflection of the sun seems brighter and sharper than would be on an anodized wheel.

[DanielDudley]

Lots of people polish them. It's a look. I polished a set years ago and put a clearcoat on them. They lasted until I sold the car years later.

[Flojo]

Originally Posted by DanielDudley

Lots of people polish them.

...due to it being the obvious most less costy overhaul method and most common method a wheel shop can apply as not many can anodize.

[sugarwood]

Update from friend.

I polished the swap meet wheels today. Not perfect, but they look much better than before. I figured out that these wheels are not anodized at all, they're just polished aluminum. I did a two-stage polish with the made-in-Germany Flex polisher and Menzerna 2500 and 3500 compounds, then topped it with two coats of leftover Collinite 845 wax.

[911pcars]

Metal polishers in large metropolis cities might charge $50-$75/wheel. Can't beat a commercial buffing machine.

If you have a budget and want a long term, low maintenance finish, find a source who will apply Cerakote ceramic onto your wheels. They have a product that looks like chrome. You can do a Google and review whether the expense is worth it. Here's one:
cerakote air dry versus oven cure | Doug's Message Boards

Sherwood