wheel polishing.... do i need to seal them afterwards?

Eldorado · 05-19-2006, 09:27 PM

hey guys.. started stripping the paint off my fuch wheels today.. went beautifully well.. now i'm onto sanding them...

if i want to polish these bad boys up, do i need to worry about sealing them at all after i'm done? any worry for corrosion with just sanded shiny bare metal?

wheels are alum. i think...... 15" fuch...

Eldorado · 05-19-2006, 09:52 PM

think i might have just found the answer..
in a pelican technical article, it says:

"You can just apply a coat of wax to the wheels to protect them"

then it goes on to saying that you can also put on a clearcoat... but the wax will allow you to go back and make any repairs later..

anyone on here with polished wheels that would like to comment either way?

AA_Ezra · 05-19-2006, 10:01 PM

Polished and repainted my cookie cutters. Sanded down the paint with 800Grit i think just untill i got a matt finish on the Painted surface. Repainted them Masked all the of the Polished lip. You can sand the polished part with a very very high grit if you want to remove lil scratches that you catch you're nail on. Porbly lik ea 1500-2000 grit and watter sand it. Then Go Over it with a buffing wheel with a polishing rouge compound. Or but one of the kits off ebay or you're local supplier that has differning buffing tips you can put on a electric/neumatic drill with a Rough compound to get the scratches out ( Semi shiney) then finish it up with the Polishing rouge ( very shiney). Still trying to save a lil $ to get the kit but it's what the pros use to get a very high shine.

RM512 · 05-19-2006, 10:14 PM

I used Rejex on my phones. It's a synthetic polymer and seems to hold up quite well.

Eldorado · 05-19-2006, 10:17 PM

hey AA, i know how to polish.. just wondering on the final product... how to protect it..

RM, synthetic polymer.. implying a clearcoat here?

AA_Ezra · 10:55 PM

Clearcoat would work, So would wheel wax it lasts a week or 2. I was going to clear coat My polished lip on my set. But decided to go against it Because I didnt have enuff faith that even with the expensive Clear coat, it would probly still turning color. No longer clear but yellow or forsty. Some clear coat left on my polished lip was a lil off white. So I just decided to polish and wax it. Every week as damm cats round here piss on it and it gets acid etched

Havent used wheel wax, still trying to find it localy. I'm going to try a combo of some Rubbing compound and some wax and we'll see how it goes

yellowline · 05-20-2006, 04:00 AM

I did my front wheels and I'm doing my back wheels today.

I recommend sanding at 400 grit to remove the casting marks. Then move on to 600, 800, 1000, and 1500. Use WD-40 as a lubricant. Scuff them lightly with steel wool, then apply a really good polish. I use P21S metal polish. It's been 3 weeks since I cleaned them and they look manageable. Wax may also work well too.

Successfully clearcoating like the factory did requires some 8-step process and etching the surface. I'd just maintain them well and avoid putting clearcoat on them.

Dave L · 05-20-2006, 06:02 AM

I think we need pics

RM512 · 05-20-2006, 06:15 PM

Rejex is a product that goes on like wax, but lasts alot longer.
Used in the aircraft industry.
Link: www.corrosionx.com/index.html

yellowline · 05-21-2006, 04:15 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Dave L
I think we need pics

Soon. I washed the car an hour ago and took pics. If I can get them transferred, I'll post them.

yellowline · 05-21-2006, 06:07 PM

I can't get them to work tonight. For the meantime, I have an old pic of when I polished the front wheels. It's tough to tell in the pic, but imagine that they're slightly duller than Harley chrome. I can see myself in them.

PS- I know I need to touch up the rockers, mirrors, and undercoating!

Eldorado · 06-01-2006, 10:20 PM

whoever it was that said way back when that they'd rather have a root canal without the freezing than to hand-sand a wheel to a polish wasn't kidding..

Granted, I've got nothing better to do these days.. and this project is something i can just pick at day by day...

I stripped all the paint off.. what did I see? i have no idea.. the best way to describe it is that it looked like the paint soaked into the aluminium of the wheel.. I know that's not possible.. i'll take pics eventually.. but it was smooth to the touch, but it looked like the aluminium had a sort of 'grain' to it, all over, of which was filled with black paint.

anyway, in the mean time... I'm torn.

Torn between how i want my wheels to end up... I cant decide between a total polished fuch or a polished raised bit with a black background... you know, the typical look..

Polished:

Typical:

what do you guys think? car is sapphire metallic with black interior.

i'm leaning towards the second way, but the fully polished wheel looks nice too..

again, pics on the way

bertman · 06-04-2006, 06:54 AM

For what it's worth... these fuchs were stripped/polished a few years back. No clear coat. I use Mother's every 6 months or so. The shine improves with each polish.

lateapex911 · 06-04-2006, 08:42 PM

Eldorado...check out "My new ride" up in the 911 section. His pics show a great wheel look. Polished paddles and lip, with a matte web section. Very high end looking.

Eldorado · 06-04-2006, 08:48 PM

for those who dont wanna go to the 911 board to see the pic, here it is....

They dont look bad.. they're different, which I like... That's why I bought the 944 to begin with - I wanted to be unique.. i didn't want to be just another honda on the road.. But despite being different, they're not exactly my taste..

bertman, I applied mother's today actually, and saw that it put a protective coating on the wheels.. when i sprayed with water, it beaded right up and fell off... so I like your idea of just polishing every few months..

Verruckt · 06-06-2006, 05:05 PM

Bertman- WOW, those look great on your darker car! My 16" Fuchs have painted centers to match the Alpine white car, but I would love for the rest of the wheel to look as nice as those.