a few new pictures

[fierochris]

After finishing up the polishing of the right side wheels. i went out and took a few pictures of the outcome.

and the results..

[s928s]

looks great..really offsets the blue. I have always liked that color ..

[loose caboose]

Looks Good!

Mine is in the Shop for checkout and the Owner has never had a 928 in his shop.

He said he would call me tomorrow, and not worry!

"Dammed fine suspension and WOW! ...a V8"


loose is good......

[fierochris]

Originally posted by loose caboose
Looks Good!

Mine is in the Shop for checkout and the Owner has never had a 928 in his shop.

He said he would call me tomorrow, and not worry!

"Dammed fine suspension and WOW! ...a V8"


loose is good......

you are a brave man. i dont have then guts (or the money) to have someone else work on my car.

[rhjames]

Much better!!!!!!!

Your wife should be very proud of you!!!

Nothing like a good polish job to get things into shap.

regards---rhjames

[fierochris]

a engine pic.

[fierochris]

Glamore portrait. my photogragher done this for me.



oh and finally im not behind the camera so i could get in the picture too.

[m21sniper]

...and WOW! ...a V8"

I get a LOT of that from my buddies, especially the mechanically inclined ones.

One of my fave comments was,

"You know a company like porsche aint screwin' around when they put an eight in somethin'."

[12magnum]

fierochris,

just wondering your method of polishing your rims. they look great.

the reason i am asking is because I went to get my tires balanced today- and 1 rim is bent when I find a replacement, it probably won't be polished.

I have owned my car for about a year now, and put about 2300 miles on it. the car had brand new tires when i got it. there has always been a slight vibration in the car that gets more noicable at speeds over 80mph (on a track, never on a public highway of course....LOL) anyway i rotated the tires front to back last week, and the steering wheel started shaking like crazy at high speed. i took the tires in to get them balanced and 1 rim is bent!!! damn! looks like a used one is about 150 bucks.

[fierochris]

Originally posted by 12magnum
fierochris,

just wondering your method of polishing your rims. they look great.

the reason i am asking is because I went to get my tires balanced today- and 1 rim is bent when I find a replacement, it probably won't be polished.

I have owned my car for about a year now, and put about 2300 miles on it. the car had brand new tires when i got it. there has always been a slight vibration in the car that gets more noicable at speeds over 80mph (on a track, never on a public highway of course....LOL) anyway i rotated the tires front to back last week, and the steering wheel started shaking like crazy at high speed. i took the tires in to get them balanced and 1 rim is bent!!! damn! looks like a used one is about 150 bucks.

alright. heres how it went.

60 grit the rough inner edge of the spokes with 60grit (dry)

the use 80 grit (dry) on a random orbital sander ($50 at walmart comes with buffing set up to) , and remove the anodizing.

then go to 120 grit on the orbital to finish the surface to a uniform base.

next go to 220 grit on the orbital to remove scratching left from 80 and 120

one yoru sure you have remove all of the scatches go back and double check for any remaining anodizing, or larger scratchs and take care of them before you start the next step.

now your ready to start the wet sanding process. so grab your hose (the one connected to your house) and start sanding in the following order while being sure that you sand every bit of the wheel.

400 grit
then 600grit
then 800
now finally, 1500 grit. use the 1500 grit to pre polish the wheel, focus on the small cracks that you will notice as you get a shine out of the wheel.

once your satisfied with the metal finish, your ready to begin Polishing.

I put the foam buffing wheel included with my skil orbital sander kit on the sander. then i removed the filter to prevent gunk from getting trapped in the filter permantly.

now i took a cloth and liberally applyed mother aluminum polish cream to the wheels surface.

then polished the wheel several times before going over it one last time by hand.

taa daa! bling i spent about $100 on all four wheels including the purchase of
the orbital sander
the sand paper,
the polishing cloths,
shop towels,
mothers aluminum polish,
a can of carb cleaner

and i also went though and cleaned the wheel wells and suspension too.

berrymans,brake parts cleaner
red scotch bright,
500 grit.
a can of laquor thinner,
and a garbage bag of old shirts.

it was really handy to have the hose right next to me when doing the suspension, and it wouldnt hurt for the wheels.

while you have the wheels off you also have the option of lowering your car. as i did.

a can of pb blaster
a spanner wrench from my motorcycle
a hammer and a block to get the collars loose.
and a set of dial calipers to check spacing. a tape messure would work to. but would Dr. Porsche use a tape messure?



all in all it takes about 2 and a half hours per corner for both detailing and cleaning of the suspension, and refinishing each wheel.

i done one corner a day. if you have a entire saturday to yourself you can get it done if you really wanted to.

for me its just a hobby so i didnt get in a hurry and spread the project out over five days. i didnt get burned out doing a cotner a day. and it didnt turn into a chore becuase i was doing othert things on the car so i didnt get bored.

im very happy with the outcome. its like a entirly different car.

[loose caboose]

Originally posted by fierochris
you are a brave man. i dont have then guts (or the money) to have someone else work on my car.

You guys are correct...! Dummy put reg ATF ain tranny and it didnt shift for him when he drove it. Tranny has a problem.
When I left the car with him, I told him to carefully read the Ownwers Manual and take his time.

PORSCHE ATF IS on the way. Hope it isn't damaged and the right fluid works OK.
I will be doing the work myself from now on. and so it goes. Will listen to forum members ..TY fieroChris..for the warning.

[loose caboose]

Car is back and they did a fine job all around. I just finished diggin in a hard rain off the Interstate and the car is definately better than before it went to the Shop.

Damn fine ride!

[fierochris]

Originally posted by loose caboose
Car is back and they did a fine job all around. I just finished diggin in a hard rain off the Interstate and the car is definately better than before it went to the Shop.

Damn fine ride!

glad to here it worked out alright. where did you purchase the porsche atf? dealer? price? im going to service mine soon and like anything else on the car im not going to make a conpermise and i want the best.

[rhjames]

WHEEL POLISHING 101

clean wheels with acid bath (removes everything from wheel, leaves wheel "white" color)

to polish, use a grinder (grinder speed needs to be over 3500 rpms)

start with brown jeweler's rouge block first, then green, then white.

grinding pads and jeweler's rouge blocks and liquids are available at most truckstops and Peterbilt dealerships.

finish polishing with white jeweler's rouge (liquid) by hand.

This is the way we truckers have our aluminum wheels and fuel tanks polished.

A $200 bill, 4 Mexicans and a couple of hours, and you'll be really shinny.

regards---rhjames

[fierochris]

i kinda dropped my jaw to the floor when yu said Grinder, and high rpm's. but maybe that just sounded more harsh then what it is. Im a country boy with more time then i know what to do with. acid bath? now thats some fancy talk...

then again, i think my dads done one of them acid baths. he said he couldnt sleep for a month. and before it wore of he had met the Devil and god. :P

Originally posted by rhjames
WHEEL POLISHING 101

clean wheels with acid bath (removes everything from wheel, leaves wheel "white" color)

to polish, use a grinder (grinder speed needs to be over 3500 rpms)

start with brown jeweler's rouge block first, then green, then white.

grinding pads and jeweler's rouge blocks and liquids are available at most truckstops and Peterbilt dealerships.

finish polishing with white jeweler's rouge (liquid) by hand.

This is the way we truckers have our aluminum wheels and fuel tanks polished.

A $200 bill, 4 Mexicans and a couple of hours, and you'll be really shinny.

regards---rhjames

[12magnum]

I ordered a wheel from 928 international. 150 bucks for a used 16X7 wheel. they said they check all wheels to make sure they are straight and true. The guy I talked to on the phone said he'll try to pull a wheel that is already polished. we'll see in a week or so what I get.

I think I've officially hijacked your thread

[fierochris]

Originally posted by 12magnum


I think I've officially hijacked your thread

its ok pookie, i still love yu guys. just post some pictures. im still stuck on the the thought of a high rpm grinder touching my expensive forged aluminum Porsche wheel. are you sure that acid you bought made it to the wheel? :P

[rhjames]

Aw jeeezzz guys!!!

A buck and half for a OEM wheel????

Ya'll must have been in the acid (bath), no pun intended.

Much as I like the big three (928 Specialists, 928 Int'l, 928 Motorsports), you can get a real bargain on wheels on:

eBay!!!

How about a set of 6 OEM wheels for 5 bills? Or a set of 4 for less than $300??

Come on now, I'd even part with my 993 cup wheels (with recently new tires for a grand. They're not perfect by any means, but they are 16s and the tires (225/50 front--245/50 rear) have less that 2k miles on them......

I've been watching tires an wheels for months on eBay go for some really low prices when you're talking about phone dials, S wheels and such. Even the 17's are reasonably priced......

As for the acid bath, yes, it removes all of the impurities (oil dirt and such), and makes it easier to start the polishing process.

And yes, use a grinder, not a buffer. the speed of the grinding wheel needs to be over 3500 RPMs, just like I described above.

Trust me, I've spent some serious money over the past 26 years on polishing fuel tanks, aluminum wheels, chain cabinets, tool boxes, etc. My polishing 101 is the way to really get it done if you want a mirror finish on whatever you're polishing. The only time you would need to use sandpaper on a wheel, is when there is a significant scratch or ding in the wheel. Otherwise, just use the steps I laid out.

The picture of my rig speaks for itself. Everything that can be polished, is polished to a mirror finish. The chain cabinet is a good example. While the doors are polished stainless steel, the rest of the cabinet is aluminum, polished to a mirror finish.

Truckers that participate in truck shows (ie: Pride and Polish, Shell Super Rigs, Stars and Stripes. etc) take great pride in polishing anything that can shine.

If it is not painted, it's either polished stainless steel, polished aluminum, or chrome.

(And yes, those are 7 inch pipes......)

Regards---rhjames

[fierochris]

I wasnt sure how a acid could eat though the anodizing. are you saying it does, or grind through it. or are you just refering to phone dials? i have a late 928S and it has flats on it. I had to cut though the anodized finish before i could start polishing. sorry for not understand quite what you mean. its hard for me to overlook the Grind part of a grinder. im sure your not talking about using the a grinding wheel accessory and your talking about a pad. i just couldnt see the possiblty of using one becuase of risk of the edge cutting a gouge in the material or a uneven surface. Im sure you have a good method otherwise i dont think you would suggest it. its just me having a hard time thinking polish and not cut when i think of a grinder.

[m21sniper]

You need to get yourself a chrome fifth wheel Rh.