Wheel Polishing

[clarenceboddiger]

Parked the S up at S Club last weekend (Brilliant day by the way,thanks to all involved)and imediately obvious was my lack of polishing skills and although I am a Confessed non polisher I now feel compelled to at least do something with my alloys, I intend to buff and polish them using mops, however I am sure I have read on here somewhere about removing the old Laquer and corrosion using fine wet or dry, can anyone who has done it recommend a grade which will remove the necessary without scratching the alloy too much?
I will take photos ongoing and post when done.

[kenpage]

ken a bit about it 4 posts down if you havent seen it

[tvrgit]

Jees. 2nd time today!

Right. This page explains how I got the lacquer off and polished the wheels first time. There's a couple of pics of the results further down the page.

http://www.haggishead.myby.co.uk/TVR/apr06.html#d1...

Then the last time I tidied them up, with some photos this time:

http://www.haggishead.myby.co.uk/TVR/feb08.html#d1...

Unfortunately, there's no substitute for elbow grease!

Edited by tvrgit on Sunday 29th June 15:02

[ketvrin]

\and when you are finished polishing, see if you can get a set of "Ford Alloy" wheel nuts - they have a captive tapered washer and are stainless finish and finish the job off well I think...

get a set off ebay for about £16...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/FORD-ALLOY-WHEEL-NUTS-ESCORT...

K

[tvrgit]

Good point Kevin - much better quality than the normal plated aftermarket rubbish at that price.

[TJC46]

Ken dont do it,you and polishing go together as well as you and grinding. Also ken once you start with the wheels youll move on to another part of the car. Being serious ken go for it mate by s club next year you could be in with a shout for best s2 only that gentleman geoffs car is a bit tidy even if he cant dance on the table very well.

[clarenceboddiger]

Sorry folks I didn't read the other thread as I thought it was about CHROME wheels and I hate chrome.I will go down the Nitromors route I think, then persevere with 800s upwards and finally buff with Mops.I have seen a product in the Frost catalogue that looks good as a protective coating, someone on here suggested it a wile back Its called Extreme Diamond Clear High Temp and costs £49 per 250ml, expensive but I have spoken with some Bike owners who have used it on polished casings and they are singing its praises.( If it works on Jap Ali it must be good)
Tom re your comment "Also ken once you start with the wheels youll move on to another part of the car.)quite likely but I have a lot of work to do first, I am hoping to do the full rebuild during winter 2009 including mods to bumpers, possibly a new V8 bonnet and some remodelling of the rear light area, I fancy those ring types used on kit cars and Corvettes but I have a few reservations about "over modifying the bodywork in case I dont like it, I may make up an insert first to see how it looks.
Anyway thanks to all for the replies

[Sweet Thunder]

clarenceboddiger said:

... rear light area, I fancy those ring types used on kit cars and Corvettes ...

Judging by your profile you seem to have a very specific taste in rear lights?

[Gentleman Geoff]

clarenceboddiger said:

...some remodelling of the rear light area, I fancy those ring types used on kit cars and Corvettes but I have a few reservations about "over modifying the bodywork in case I dont like it...

I have always thought that the back end of a Tuscan racer would look good on the S. I've never been keen on the Ford rear lights, either.

[Harry1972M]

I remember ages ago there was a guy on here who did the rear light conversion to the round type you are thinking of - I can't remember his name at the moment but I am sure there is a picture on here somewhere.

Graham

[ketvrin]

Not a great picture but see the shiney nuts...

http://ketvrin.myphotoalbum.com/view_photo.php?set...

K

[steve j]

Harry1972M said:

I remember ages ago there was a guy on here who did the rear light conversion to the round type you are thinking of - I can't remember his name at the moment but I am sure there is a picture on here somewhere.

Graham

There was a dark blue S at SCH at Silverstone that had the conversion, not my cup of tea old boy.

[clarenceboddiger]

Sweet Thunder said:

clarenceboddiger said:

... rear light area, I fancy those ring types used on kit cars and Corvettes ...

Judging by your profile you seem to have a very specific taste in rear lights?

Its true, they remind me of Dairylea Cheese triangle boxes

[SteveOS3]

Hi TVTGit, I'm look at buying a polishing kit to do my wheels as are they are in pretty much the same condition as yours were.

I was wondering if you used a normal power drill, maybe with a flexi-cable, or used a Dremel type of tool for the mops.

I've been looking at these kits:

http://www.thepolishingshop.co.uk/acatalog/Standar...

but if you could recommend any others I'd like to take a look for comparison.

Many thanks,

SteveO

[Barkychoc]

clarenceboddiger said:

... rear light area, I fancy those ring types used on kit cars and Corvettes ...

Well if we are resurrecting this old thread this pic is on the TVR S story on PH somewhere - no idea whose car it is or if it is still alive. V8S exhaust & bonnet.

Edited by Barkychoc on Friday 30th January 10:22

[tvrgit]

SteveOS3 said:

Hi TVTGit, I'm look at buying a polishing kit to do my wheels as are they are in pretty much the same condition as yours were.

I was wondering if you used a normal power drill, maybe with a flexi-cable, or used a Dremel type of tool for the mops.

I've been looking at these kits:

http://www.thepolishingshop.co.uk/acatalog/Standar...

but if you could recommend any others I'd like to take a look for comparison.

Many thanks,

SteveO

Hi Steve

I bought a polishing kit from Frosts (frost.co.uk) - not the wheel kit, the metal polishing kit (I bought it originally to mirror polish rocker covers, and it worked!) It's more or less the same as the combi or combined kit on that link of yours.

I used the mops in a drill, although you could use a dremel for the trickiest bits I suppose. I haven't got a flexi-drive but I can see how that might be a very good idea! Before polishing, I stripped all the old lacquer off, and then removed the corrosion with fine wet and dry paper and then gently with fine wire wool in soapy water. Don't use anything too abrasive - I used a flapper wheel for about 3 seconds and then spent 3 days polishing out the marks it left on one part of the rim!

Then the polishing mops, then apply metal polish by hand and polish off with one of those polishing balls (also available from Frosts) and then a final hand polish and buff with a microfibre cloth. They looked really good then. It took h o u r s per wheel though.

Unfortunately, because I use the car all year round, it doesn't take long for them to start to corrode again, so I polish them again every wee while. I've just finished cleaning two up, in preparation for this year (mainly to see if they would clean up ok, or if I needed to take them off for more professional refinishing before the summer). They're not great, but good enough with a bit more work, and certainly a lot better than chipping lacquer!

[ketvrin]

Looks are all about personal opinion so if the owner of that car reads this then apologies, but...

I think TVR got the styling right with the S and apart from some subtle changes by design (wheels) or necessity (Indicator lenses) I dont think that many changes improve the overall look of a good example...

I'm afraid if I wanted spoked wheels, round chrome mirrors, boot rack and non-S rear lights i would have bought an MG or Spitfire or something. I didnt, so didnt and am happy with my S as it is...

for those who want to modify their S I say good luck to you and I genuinely hope you are happy with the results, but I'm always going to want mine to look as standard as I can keep it.

as I said earlier, no offence intended - each to their own ...

K

[Barkychoc]

ketvrin said:

Looks are all about personal opinion so if the owner of that car reads this then apologies, but...

I think TVR got the styling right with the S and apart from some subtle changes by design (wheels) or necessity (Indicator lenses) I dont think that many changes improve the overall look of a good example...

I'm afraid if I wanted spoked wheels, round chrome mirrors, boot rack and non-S rear lights i would have bought an MG or Spitfire or something. I didnt, so didnt and am happy with my S as it is...

for those who want to modify their S I say good luck to you and I genuinely hope you are happy with the results, but I'm always going to want mine to look as standard as I can keep it.

as I said earlier, no offence intended - each to their own ...

K

Agreed

Bar the few changes made over the period of production with bonnets etc the shape is just right to me.
It is a retro design and nothing wrong with that either in my view.
I like the wood dash too

[neil240970]

I bought a set of 7-spokes off Ebay to replace the slot alloys on my S1.5 - just always preferred the later wheels.

It was one of those jobs I wished I'd never started about halfway through but the end result was great.

I chanced upon these guys www.abcpolishing.co.uk and got one of their kits. The grey supercut and the Belgom finishing cream are fantastic. Get ready for permanently grey hands!