Wheel refurb

[orange_dodo]

I took my wheels off with the intention of cleaning them up but I cant for the life of me get them clean enough.

This was what I started with:



As you can see they were really manky. After a clean up with a scrubbing brush I got this:



So after that I used wet and dry paper (240) over the whole wheel which has made it look a lot better:



I have 400 and 600 wet and dry and a polishing kit which attaches to my drill to polish out the scratches, but I still can't get the rest of those damn dark pits out. I have scrubbed it with the 240 wet and dry but the paper falls apart almost immediately and nothing happens to the pits.

Does anyone have any bright ideas how I can get rid of them or should I just say thats good enough and polish it up. I really hate doing a half-assed job though.

[phillpot]

bought some "cheap" wet 'n dry from an Autojumble and like yours it falls to bits as you use it. Would sugest you try some different brand before you give up !

[steve j]

Hello Tom, you are indeed going about it the right way, use a lot of water with the wet and dry. Only use the finer grades when the surface pot marks are nearly gone, I started off with grade 180, then 240, then 400, then 600, then 800. If you don`t have 800, rub two pieces of 400 together and hey presto it`s now 800. Also don`t rub to hard, a little pressure is fine and let the grit do the job. Sorry if i`m teaching ya to suck eggs, keep at it mate, an hour here and there, you`ll be fine.

[orange_dodo]

Thanks Steve, I need all the encouragement I can get! I really want to get this one done so it motivates me to do the next one! Once the fronts are done it should be a doddle, the rears aren't bad at all (sometimes I really love drum brakes!).

Phillpot, I hadn't thought about that, I did buy the cheapest stuff though! I wondered what I was doing wrong but I'll go and buy some better stuff tomorrow and follow Steve's advice.

I can see why people pay others to do this!

[v8s4me]

If you give up and decide to go for a professional refurb do let us know who does it and what you think of the service please. I want to have mine re-furbed with the original diamond cut but I've seen some very variable results. Joe

[orange_dodo]

v8s4me said:

If you give up and decide to go for a professional refurb do let us know who does it and what you think of the service please. I want to have mine re-furbed with the original diamond cut but I've seen some very variable results. Joe

Thats why I was intending on doing it myself so I could be sure it was up to my standard. I think my standards are too high though!

Shall let you know if I do though.