Polishing up standard alloys
Polishing up standard alloys
Author
Discussion

blues3

Original Poster:

248 posts

194 months

Tuesday 8th November 2011
quotequote all
Anyone done this? Is it a DIY job. Myb wheels were left round the back of the garage whilst the rebuild was going on and a couple of them have flaky lacquer and white aluminium oxide stains. I'm pretty sure thet given the right kit they will polish up a treat but any tips would be useful.
I was thinking of stripping the lacquer and general muck off with wheel acid, see....
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Alloy-Wheel-Cleaner-Acid...

... and then getting the drill and polishing mops out.

I'll do a few before and after shots to see how it went.

Cheers
Dave


techbotics

1,805 posts

211 months

Tuesday 8th November 2011
quotequote all
Polished is a high maintenance finish but if you have time or don't use her much looks great etc...

Cheers Damian S3

neil240970

184 posts

224 months

Thursday 10th November 2011
quotequote all
Hi there,


I undertook this job on my first S Series. It's hard work and requires lots of patience.....after spending about £100 on mops and drill bits plus the various grades of cutting compound I set about it. Working only in the evenings it took about 3 weeks.

If I were to do it again, I would strip the lacquer carefully by hand using Nitromors and a brush, work through finer & finer grades of wet & dry until the mirror finish appears and do the whole job by hand, finishing with Autosol or Belgom.


You'll need to rinse the wheels pretty much every time the car gets wet or dirty and need to polish them properly a few times a year, as a minimum, to maintain the finish. By this I mean take them off and spend a couple hours on each one.

But, they do look good.

My new S has the "Shadow Chrome" powder coat finish. I've cleaned the wheels once in a year - with a sponge and hose. That's all.

But, they don't look quite as special.

Definitely something to consider.