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View Full Version : Need help with next step with my rims.



ekguy
05-31-2009, 10:21 PM
Went from these extremely dirty wheels:

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i34/Gravy_83/my%20new%20car/IMG_1547.jpg
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i34/Gravy_83/my%20new%20car/IMG_1548.jpg
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i34/Gravy_83/my%20new%20car/IMG_1551.jpg
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i34/Gravy_83/my%20new%20car/IMG_1552.jpg

To this:
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i34/Gravy_83/my%20new%20car/IMG_1549.jpg
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i34/Gravy_83/my%20new%20car/IMG_1555.jpg
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i34/Gravy_83/my%20new%20car/IMG_1554.jpg
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i34/Gravy_83/my%20new%20car/IMG_1553.jpg
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i34/Gravy_83/my%20new%20car/IMG_1550.jpg

dj_rice
05-31-2009, 10:23 PM
Next step is to polish them?

ekguy
05-31-2009, 10:25 PM
Now I used a very very fine grit sand paper to get all the break dust and some scratches out. Used alot of soapy water to do this. Dunno if this was a good idea or not but it seemed to now scratch the rims much at all or very little anyways as compared to how bad they were before.

I did that and then used microfibre towels with some mothers wheel polish to try and get some more shine out of them which I did on one side. The other I ran out of time so no polish.

What could I do to get them to shine even more.

Keep in mind that I was planning on painting these so small scratches weren't much of a concern to me at this point but since they didn't seem to get scratched up I want to know if I can get them to shine a bit more.

asfjasljj
05-31-2009, 10:28 PM
why dont you try some wheel cleaner from crappy tire? it work for me all the time

ekguy
05-31-2009, 10:47 PM
Originally posted by dj_rice
Next step is to polish them?

already did with some mother's wheel polish but I am wondering if I could get more of a shine on them though.

schocker
05-31-2009, 10:50 PM
Yah, I would have just used some wheel cleaner:dunno:

ekguy
05-31-2009, 10:54 PM
Originally posted by schocker
Yah, I would have just used some wheel cleaner:dunno:

tried something i had bought to clean wheels and it barely did anything. Keep in mind the rims looked like that when i got the car last year and not once had I cleaned them since. So this stuff got pretty much baked and then frozen and whatever else onto the rims hehe. I figured they might be beyond saving.

schocker
05-31-2009, 11:03 PM
Originally posted by ekguy


tried something i had bought to clean wheels and it barely did anything. Keep in mind the rims looked like that when i got the car last year and not once had I cleaned them since. So this stuff got pretty much baked and then frozen and whatever else onto the rims hehe. I figured they might be beyond saving.
Ah I guess that makes sense then, probably pretty firmly on the wheels then, as the cleaner would take it the breakdust after only soaking for a minute. Much nicer at the carwash instead of having to scrub them off.

bundi
05-31-2009, 11:07 PM
Originally posted by ekguy
What could I do to get them to shine even more.

Keep in mind that I was planning on painting these so small scratches weren't much of a concern to me at this point but since they didn't seem to get scratched up I want to know if I can get them to shine a bit more.

When are you planning on painting the rims? If it's soon you might want to leave it this way as the paint won't adhere as nicely if they are perfectly polished. Also, I'd recommend powdercoating your wheels over paint... it'll look better longer. If you want to shine them up you are looking at some more wetsanding and then using some actual polish on them with a bunch of elbow grease. Google (http://www.google.ca/search?q=how+to+polish+aluminum+rimshttp://www.google.ca/search?q=how+to+polish+aluminum+rims) has a bunch of more specific information on how to get your wheels to look more like a fresh chrome finish.

ekguy
05-31-2009, 11:10 PM
Originally posted by bundi


When are you planning on painting the rims? If it's soon you might want to leave it this way as the paint won't adhere as nicely if they are perfectly polished. Also, I'd recommend powdercoating your wheels over paint... it'll look better longer. If you want to shine them up you are looking at some more wetsanding and then using some actual polish on them with a bunch of elbow grease. Google (http://www.google.ca/search?q=how+to+polish+aluminum+rimshttp://www.google.ca/search?q=how+to+polish+aluminum+rims) has a bunch of more specific information on how to get your wheels to look more like a fresh chrome finish.

This is what I want. If it had a chrome finish they would look great with the color of my car. In my opinion anyways.

nismodrifter
06-01-2009, 01:11 AM
Enjoy:

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=3835844

ekguy
06-01-2009, 01:22 AM
wow thanks for posting that. A lot of good info in there but a little too involved for me. I'm looking for basically a way to keep em this clean or maybe a bit cleaner or else I will actually paint them.

If I don't paint them and I have a bunch of time at some point I may use that thread you posted to do my wheels.

chkolny541
06-01-2009, 01:42 AM
Originally posted by ekguy
I'm looking for basically a way to keep em this clean or maybe a bit cleaner or else I will actually paint them.




carwash weekly...? i dont know what else you can do besides that

Drsuce
06-02-2009, 06:56 PM
unless you looking at spending 40+ hours polishing those wheels, just paint em....

and do yourself a favor and buy some p21s wheel gel, i doubt you needed to take sandpaper to those wheels :thumbsdow

crez
06-08-2009, 09:23 PM
What grit did you finish sanding those wheels with. It looks like you maybe used a too coarse a grit. Try working your grits up to a 2000 grit and you should be quite happy with them. The elbow grease will be fun.

yohan4ws
06-08-2009, 09:36 PM
ya man theres no way to do it easily now, should have used the right cleaning product and not sanded them.

the posts above are right about going up in sandpaper and spending hours polishing. a power buffer would work but its not going to be easy with all the edges etc. painting would/will be the easiest/fastest way to renew them.

2EFNFAST
06-14-2009, 01:25 AM
Originally posted by nismodrifter
Enjoy:

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=3835844

Annnnnnnd now the what they don't tell you - it will look shiney siney, but once you realize the maintenance aspect of it you will NEVER do polished metal again.

Powdercoat17
06-14-2009, 11:25 AM
ill chrome powder coat them for you. pm me

Graham_A_M
06-14-2009, 12:09 PM
Originally posted by ekguy
wow thanks for posting that. A lot of good info in there but a little too involved for me. I'm looking for basically a way to keep em this clean or maybe a bit cleaner or else I will actually paint them.

You found it right there with that link. For YOUR wheels thats the best way to shave off all that grit and filth... AND make them look like new all over again.
From there its just simple easy wheel polish, no more constant scrubbing to get all that built up dust off, each and everytime you want to polish the wheels.

Originally posted by 2EFNFAST


Annnnnnnd now the what they don't tell you - it will look shiney siney, but once you realize the maintenance aspect of it you will NEVER do polished metal again.
^ word, I have to polish the lips on mine everytime I wash the car to get them to shine, otherwise they look drab and awful. :thumbsdow
All in all it now takes me an hour to wash my car. :(